STM's - Umbilical Cord Stumps?

emilyp2013 · October 2014

What did you do to care for the stump? What did you do with the stump once it was off? And what did you do to care for the wound?

elleswarth · October 2014

I don't remember doing anything to it, threw it out when it came off and continued not to do anything other than make sure it stayed dry and clean. It isn't much of a wound.

honeybeee3 · October 2014

It's pretty simple, all you have to do is keep it dry and clean. I gave DS sponge baths(only) for the first couple weeks in order to avoid getting the stump wet. I cleaned the area with warm water on a Q-tip during diaper changes- I never used rubbing alcohol. Sometimes the diaper would need to be folded down so it wasn't covering the stump. It needs to "breath" so it's important that it's not covered and is exposed to the air.

I think it took a little less than two weeks to fall off and I continued to clean it regularly until it healed completely.

Aillise · October 2014

I didn't submerge him in baths the first couple weeks. I sponge/washcloth bathed him making sure to avoid umbilical cord. Also i would have to fold DS diapers before securing the tabs of the diaper to fhe front. But now they make ones that you dont have to do this with. A few times it had a little pus and I dabbed it with a dry cotton ball. Within about a week or so the umbilical cord shrivels up and then falls off.

AlfiesMOM · October 2014

We kept it clean by doing spunge baths and just wiping the area. It gets pretty gross at the end and then one day it falls off! I want to say it was a little over a week.!

BookitBoo · October 2014

Kept it clean and dry like everyone else said. It fell off 15 days after he was born.

FitmomJess · October 2014

My DD's never fell off so at her 1 month appointment the Dr. had to remove it. I forget how she did it though.

llambrose · October 2014

We were told to keep it clean and dry and to use rubbing alcohol on it to help dry it. I can't remember when it came off.

UberBiz · October 2014

PP's have already said everything relevant to the subject on keeping it clean and whatnot... My daughter's fell off before we left the hospital (4 days) so I never had to 'care' for it. My son's took a full 2 weeks before it fell off and I think I was TOO gentle with it, cuz it was kinda pussy toward the end, but I was so afraid of hurting him!

[Deleted User] · October 2014

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longcat07 · October 2014

yup, clean and dry, sponge baths till it falls off. nothing else. i didn't even have to fold down his diapers, because the size NB and 1 diapers that i had (a mix of pampers and huggies) have a cutout for it. DS's came off after about 15 days...i opened up his sleeper and onesie for a diaper change and it was just floating around in his clothes, lol.

one thing to note is that it might take longer to come off with winter babies. DS was born at the very end of march during a warm spell, so he was usually just in a onesie/sleeper and swaddled in a light flannel receiving blanket. my BFF's oldest was born the january before and she had to keep him wrapped pretty good because their house was drafty, so it took longer for it to dry out completely and fall off (almost 5 weeks, in fact...never got infected though, so nothing to worry about).

LaBellaVida · October 2014

I used rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball. Just make sure you keep it dry.
All my kids stumps fell off within the first week.

FFTC- I kept my kids stumps. They are in their baby book. I don't find it gross at all.

Trek3 · October 2014

I think with our first we were told sponge baths only, and with our second they said it is fine if it gets wet as long as it can dry afterwords so we just did regular baths from the beginning.

We were told no alcohol.

I think as long as you aren't yanking on it, it will heal and come off in its own time. If it starts to ooze or smell funky, get it checked out by your doctor.

Maebb · October 2014

@honeybeee3 covered what I was going to say about caring for it. Fold down the diaper, keep it clean, etc. The hospital will (should) provide instructions.

DS' fell off at 7 days. I remember because DS was being awake and fussy at our first try at newborn photos, so the photographer took some photos but then said to come back the next day. So some of our photos have the stump and some not because it fell off that night.

We definitely didn't keep it. That reminds me of the foreskin scene from "Meet the Fockers" - gross!

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