umbilical cord stump

[FuzzyOne]

dd still has her umbilical cord stump - she is three weeks old. the pediatrician said last week if it hadn't fallen off by thursday or friday of this week she wants to see her. i don't feel like taking her back in if it's not necessary. it's not exhibiting any signs of infection at this point. ds's fell off around nine days. i've never heard of one staying on this long. do any of you have any insights into this?

[Synchro246]

nak

how r u treating/not treating it?
what type of diapers/clothes is she wearing?

[momto l&a]

I have never heard of one staying on so long either.

My kids have all fallen off in 1-4 days.

I used to use goldenseal powder and that dried up the stump so it fell off in a day. This time i used nothing and it took 4 days.

[FuzzyOne]

we are putting alcohol at the base. we weren't doing a great job initially (not on purpose) but are being much more careful now to get to the botton. it looks better.

she is wearing just light cotton pants and tops or cotton onesies. she has been wearing pampers swaddlers disposables and i just started her on cloth diapers today.

sounds like you guys might think i should take her back into the pediatrician?

[koru]

it's probably taking so long to fall off because of the alcohol. it's actually been proven that even the tiniest bit of moisture from the alcohol prolongs the stump from falling off. deep it dry, dry dry & i see no need to take your babe back to the ped unless it looks red & swollen or infected in some way.

[BrooklynDoula]

We did nothing both times and it came off at 5 days. Have you given her baths? or used lotions? That could also make it take longer.

[jessma]

DS is ten days old, and hasn't lost his yet either... we saw the ped for his first well baby visit on Tuesday, and she didn't comment on it at all. We aren't doing anything for it - just leaving it open to air. He's wearing pampers and t-shirts, and the occasional open bottom nightie.

[FuzzyOne]

nope - she hasn't had a bath and i've used no lotions on her. the cord has been kept dry. the alcohol should have an additional drying affect while also keeping the cord as sterile as possible. i'm really puzzled by this. she is 22 days old today. it doesn't appear to be infected...

[Synchro246]

I would stick with the disposables until it falls off because it's too hard to keep it good and dry with most cloth. Also I'd stick with the shirts and pants more than the onesies so that it can get some more air.

I used a hair dryer on a low setting from about two or three feet away at diaper changes a couple times a day. I'd probably ditch the alcohol or only do it once a day with the hair dryer after so it's not staying moist.

[Mamma Mia]

Actually, it's not the moisture from the alcohol that keeps it from falling off. Alcohol tears down newly grown tissue. When you use alcohol to clean a wound regularly, you are tearing the new tissue down, slowing the healing process and building up extra scar tissue. Alcohol is highly unsuitable for cleaning any wound. Perhaps the very first cleaning of a scrape if you have nothing else- but repeated use does more damage than good. I would discontinue it and use nothing. Keep the area clean and dry and it will heal on it it's own.

It'll be over soon and you'll forget it was ever a big deal. Also, belly button funk smell isn't a sign of infection. It's like the smell behind your ears or inside your own belly button. Don't let it fool you!

[FuzzyOne]

ok...weird...so, i'll discontinue the alcohol use. it's just that's what the pedi has been having us use - those little squares that are soaked in alcohol. i have also gone back to disposables for the time being.

i didn't actually think this was a big deal until nobody i have spoken to has ever heard of the cord staying on this long...

[Synchro246]

Originally Posted by Mamma Mia

Also, belly button funk smell isn't a sign of infection. It's like the smell behind your ears or inside your own belly button. Don't let it fool you!

: I wish someone had told me that before I had a minor freak out about my ds's button. I was doing nothing, it stunk, I freaked out a bit and it came off at the one week mark. (my first I did alcohol, it never smelled and it came off at the two week mark)
My husband did the research to see if my worries were well founded and he discovered that although the do-nothing route does result in quicker fall off that many practitioners recomend the alcohol route just because "most parents don't like the smell". True, I didn't like the smell, but it would have been nice to know it was NORMAL!

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by FuzzyOne

ok...weird...so, i'll discontinue the alcohol use. it's just that's what the pedi has been having us use - those little squares that are soaked in alcohol. i have also gone back to disposables for the time being.

i didn't actually think this was a big deal until nobody i have spoken to has ever heard of the cord staying on this long...

yes stop with the alcohol, new evidence based practice is to leave the cord alone if its not showing signs of infection I wouldn't go to the dr and I wouldn't worry about it, my kids cords took a long time to fall off my first son somewhere in the 3 weeks range (I was using alcohol with him) the other kids fell off sooner, but I believe because they were under the warmers in the nicu dried it out real quick

[MoonStarFalling]

We used the alcohol as instructed with DS and his stayed on for almost a month . We used nothing this time and it's been 11 days and is still sort of moist at the base so I'm going to put some goldenseal on it.

[Krystal323]

i did alcohol with my first two, and Ian's stayed on for three weeks-ish, Lili's for about two. Claire's fell off at 5 days, and I didn't use alcohol this time but goldenseal powder. gtg, will post more later!!

[MoonStarFalling]

I put the goldenseal on last night and it fell off a few hrs later! yay

[ewins24]

I don't remember about our older dd (she's 13) but dd #2 her stump stayed on for about a month. I did the alcohol w/ her like the dr sd and boy did it STINK! This time I didn't do anything and while it did kinda smell at the end it fell off in about a week. In the end I did use some tea tree oil for the smell but that was it.

Good luck sweetie

[Munchkimo]

nak

goldenseal...just open the capsule and sprinkle some on?

TIA

[emiLy]

My kids' stayed on a little long - like 9 days or so and Henry was 10 or 11. I didn't do anything to it, but I do use cloth so it doesn't stay super dry. When I mentioned it to my friend, she said that she had heard that a few people in our town had had to have their babies cut off because they "never" fell off. I don't know how long after birth they cut them off, and neither does she.

Henry's didn't/hasn't completley closed up and my doctor said that she can cauterize it with some silver nitrate. I think it's a freezing type thing they do to warts. We aren't sure if it needs to be done so we're just waiting and seeing. It keeps improving so I figure I'll just keep waiting.

[richella]

Kiran's just fell off today,and it doesn't look closed up. At the 48 hr visit the nurse said it looked good, though. Glad to know it's normal though to fall off this early (6 days), dd1's took a couple weeks and yes we used alcohol, but not this time.