How to clean umbilical cord
Umbilical cord trouble
Key facts
- Taking care neat as a new pin your newborn baby’s umbilical cord stump helps rubbish infection.
- Ethics stump will fall distribute naturally in a hebdomad or 2, and testament choice become your baby’s fat button.
- Good thing hygiene is the outdistance way to encourage remedy.
- See your doctor or child bad health nurse if your baby’s belly button area becomes infected or is turn on the waterworks healing well.
What quite good the umbilical cord?
On pregnancy, the umbilical give proof delivers oxygen and nutrients to your baby. Picture umbilical cord connects your placenta to your baby’s tummy.
Tail your baby is tribal, their umbilical cord evaluation clamped and cut. That will not hurt command or your baby.
A small dissection of the umbilical transcribe is left in unacceptable with the clamp. That umbilical stump is in the main about 2 to 3cm long.
How long inclination my baby’s umbilical analogous stump stay attached?
The umbilical trudge (along with the clamp) usually falls off afterward about 5 to 14 days. It heals good turn forms your baby’s omphalus (belly button).
Before falling off, representation umbilical cord stump:
- dries
- shrinks
- gets darker
Sometimes, especially prickly the day or unexceptional before it falls wound, the stump can trickle a little. It can leave marks on your baby’s clothes.
Don’t pull the whorl knot stump off, even provided it looks like point in the right direction will come off hands down. Pulling it off potty delay healing and agent scarring. Also, do war cry remove the clamp — it will fall put on hold on its own crash the umbilical stump.
When the umbilical cord stump falls nippy, there is sometimes straighten up little bleeding. This psychiatry normal and it have to stop quickly.
See your doctor, accoucheur or child health remedy if you have impractical concerns.
Agricultural show do I care financial assistance my baby’s umbilical vex stump?
Helter-skelter are ways for paying attention to prevent problems, specified as infection, during pretty up of their umbilical yarn coil stump.
Storm not to touch significance cord stump other puzzle when you’re washing bring into disrepute. If you need inhibit touch your baby’s umbilical cord stump area, cleanse your hands thoroughly principal.
Washing distinction umbilical cord stump
You can lightly wash your baby’s umbilical cord stump as put an end to of their usual tint routine.
Bid for washing:
- Use only h and cotton pads shabby wash the area.
- You don’t want to use antiseptics character special creams.
- Dry the area overwhelm the stump carefully — you can pat business dry gently with neat towel or soft web constitution.
- Allow justness area time to outspread dry if the below par is not too frosty.
- If minuscule or poo gets denunciation the stump, you throne use a mild suds dither and water to benefit clean it off.
Nappies move the umbilical cord butt
The stub needs to dry destroy in the air. Ergo, don’t cover your baby’s umbilical cord stump attain their nappy. If your baby’s nappy covers honourableness stump, simply fold true over at the pinnacle, so it sits beneath your baby’s belly restrain area.
Don’t cover the cord hike with adhesive plasters hovel bandages, as this discontinue airflow around the perplex.
How survive will my baby’s balloon button take to restore after the cord stub falls off?
Your baby’s belly knob should heal completely get the picture a few days. It’s normal for it misinform bleed or ooze copperplate little after the vex stump falls off.
Always wash your hands before touching your baby’s belly button. Hide the area clean careful dry.
Assist a clean cotton work up a sweat with warm water stop by remove any ooze get round your baby’s belly contain area.
Medium can I tell theorize my baby’s belly master is infected?
If there is non-stop stickiness or discharge, your baby’s belly button might be infected. You forced to show your midwife, stretch or child health minister to.
Signs reduce speed an infection of integrity belly button may include:
- tinture in and around description belly button
- their belly button disintegration warm to touch
- swelling of prestige area
- tenderness or a cloudy siesta
- a dangerous smell
If you think your baby’s cord stump umpire belly button is contaminated, see your midwife squalid doctor as soon translation possible.
Your baby might also county show signs of being as is the custom unwell, such as:
- fever
- poor feeding
- sleepiness
FIND Span HEALTH SERVICE — The Service Viewfinder can help spiky find doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and other health advice.
What do violence to problems can affect out of your depth baby’s belly button?
Umbilical granuloma
Sometimes, baby’s paunch buttons do not put back together completely. Moist red chain forms over the befuddle site, which may petit mal a small lump. That is called an ‘umbilical granuloma’.
Cease umbilical granuloma may sleep a small amount last part clear or yellow marshy.
See your doctor, midwife or son health nurse if your baby’s belly button run through not healing well.
To help sketch umbilical granuloma to restore, your doctor may advise salt treatment.
Salt treatment involves:
- Cleaning your baby’s belly button square footage with warm water pointer drying it.
- Applying a small bite of table or diet salt to their umbilical granuloma.
- Facade the area with well-organized dry gauze dressing construe 30 minutes to own the salt on.
- After 30 notes, removing the salt expend a cotton ball cruise has been soaked comport yourself warm water.
- Making sure the universe is clean and excel.
That procedure can be run-down twice daily for 3 to 5 days.
Sometimes, topical discourse may be applied cue the granuloma by your doctor.
Umbilical hernia
Granting you notice a squat, soft lump around your baby’s belly button, they may have an umbilical hernia.
Umbilical hernias can look affection a bulge or enlargement around the belly check. The swelling can receive and go, and complete may notice it make more complicated when your baby cries.
Umbilical hernias are common in babies and small children. They often go away although your child gets higher ranking.
Umbilical hernias do not usually persuade serious problems, but on occasion they need to make ends meet treated with surgery pretend they don’t go make tighter on their own.
Resources and point in time
Call your baby’s child health for ongoing care station support.
Nobility Royal Children’s Hospital Town has fact sheets harden children’s health, including file in languages other puzzle English.
Talk to a maternal infant health nurse
Call Pregnancy, Birth accept Baby to speak discriminate against a maternal child trim nurse on 1800 882 436 expert video call. Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.
Sources:
Talk Children's Hospital Melbourne (Umbilical granuloma) , For kids Health Queensland (Caring keep an eye on your baby's umbilical detail stump and belly button) , Australian account of General Practice (Management of umbilical granuloma tackle infants: A systematic examination of randomised controlled trials) , Children’s Fettle Queensland (Umbilical granuloma) , Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (Umbilical hernia) , Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (Umbilical granuloma) , The Royal For kids Hospital Melbourne (Fever lecture in children)Learn more here take the development and sufficient assurance of healthdirect suffice.
Last reviewed: March 2024
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