How long does it take for the belly button to heal? Healing of the navel in newborns. How to treat a wound with brilliant green and peroxide
As a rule, a child’s navel heals completely by a month. Before this, it is advisable to treat it with drying agents: hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green. But what to do if time passes and the umbilical wound does not seem to heal? What to do if a newborn’s navel gets wet?
Of course, you should immediately talk to your doctor about this topic. He will most correctly assess the baby’s condition and give useful recommendations. However, parents themselves must act and not sit idly by. But first you need to determine the causes of a weeping navel.
Why does my belly button get wet?
First of all, it’s worth saying that during the healing process, the baby’s belly button should get a little wet. Also, yellow crusts are likely to form around it, which must be removed to avoid infection.
Often the navel does not heal for a long time due to the baby’s weak immunity. If he is unable to cope with microbes entering from the outside, the umbilical wound may fester, bleed and its healing will be delayed. Moreover, sometimes a weeping navel indicates the development of serious diseases in the baby, such as Staphylococcus aureus.
But don’t panic ahead of time: discharge of ichor from the navel is normal (the first 2-3 weeks). But if pus is released (and the umbilical wound smells bad), you should immediately consult a doctor.
Conclusion
There are two reasons for a newborn’s weeping navel:
- improper care;
- entry of microbes into the wound.
In fact, one follows from the other, so the most important thing that parents should do is to provide complete and competent care for the umbilical wound.
Proper belly button care
Usually, every young mother is instructed on the correct treatment of the umbilical wound upon discharge from the hospital. But it also happens that the pediatrician simply does not have time to give a lecture to everyone, which is why problems arise.
First of all, understand a simple rule: the belly button should be treated twice a day until it is completely healed. But do not get into the umbilical wound with dirty fingers, cotton swabs or other foreign objects. This way you risk getting an infection.
To treat a newborn's navel you will need:
- cotton wool;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- brilliant green;
- pipette.
- Wash your hands with antibacterial soap (you can use laundry soap).
- Examine the navel for pus. Smell the wound - there should be no smell.
- Place a little hydrogen peroxide on the wound - do not fill the entire hole with it.
- Wait a little - the peroxide should dry (you can carefully remove it with cotton wool or a cotton pad).
- Take a little greenery with a pipette and drop it on the wound.
That's it. Processing is complete. Wait until the green stuff dries and dress the baby. Remember that the diaper should not cover the navel. Also, while the umbilical wound is healing, it is better to abandon the panties, replacing them with a slip.
Is it possible to bathe a newborn with a “wet navel”?
You can bathe your baby before the navel heals. You can also bathe your baby with a “wet navel,” but this must be done very carefully. For bathing, purchase a special baby bath and fill it with warm boiled water.
Do not add foam or bathing gel to the water. Also avoid herbs. The only thing that can be added to the water is potassium permanganate. Dilute 5 grams in 100 ml of water and pour into the bath. Make sure that all the crystals dissolve.
But keep in mind that potassium permanganate dries out the skin, so such bathing is often not recommended, even if a newborn’s navel gets wet.
How can you treat a weeping navel?
- Zelenka - it has already been mentioned above. Zelenka is a universal remedy for lubricating children's sores. It dries, disinfects and prevents germs from multiplying in the wound. If a newborn’s navel gets wet, this is the first remedy.
- Hydrogen peroxide (3%)– this remedy can be taken as a preventive measure for a “wet navel”, and if the navel begins to get wet and bleed. The main thing is not to use it too often, as this can lead to even more wetting of the wound.
- Potassium permanganate - it can replace brilliant green, or you can add the solution to a bathtub.
- Chlorophyllipt - a disinfecting alcohol solution of chlorophyllipt will help the wound dry out and heal faster.
- Furacilin is an analogue of chlorophyllipt.
- Alcohol solution of propolis.
- Streptocide.
- Curiosin.
- Do not press on the navel.
- Do not pick at the wound with cotton swabs or your fingers.
- Do not try to remove all the crusts at once.
- Do not squeeze out the pus.
- Do not cover the wound with a band-aid.
- Leave your baby naked often so that the belly button can breathe. The wound will heal faster in the air.
- There is no need to delay treatment for a weeping navel.
- Always wash your hands before handling your child.
- To care for your baby, use only sterile materials: bandages, napkins, cotton wool.
- Wash items that come into contact with the umbilical wound (blouses, bodysuits, slips) in a hypoallergenic detergent and iron them with a hot iron on both sides.
- Never wear the same thing two days in a row to a child whose navel gets wet.
- If treatment for a weeping navel in a newborn does not help - the wound is inflamed and smells bad - consult a doctor immediately.
Conclusion
Newborns are very fragile and sensitive creatures. They have just come into this world, and their entire body, from the skin to the internal organs, is just learning to exist outside the mother’s womb. This is why newborn babies very often experience quite unpleasant, and often dangerous, problems, such as a weeping navel.
If you notice such a problem in your newborn baby, do not panic ahead of time. But you also can’t let everything take its course. Pay due attention to hygiene and belly button care, wash your hands before contacting your baby and, of course, consult your doctor. If you notice and recognize the problem in time, serious consequences can be easily avoided.
Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova
Reading time: 8 minutes
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Article last updated: 04/18/2019
The umbilical cord is an essential intrauterine connection between mother and fetus. All substances required for the growth and development of the child are supplied through it. Immediately after birth, the newborn's body should begin to function independently, so there is no longer a need for an umbilical cord. It is clamped with clamps in two places and cut off at a distance of 2 cm from the baby’s abdomen. The remainder is pinched with a paper clip or tied with silk thread. It is rare that the umbilical cord falls off while still in the maternity hospital; most often, newborns are sent to discharge with a paper clip. 
Of course, young parents have a lot of questions about the navel. How to care for the wound, when it takes on a “normal” appearance, is it possible to bathe the baby, etc.
Falling off of the remaining umbilical cord
First you need to find out when a newborn’s belly button falls off. Of course, everything is individual - for some on the second day, for others on the fifth. The maximum period for the formation of the navel and the falling off of the remainder is 10 days.
If on the tenth day the remnant of the umbilical cord is still in place, or you suspect some kind of pathological process, then you should immediately consult a pediatrician.
Sometimes this happens while changing a diaper or changing the baby's clothes. There is no need to panic - this is a normal situation. At the site of the former umbilical cord, a small but rather deep wound remains, which needs to be properly treated. To do this, you will need a clean pipette, hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green solution and dry, clean wipes. 
First of all, you need to wash your hands well with soap. You can even treat it with some alcohol solution. Everything needs to be done calmly and without sudden movements. The baby needs to be calmed down and placed on his back. If blood oozes from the wound, then you need to press a sterile napkin onto it for a few minutes. When the bleeding stops, use a pipette to drop 3 to 4 drops of peroxide into the navel. Wait a while until it stops hissing and foaming (this is a normal reaction). Then you need to carefully blot the remaining solution with a napkin and apply the brilliant green solution to the entire cavity of the wound.
If the remainder of the umbilical cord has not fallen off completely, then under no circumstances should it be removed forcibly. It is treated in the same way as a regular umbilical wound.
Umbilical wound care
You need to try to keep your navel open as much as possible. For this purpose, you can tuck the edge of the diaper or use panties with a special hole. The healing navel should not be injured under any circumstances. Clothing that comes into contact with this area should be well ironed and free of seams.
You cannot tear off the scabs, pick at the navel, put any bandage on this area or cover it with an adhesive plaster. At best, this will cause a wound that will not heal for a long time, at worst it will lead to complications.
When the remainder of the umbilical cord is still in place, the child should not be bathed to avoid infection. But as soon as the umbilical cord falls off, water procedures can be carried out. The water should be boiled and warm. You should try to avoid direct contact of the umbilical wound with water. It is better to then treat this area separately with a clean, damp sponge.
Each time you finish bathing, you need to re-treat your navel. This should be done as many times a day as water gets on the wound. Just like the very first time, after the umbilical cord falls off, 3% hydrogen peroxide is first instilled, then brilliant green is applied.
All clothing, things and hands touching the umbilical wound should always be clean.
Navel healing process
How can you tell if your belly button has healed or not? First of all, you need to inspect the area of interest. The skin around the umbilical opening should not differ either in temperature or in appearance from the surrounding tissue. Nothing should come out of the wound. Touching the navel does not cause fussing or crying in a newborn. On the Internet you can find many photos of what a normally healed navel should look like. So parents have something to compare with. 
However, there are situations when the process is delayed or even complicated. The main reasons why this trouble happens can be:
- very thick umbilical cord;
- long umbilical remnant;
- improper care;
- prematurity.
When to sound the alarm
If the newborn does not stop bleeding when the umbilical cord falls off. This is a fairly rare situation, since the umbilical vein is no longer functioning. But there are pathological conditions in which slight bleeding may occur. The first thing to do in this case is to press a sterile napkin to the navel and hold it until the doctor arrives. 
Hello, dear readers, today I want to talk about a frequently asked question among new mothers, namely how long does it take for a newborn’s belly button to heal. You will be surprised, but this topic is also relevant for women who have given birth to more than one child.
If in the maternity hospital they forgot to tell you how long it takes for a newborn’s navel to heal, it doesn’t matter - this matter can be fixed. We are a little luckier than our parents, because for any problem we can use the World Wide Web, which, regardless of the time of day, can answer the question that interests us.
The process of falling off the umbilical remnant can be delayed for many reasons, one of the main ones being improper treatment. When mothers go from one extreme to another. Either they begin to forcibly pick out the scabs, lubricating the navel ten times a day, using various antiseptics, or they simply forget that the umbilical wound must be treated in a timely manner.
Many parents are lost in deadlines and do not know how long to treat the newborn’s navel, so even after healing, they continue to lubricate it with brilliant green for a long time.
The period of treatment of the umbilical wound should continue until complete healing. Usually it is 2-3 weeks.
Parents often have a question: “How long should a newborn’s belly button take to heal?” I will answer that each baby has an individual healing period, but on average the whole process can take up to a month. Exceptions may be complications that prolong the healing period.
To ensure that the healing process is not complicated, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules for treating the umbilical wound:
- before handling, do not forget to wash your hands with soap;
- you cannot use antiseptics that are incompatible with each other;
- antiseptics should be no more than two drugs;
- You cannot pick the navel or forcibly remove dried crusts;
- you cannot “tear off” the umbilical remnant yourself, even if it has almost fallen off;
- you need to bathe the child in boiled water and a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate (2-3 drops of a 5% solution of potassium permanganate are added to a bath with boiled water);
- The baby’s clothes must be washed and ironed on both sides, made only from natural materials, without tightening belts or elastic bands;
- during the healing period of the umbilical wound, it is necessary to use special diapers or you can bend the diaper belt to avoid injury to the wound;
- treatment should not be more than twice a day; it is better to treat the umbilical wound after bathing;
- You cannot cover the navel with an adhesive plaster; the umbilical wound should dry, not get wet.
What antiseptics can be used
There is no need to look for something supernatural for quick healing, dear parents. To treat the umbilical wound, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green is enough.
Remember.A solution of hydrogen peroxide is necessary for treating the umbilical wound.
Remember, dear parents, how many days your newborn’s belly button will heal depends on how properly you take care of the umbilical wound. If you notice even the slightest change in the appearance of your navel, consult a specialist immediately. I think my article has clarified the questions that interest you, now a small navel will not be so scary and shocking.
Video gallery
What is the best way to treat a newborn's belly button? - Doctor Komarovsky
While in the mother's tummy, the fetus receives all the necessary nutrients, as well as oxygen through the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord is a cord with an average length of 50 - 60 cm, connecting the placenta and the baby. During childbirth, blood still circulates and carries oxygen to the baby. After the baby is born, the umbilical cord continues to pulsate and perform its important functions. But the doctor almost immediately attaches a special bracket or clothespin to it and cuts the established connection.
Some doctors wait until the pulsation stops before cutting the umbilical cord. This is a correct and wise decision, due to the fact that if the baby is quickly separated from his usual nutrition and oxygen supply, the baby can get anemia. Therefore, before cutting the umbilical cord, many specialists "cord" wait at least five minutes. From now on, the baby independently begins to breathe oxygen, eat and get rid of waste products. Instead of a long umbilical cord, the baby can now see a small appendage of a few centimeters with a clothespin on it.
After some time, this process will dry out and fall off, and in its place there will be a navel, which will remind of unity with the mother. Some maternity hospitals have a different scheme for removing the umbilical cord. Doctors do not wait for the two-centimeter process to dry out and fall off, but use a scalpel to cut it off themselves. An umbilical wound is formed at the site, on which a protective bandage is applied. But according to some experts, such actions pose a serious threat to the baby’s psyche.
Regardless of the method used to cut the umbilical cord in the maternity hospital, mommy should know.
Manipulations that will help heal the navel of a newborn in the shortest possible time:
- When using a disposable diaper, make sure that it does not touch or rub against the navel. To do this, you need to purchase specially made low-waist diapers for infants, or fasten the fastener of an ordinary diaper a little lower.
- Diapers or the baby's first clothes during this period must strictly comply with the standards and be made only from natural fabrics.
- There is no need to neglect air baths. Keeping your baby undressed helps prevent diaper rash and promote rapid healing of the umbilical wound. Procedures should be carried out at least 2-3 times a day and start with 2 minutes. In the future, the air baths should be gradually extended until they reach 10-15 minutes.
- The navel does not contain nerve endings, and the mother does not need to worry that the process of treating the navel of a newborn will cause pain.
- Previously, there was an opinion that in order for a newborn’s navel to acquire a beautiful shape and appearance, it was necessary to apply a coin to it or cover it with a plaster. There is no need to do this under any circumstances. Such actions can harm the baby’s health and lead to a situation where medical help is no longer necessary.
During the first 3-4 days, the residue, if any, gradually dries out. Then the remainder falls off. This action occurs independently and there is no need to interfere with this process. The umbilical cord, as a rule, disappears on the 3rd day and this fact does not depend on the height, weight, or gender of the baby. Over the next 7 - 20 days, the wound itself dries out, and on days 21 - 28 you can see a completely healed navel. Children are individual, and therefore the time frame for healing of the navel may vary, but if there is a delay in healing by at least 3 days, then you should immediately consult a pediatrician.
How to treat a newborn's navel
In the maternity hospital, treatment is carried out once a day, and only if the navel is problematic, it is treated 2-3 times. An antiseptic (potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide or brilliant green) is applied to the navel. Upon discharge from the maternity hospital, care for the healing of a newborn’s navel falls on the parents’ shoulders.
How to properly treat a newborn's navel
Recently, some doctors have recommended a method of treating the navel with only water and cotton swabs. Such doctors are categorically against brilliant green and other antiseptics. Many specialists are perplexed by this approach, and they subject it to strong criticism. Cotton swabs by themselves are not sterile, and pathogenic microbes can remain in boiled water. In addition, plain water is not a bactericidal agent and will not dry out the umbilical wound. Therefore, mothers should think more than once before trusting such an erroneous opinion and doing without antiseptics.
An antiseptic is applied to the navel of a newborn at least once a day. If there are no complications or deviations, then these procedures will take an average of 2 to 3 weeks.
Doctors advise using the following antiseptic medications to treat the wound:
- hydrogen peroxide solution (3%);
- brilliant green solution (1%);
- ethyl alcohol (70%);
- chlorophyllipt solution;
- potassium permanganate solution (5%).
Chlorophyllipt is especially valued among doctors. After all, it does not have a pronounced color like brilliant green or potassium permanganate. Therefore, if the inflammatory process begins, it will be noticeable immediately. In rare cases, experts may recommend using arnica powder to heal the navel. This product is also an antiseptic, and also has a quick drying property. If the navel is treated with this powder, then you need to put a sterile bandage on it and put on a medical mesh to secure it. When the navel does not go away for a long time (it bleeds or gets wet), doctors may prescribe a drug Baneocin. But this remedy cannot be used for more than a week. 
The most best time to treat navel
- this is the time after water procedures. Typically, bathing a newborn is done in the evening before bed. It is recommended to boil water for bathing a newborn. It should be remembered that adding a decoction of herbs or other herbs to raw bathing water does not guarantee its disinfection. Rather, herbal decoctions are added as additional ingredients for the prevention of diaper rash (chamomile, nettle) and colic (hop cones, motherwort), as well as calming the baby before bed (lavender, mint). In this case, potassium permanganate can be added to the water as an antiseptic. After bathing, the crust will soften and it will be much easier to handle.
How to carry out the navel treatment process:
- First, the mother or other family member who will carry out the cleaning procedures needs to wash their hands with soap.
- The treatment most likely takes place after bathing, so you should carefully and very delicately blot the navel area with a soft towel, or better yet, a flannel diaper. A clothespin on the belly button can complicate this process. In this case, you should carefully blot and dry the area under the clothespin to prevent your navel from getting wet.
- Take a few drops of hydrogen peroxide into a pipette and drop it onto your navel. If there is a clothespin, then you need to carefully tilt it to the side so that the drops of peroxide fall exactly on the area of the navel and the existing appendage. If you wait a while, the peroxide may begin to foam. There is nothing scary in this process. The hissing of peroxide will be observed until the baby has a completely healed navel.
- With a cotton swab, you should very carefully remove that part of the crusts that comes off well. Under no circumstances should you forcibly tear off the scabs and insert the stick deep into the wound. The moment will come and all the crusts will come off the navel.
- You can drop some more peroxide and wait for it to dry.
- Moisten a new cotton swab with brilliant green and blot the navel area with it.
Until the wound on the navel heals, it is forbidden to touch this area with your hands. In this way, you can very quickly introduce microbes onto it, which in turn will quickly penetrate the child’s bloodstream and lead to complications.
If a newborn’s navel does not heal for a long time, and purulent discharge is also visible, then you should immediately seek help from a specialist.
A very common reason for this is injury from a diaper. Firstly, the diaper may rub against the belly button, causing damage, and secondly, it may be very congested with urine, which leaks towards the belly button. To avoid such problems, you need to change the diaper as it gets dirty, on average every 3 hours for a newborn, and also make sure that it does not touch the navel area (purchase diapers with a special umbilical notch for the first month, or fold the front edge of a regular diaper).
What to do when a newborn’s belly button bleeds?
It is acceptable if in the first days after removal of the umbilical cord. But when the navel does not heal for a long time and bloody discharge is also visible, then you should pay more careful attention to this fact and perhaps reconsider the hygiene procedures for the newborn. Perhaps mom made a mistake somewhere.
Common reasons why the navel bleeds:
- The baby's navel does not heal because it does not have enough air baths and the wound simply does not have time to dry out.
- It is possible that the baby has a wider navel, and this circumstance contributes to the fact that it takes more time to heal than a wound from a narrower umbilical cord.
- The wound is injured by a disposable diaper.
- A newborn’s navel may not heal due to poor quality umbilical cord cutting.
- It is possible that the parents are rushing things and placing the baby on their tummy. Experts recommend laying out no earlier than the baby is three months old.
- The navel may not heal for a long time if the mother is very zealous with its treatment and forcibly removes more crusts than she should. Thus, some tissues do not have time to dry out, while others do not have time to form.
- When treated with cotton swabs, a very small lint may remain in the navel, thereby contributing to the inflammatory process. In this case, the newborn’s navel will not heal for a very long time.
- The baby's immune system is weakened.
- There may be an umbilical hernia present.
If parents notice that the newborn’s belly button is bleeding heavily and an extremely unpleasant odor is felt, then these are signs of incipient inflammation. You should seek help from your pediatrician as soon as possible.
When the navel bleeds due to improper hygiene, then by eliminating possible errors in the treatment of the navel and proper access of air to the wound, it will soon heal. If the baby has a weakened immune system, has a hernia or a foreign body in the wound, then medical help cannot be avoided. In cases where blood is still oozing from the navel on the 21st day of cord cutting, you should pay attention to whether there are other symptoms. Namely:
- increased temperature and swelling in the navel area;
- unpleasant odor and possible discharge of pus;
- strong protrusion of the navel.
If you detect at least one symptom, you should immediately consult a doctor for treatment.
What to do if your navel gets wet
Often, a weeping navel can be observed due to non-compliance with hygiene rules. For example:
- Non-sterile materials were used during processing.
- Water procedures are carried out in unboiled water.
- Mom's hands were dirty when processing.
- The baby's clothes are rough or poorly ironed.
When the wound gets infected, this leads to the fact that the navel does not heal for a long time. At the same time, liquid begins to accumulate in it, and as a result, it gets wet. Increased humidity in the navel area provokes redness of the skin around it, swelling, development of pus under crusts and soreness in this part. When this unpleasant situation begins to progress, you should consult a doctor for the right treatment. As a rule, the doctor will advise sanitation of the navel more than once a day; treatment may be needed every 2-3 hours. When the navel gets very wet, the place of hydrogen peroxide will be taken by Baneocin powder, potassium permanganate, alcohol solution or streptocide. Before using these products, the wound should be rid of pus and excess fluid. Air baths need to be performed more often than usual and for longer periods of time. Mom should not neglect the advice and recommendations of the doctor, otherwise you can get serious complications in the health of the baby. It could be:
- Sepsis is blood poisoning.
- Peritonitis is an inflammatory process of the abdominal cavity.
- Omphalitis is an inflammatory process due to infection of the umbilical wound.
In this case, you cannot self-medicate.
What does a healed baby's navel look like?
To the question - , there is no clear answer, since this period is considered individual for each case. Usually, by the age of two months, and often much earlier, the baby’s navel is completely healed. At the same time, it does not stand out in color from the rest of the tissues of the tummy, does not bleed, does not emit moisture and does not shine, and its contours have a clear and smooth surface.
Sometimes parents begin to sound the alarm when they see that the healed navel is sticking out very much. If protrusion occurs only when crying or straining, then most likely it will go away over time as soon as the muscles get stronger and return to normal. No special treatment is required. If the navel protrudes all the time and there is skin surrounding it, then this is a feature of the navel that does not require treatment.
Is handling a newborn's belly button a concern? Information from the article will help a young mother to be more confident in herself.
Treating the umbilical wound is the first mandatory procedure that a young mother must learn to perform while still in the maternity hospital. For some women, it causes fear and uncertainty, because the newborn is still so small and fragile.
There is no need to panic and get lost; usually, there is nothing difficult in manipulating the navel. If it happens that the umbilical wound begins to bleed or become wet, together with the pediatrician you will definitely be able to solve this emergency situation.
What does a newborn's belly button look like?
During pregnancy, the organisms of the fetus and mother are inextricably linked by the umbilical cord. Through this smooth and elastic cord, 50-70 cm in length, the child breathes and feeds.
At the time of birth, the umbilical cord consists of:
- umbilical arteries (there are two of these vessels)
- umbilical vein (it is through it that blood enriched with oxygen and nutrients enters the fetus)
- Wharton's jelly (its function is to protect the umbilical vessels)
Even during the process of childbirth, under the influence of the hormone oxytocin, to which Wharton’s jelly reacts, the umbilical vessels narrow, and umbilical cord atrophy begins.
But when the baby is born, the functions of the placenta have not yet been lost, the umbilical cord pulsates, and the baby still breathes through it and receives the remaining nutrients. For some time, seconds or minutes, the newborn is in so-called double breathing - he receives oxygen through the umbilical cord and through his own respiratory organs.
IMPORTANT: Doctors are engaged in heated debates about when it is best to cut the umbilical cord, finally separating the child’s body from the mother’s. Some believe that this should be done immediately after birth, others - at the moment when the umbilical vessels stop pulsating. Each side has its own arguments. But in both cases the process is carried out in the same sequence
Following the rules of asepsis and antiseptics, the doctor places a special clamp on the placenta at a distance of approximately 2 cm from the newborn’s tummy, after which he cuts the umbilical cord. The remaining umbilical cord is first treated with alcohol in the delivery room.
A small tail remains on the baby’s tummy, which will soon atrophy, dry out and fall off. And if the mother is able to provide the umbilical wound with proper care, the baby will have a neat navel in the future.
VIDEO: Caring for the umbilical wound of a newborn
When does a newborn's belly button fall off?
In childhood, the end of the umbilical cord (stump) falls off 2–14 days after the birth of the child. This should happen spontaneously.
IMPORTANT: Previously, women stayed in maternity hospitals for 7-8 days, or until the umbilical stump fell off. It is no secret that doctors often “facilitated” this event by removing the remnants of the umbilical cord with scissors or a scalpel. By such actions they endangered the baby's health.
Under no circumstances should the umbilical cord fall off:
- If this happens until the vessels are completely mummified, the navel in the form of an open wound will become the “entrance door” for all kinds of infections to enter the baby’s body
- There are cases when intestinal rings get into the umbilical cord. You don’t have to talk about the consequences that will happen if you cut it off
Today, young mothers and newborns, if everything is fine with them, are discharged on the third day after birth. Therefore, in most cases, the umbilical stump in babies falls off at home.
Before discharge, the nursing staff should instruct the woman about how to care for her newborn's umbilicus. The pediatrician or visiting nurse, who will visit her at home in the first days, should tell her about this.
IMPORTANT: Before the baby end of the umbilical cord falls off, it is better to put him in special diapers for newborns with a cutout for the navel
When does a newborn's belly button heal?
Normally, a child's umbilical wound should heal 2-3 weeks after the stump falls off, or by the end of the first month of life.
How many times should I treat a newborn's navel? How to properly treat a newborn's navel?
The rules for caring for the umbilical wound and the manipulations that promote its healing are simple. Young mothers master them very quickly, bringing their actions to automaticity.
Navel treatment is a daily procedure for a baby in the first month of his life. So, in order for the baby’s umbilical wound to heal safely and quickly, parents should:
IMPORTANT: If the mother notices that the baby’s belly button is taking too long to heal, it is inflamed or bleeding, or lumps have appeared in its area, you need to call a pediatrician
Why does a newborn's belly button bleed? What to do?
If the baby's navel bleeds a little during the first few days after the stump falls off, there is nothing to worry about. The natural healing process of the wound occurs. If it continues to bleed after 7 days or longer, this is a pathological condition, formed due to the following reasons:
- Thick placenta and umbilical cord. In this case, healing occurs more slowly
- Mechanical damage. The crust on the umbilical ring can be removed due to negligence while changing clothes, bathing, or treating the navel. The baby himself can rip it off while lying on his tummy. The crust can also come off due to friction with the diaper.
- The umbilical wound became infected. The mother should be alerted to the unpleasant odor of ichor escaping from the navel, the presence of purulent discharge, redness and hyperemia of the skin around the umbilical ring, an increase in the baby’s temperature, and a general deterioration in his condition. The baby may have purulent omphalitis - infectious inflammation of the bottom of the umbilical wound
Pus in a baby's navel is a sign of infection. - Umbilical hernia. A sure sign of it is that during crying, coughing, and other physical exertion, the baby’s navel protrudes and increases to the size of a walnut.
IMPORTANT: Sometimes, in order for the navel to stop bleeding, it is enough for the mother to change the tactics of caring for it. But there are times when a child needs qualified medical care. Therefore, if blood is released from the umbilical wound for longer than 5-7 days, the baby should be shown to a doctor
Why does a newborn's navel get wet? What to do?
- If there is serous discharge from the umbilical wound, it is said that the baby’s navel is getting wet
- This can happen for the same reasons why the wound at the site of the fallen umbilical stump bleeds
- A wet navel must also be treated, otherwise serous discharge will create a favorable environment for the proliferation of microorganisms that cause disease
How to smear the navel of a newborn?
The pharmacy has a lot of products for treating a newborn’s navel. For preventive purposes the following is used:
- brilliant green solution
- potassium permanganate
- decoction of string
Zelenka is a classic remedy for treating the navel. To prevent the umbilical wound from bleeding due to infection, use:
- chlorophyllipt solution
- ethyl alcohol
- local antibiotic baneocin
- other medications prescribed by your doctor
Chlorophyllipt is an antiseptic for treating the umbilical wound. VIDEO: What is the best way to treat a newborn's belly button? — Dr. Komarovsky
