Newborn Umbilical Cord Care

A new baby! Congratulations! Such an exciting time, indeed. I am sure you have many concerns about caring for your newborn, especially in the first few months. One of these is undoubtedly about newborn umbilical cord care.

You probably learned that the umbilical cord provided all the nutrition and everything else the baby needed while still in the womb. At birth, the umbilical was clamped close by the baby’s navel and cut to finalize the physical separation from the mother. What remained is the cord stump. Not a very pretty sight, is it.

You are sure to have some questions about the umbilical cord and its care.

So lets start with a question that is often the first new parents want to know.

How long will it be there? Babies umbilical cords will remain after birth for anywhere from 10 to 21 days. After it dries up, it will fall off. It is important to let it fall off on its own. Don’t try to help it along or pull it off, even if it is just barely hanging there.

How do you keep it clean and dry? Keeping the umbilical cord clean and dry is very essential. To clean the umbilical cord, you can use soap and water but do not immerse the cord. Since this can allow bacteria to thrive, for proper newborn umbilical cord care, give your baby sponge baths and not tub baths until after the cord has fallen off. If you use soap and water to clean the cord, be sure to dry thoroughly with a towel immediately. You can also use a hair dryer, on a low setting, to dry it, but be sure that the dryer is held far enough away from the baby to avoid burning the delicate skin.

Using rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab is an old standard for cleaning the cord. With the swab, clean around the base of the cord to get rid of any crusty build up since the last cleaning. To be sure you clean the entire base, gently lift the cord to clean under it. It is not unusual to see a little spot of dried blood on your baby’s diaper and is nothing to be concerned about. But if you notice any active bleeding, call the doctor right away.

To keep the umbilical dry, you need to fold down the front of the baby’s diaper so the cord is exposed to the air. It is now possible to buy newborn diapers with a hole or deep scallop that allows the cord to be exposed to the air. Change the baby’s diaper right away when it gets wet or soiled.

You should never allow the cord to get urine soaked. This, along with getting water soaked, allows bacteria to grow and possibly cause infection. You should clean the cord every time you change the baby’s diaper. Frequent diaper changes and cord cleaning are basic to newborn umbilical cord care.

During the summer, it helps keep the cord dry by dressing the baby in only a diaper and t-shirt. In the winter months, just try to keep it exposed to the air as much as possible.

What if the babies umbilical cord becomes infected? With good newborn umbilical cord care, this is a rare occurrence. But if it should happen, the signs of infection to watch for include fever, the navel and the area around it get red and swollen, bleeding and a foul-smelling yellowish pus appears at the base of the cord.

If you notice any of these, call the doctor right away for treatment.

What causes ‘outie’ bellybuttons? Now, that is a good question. A few outies result from extra scar tissue but the majority are caused by umbilical hernias. Sometimes, abdominal muscles will protrude a bit through the gap where babies umbilical cords are. This is what a hernia is, the muscles protruding through a hole in the wall of the abdomen. It isn’t a serious condition and nothing to worry about. Outies usually become the more normal innies in time. About 20% of babies will have outies that usually disappear by 3 or 4 years of age. If it doesn’t, you might consider talking to your child’s doctor then.

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