Does/did your baby have a herniated belly button?

bjlucas1 · February 2013

Good morning all- my baby has a herniated belly button and the doctor said it would probably get better on its own. Does anyone have experience with this? If your baby's belly button started to improve independently when did it occur? My babe is 8 weeks old as of today and there is no signs of improvement yet. Thanks!

genmccarley · February 2013

My sister did as a baby. They said it would heal itself by age 4. It never did so she had surgery on it in kindergarten.

kelly321 · February 2013

DD1 had one - a fairly common preemie issue. My pedi said if it hadn't gone away by the time she was 2 then there was a minor surgery they would do to correct it. It went away on its own I think when she was about 7-8 months old. I knew another mom whose DD had one and it went away when she was about 3-4 months old. Occasionally (you don't need to do it at every diaper change, but at least once every few days) you should push the hernia back in to make sure you still can. It will pop right back out when LO moves / pushes, but if at any point it gets hard and/or you can't push it back in, then you need to call your pedi asap.

rjeller32 · February 2013

DD1 had a herniated belly button, it was a pretty bad one, probably as wide as a poker chip and an inch tall. Hers didn't get better until she was probably 6 months old. Our pedi told us to make sure to check it often, to see if we could push all the liquid back into her belly to make sure no intestines would get caught in it, otherwise we would have to take her to the hospital. We did actually start taping it down with a poker chip, and that's when it started to heal. Now she is 2, and it is completely healed, but she still has a lot of extra skin, like a giant outie belly button. We are planning to get cosmetic surgery on it when she is 5, which is the earliest a surgeon will do it. It's hard because she likes to play with it, and it gets really sore and red, I wish we could fix it for her now, but as long as she is healthy I am happy. I don't know how old your LO is, but just give it time and it should heal up, but like I said it may never go back down to a completely normal size.

bjlucas1 · February 2013

thank you for the responses!

kelly321 · February 2013

rjeller32:
DD1 had a herniated belly button, it was a pretty bad one, probably as wide as a poker chip and an inch tall. Hers didn't get better until she was probably 6 months old. Our pedi told us to make sure to check it often, to see if we could push all the liquid back into her belly to make sure no intestines would get caught in it, otherwise we would have to take her to the hospital. We did actually start taping it down with a poker chip, and that's when it started to heal. Now she is 2, and it is completely healed, but she still has a lot of extra skin, like a giant outie belly button. We are planning to get cosmetic surgery on it when she is 5, which is the earliest a surgeon will do it. It's hard because she likes to play with it, and it gets really sore and red, I wish we could fix it for her now, but as long as she is healthy I am happy. I don't know how old your LO is, but just give it time and it should heal up, but like I said it may never go back down to a completely normal size.

After reading this I just wanted to add that my DD now still has an outie, also, but there's no issue with extra skin. I'm sorry that your DD's is still bothering her. :-/

lilkittielvr · February 2013

thx for posting this! my daughter has one and ive read its not too big a deal, but still concerning for me. our pedo said it should go away on its own, but it just seems so big and angry especially when shes crying! haha

aimkins · February 2013

My LO does. It is freaky to look at! Her pediatrician said it's absolutely nothing to worry about and like others have said, if it doesn't go away on its own, she'll have to have surgery around her first Birthday.

Ndejesus29 · February 2013

My daughter was was about 7 weeks when this happened to her. Her pediatrician said it typically goes away by 1 ... And it was completely normal by about 13 weeks, thankfully. Every baby is different; knowing that it wasn't causing her any pain and is somewhat common was comforting. Don't stress it!!

maryhauth · February 2013

My son had one also his was completely normal at about 4 months, it was very large like the size of a ping pong ball from about 1-3 months and then slowly started to go away. My husband also had one when he was little and his needed surgery when he was 2 years old, not his belly button is a small indent with a vertical scar in the middle of it, it looks a little funny but not everyone's goes away. Just make sure you keep an eye on your babies and it's size and hardness.

buffyverrban1 · February 2013

My DD had one. Her's went away between 6-9 Months. (Shrinking by 6, you'd never know by 9).

Very common, most heal within a year or two. They told me they'd do surgery when she was 4 if it didn't correct itself by then.

jelly0822 · February 2013

DD has/had one. It started getting better around 10 weeks or so, and she's 12 weeks now, and it stays down pretty much all the time. the only time I notice it going up is when she's straining from pooping or crying!

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