Baby lip blisters

Most lip blisters in newborns are caused by friction from all the sucking they’re doing during feeding. The skin of the lip had 3-5 cellular layers, very thin compared to typical face skin, which has up to 16 layers. The lip skin is doesn’t have sweat glands, so it lacks the protective layer of sweat and body oils which keep the skin smooth and moist. This makes the lips dry out faster and become easily chapped. It also means it can blister quickly when not used optimally. Lip blisters, AKA: * Friction blisters * Suck blisters * Suck callouses The sucking reflex starts around week 32 in the womb and is fully developed around 36 weeks. Occasionally a baby may be born with these blisters if they were super active at sucking in the womb. Very small blisters that go away in a few days are normal for newborns as they’re learning to latch and suck. They may also pop up during teething later on while adjusting to new teeth. Blisters that don’t disappear in the first week or two or that are extensive across the lips are a sign something is going on. Babies should latch by cupping their tongue around the breast and creating a vacuum seal in their mouth. The lips actually play a passive role in feeding and should stay soft without the muscles engaged. They are only meant to prevent milk from leaking out of the mouth and keep the mouth closed to help generate a vacuum seal inside the mouth. 👄 Babies in a shallow latch (to breast or bottle) use their lips to hold on to prevent losing the latch. Deepen the latch and the blisters go away. 👄 They can also happen when mom has a very last let down or an oversupply. The lips need to round to help seal around a faster than usual flow to prevent leaking milk 👄 They’re common in premature babies who still lack fat pads in their cheeks. 👄 Lip blisters are also a classic sign of tongue/lip tie where the lips are compensating for the lack of range of motion/strength/coordination of the tongue because it’s being tethered to the floor of the mouth.

Category