navel gunk

[toughcookie]

i couldn't find a better forum to post this in, so...

my 7 month old has this dried gunk in his navel. it looks like very old dried blood. it doesn't smell bad at all, just trying to figure out what this is and how to best remove it without having a sobbing child on my hands.

thanks.

[Knitting Mama]

Maybe a q-tip and water? That's what I would try first. I can almost turn Cecilia's belly button inside out (she has an innie) by pressing lightly around it, and that helps me keep it clean.

[Mom2M]

My DD does too and she just turned 8 months! I keep trying to get the washcloth all around as far in as it will go but it never goes away.

[memz]

My DD also has some left in her navel and she is 6 months. What I did a couples weeks ago. I put coconut oil in her navel and then took a q-tip, washcloth and was able to clean some of it. The coconut oil seemed to help soften it...anyway I had to stop before I was done cause DD didn't want me in there anymore So anyway, I will have to try again soon...

[toughcookie]

at the last diaper change i went in with a q-tip sprayed with our homemade wipes solution, which is basically water, canola oil, and a touch of Baby Bee. that broke up a lot of it, but clearly i'll have to attack the rest in a couple more sessions.

my boy thought it was hilarious, so that helps!

[ErinYay]

Vivi has this, too! (7.5 months.)

:s head

I've been ignoring it, as it doesn't smell or otherwise worry me. *Should* I be messing with it?!

[texaspeach]

ds had some gunk in his bb, I cleaned it out with a qtip while he was asleep. his bb opened up and turned out to be much deeper than I thought it was. I momentarily worried that his guts were going to fall out

[toughcookie]

Originally Posted by ErinYay

I've been ignoring it, as it doesn't smell or otherwise worry me. *Should* I be messing with it?!

oh, if it doesn't bug you, i'm sure that at some point it'll work it's way out. it just was bugging me, kinda like when he has visible earwax -- i need to get it so i can look at my pristine baby -- other than the drool and the pea residue on his cheek!

[ErinYay]

Originally Posted by toughcookie

oh, if it doesn't bug you, i'm sure that at some point it'll work it's way out. it just was bugging me, kinda like when he has visible earwax -- i need to get it so i can look at my pristine baby -- other than the drool and the pea residue on his cheek!

lol, the last 3 things keep me busy enough! I can deal with what I can't see!

[Mom2M]

Originally Posted by texaspeach

ds had some gunk in his bb, I cleaned it out with a qtip while he was asleep. his bb opened up and turned out to be much deeper than I thought it was. I momentarily worried that his guts were going to fall out

Ha ha, I get really strange visions like that too!

[N&M]

Originally Posted by toughcookie

oh, if it doesn't bug you, i'm sure that at some point it'll work it's way out.

Well, I wasn't planning on sharing this with anyone (except DH who happened to be there when I noticed), but here goes...!

I have a very deep innie. As my pregnancy w/ DD progressed and my bb starting pushing out (it never fully popped), some brown crusty gunk from way down deep was revealed. I was pretty grossed out and tortured my poor bb w/ a q-tip until it was clean. I figured it had been in there since my birth!

So, I too have been trying to clean out DD's, but she doesn't love it and it's really deep in the wrinkles. Maybe I should just leave it for her to discover when she's pregnant?

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by n&m

maybe i should just leave it for her to discover when she's pregnant?

lol

eta: are you my mother??

[leam811]

DD had a little stash of...something crusty...in her navel for, uh, quite a while. I couldn't figure out how to get at it well enough, but eventually it sort of surfaced, and one day I was able to just pull it off all at once (eew, I mean, really!).

N&M - hilarious and gross! I must say that after pregnancy, my (innie) belly button is shaped differently, and is now easier to clean.

[toughcookie]

this thread has turned much more entertaining than i expected! love it...

[mumkimum]

Just the other day here, I was changing dd2 and happenned to notice something really odd looking in her bb - looked almost like dried pus and I was like 'omg, she's 4 mo, is something wrong with her bb? how could I not have noticed this!!'. I got it out and realized it was food that I'd probably dropped down her clothes somehow. oops.

[Plarka]

Originally Posted by texaspeach

his bb opened up and turned out to be much deeper than I thought it was. I momentarily worried that his guts were going to fall out

I had the same exact thing with my baby! It freaked me out.