A mum has urged parents to be mindful of kissing their young children on the lips.
Leah Green said her daughter was 21 months old when she was kissed by an adult on the lips.
It transferred the "horrendous" cold sore virus which left the little one covered in blisters.
The toddler developed two small spots on her lip and then spiked a temperature of 39 degrees.
Within hours the spots started to spread across her face with white spots forming in her mouth.
Now the mum shared several snaps of her daughter's painful blisters on the Tiny Hearts Education's Instagram page.
As a warning to others, the photo showed her child in tears with Leah explaining the slightest touch would make the spots bleed.
The mum explained: "This meant she couldn’t eat or drink resulting in weight loss and dehydration.
"She was absolutely miserable and stuck to my hip for four days straight. Just attempting to put her down made her scream."
Leah visited a doctor who gave her daughter cream for the spots on her lips but said it was a "waiting game" for it to clear up.
She added: "Around the clock Panadol was the only thing helping. Being first time parents and seeing your child in pain was horrific."
Leah continued: "It was a very very long three weeks so I hope I can help people by spreading awareness.
"Please please DON'T kiss or let anyone kiss your babies. Doesn't matter who they are or if you think they will be offended.
"Hurt their feelings and keep your babies safe."
Leah's post has been liked almost 20,000 times with hundreds of people sharing similar experiences.
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One woman wrote: "So awful. My nephew was hospitalised with this when he was a baby, it can be very serious!"
Another added: "My little boy got this around the same age – we think it was from his child care setting.
"It was horrendous and now every single time he's run down he's gets a cold sore. Thankfully never as horrific as that fist time."
The HSV-1, cold sore or herpes virus, can easily be passed onto babies and toddlers through something as simple as a kiss.
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