Belly button cord concern

ashleygray89 · July 2016

So my baby boy is 2 weeks and 3 days his cord has not fallen off.. and boy it smells like something rotten. It didn't look bad and was not having drainage. But I went ahead and took him to the pediatrician she said it is not infected and a little odor is normal. But we weren't getting down in there good just taking a q tip and going around the edge of it with alcohol. But I have started to try to pull his belly button down and get in there with alcohol pads just hard when he's kicking and screaming. Kid hates diaper changes,baths, anything in that sort. But anyway I'm just curious if anyone else's us taking this long and just smells awful? I can smell it thru his sleepwear... it makes it so hard to hold him and love on him bc I'm still so sensitive to smells even this long after pregnancy.

ashkee05 · July 2016

Hmm I was told to not do anything to my sons. Just make sure it stays dry. His took 3 weeks to completely clear off. Never smelled though, good luck momma

adiaz132003 · July 2016

DSs took 4 days for the stump to come off but forever for it to heal. The final scab fell off two days ago and DS is 4 weeks today. And yeah it smelled.

Goocran17 · July 2016

My pedi actually told me that cleaning with alcohol can make it last longer, so I would switch to just water in hopes that it will fall off faster.

AmberLiz99 · July 2016

I was told to not do anything to it, and just keep it dry. Hers fell of at 2 weeks, but she still has a little bit that needs to heal/detach

adiaz132003 · July 2016

Try keeping your LO in T-shirt rather than onsies so air can get it better.

laurendiaz02 · July 2016

My sons took about 2 weeks to fall off. We were told not to do anything except keep it dry. And yes it smelled rotten!

egirl1025 · July 2016

My son's took just over two weeks. I did nothing special to it except keep it dry. I don't recall it smelling but it did bleed a little bit here and there. The nurses trimmed it super short before we left the hospital so maybe that helped? Either way, a bulk came off at his two week appointment and the remaining scab within the next week.

bray1214 · July 2016

DD Took about 10 days to come off. And another 10 for any remaining dead skin. Hospital told me not to do anything to it but leave it exposed as possible. We had her in a long sleeve shirt (we got them from the hospital, I took a bunch she's a month old and still wearing them. It's great for diaper changes and a quick change if she pukes.) and swaddled. It's semi chili in my room so the long sleeves are a plus if she escapes the swaddle and it has Mitts so no face scratching.

huskypuppy14 · July 2016

egirl1025 said:

My son's took just over two weeks. I did nothing special to it except keep it dry. I don't recall it smelling but it did bleed a little bit here and there. The nurses trimmed it super short before we left the hospital so maybe that helped? Either way, a bulk came off at his two week appointment and the remaining scab within the next week.

Ditto for me. I know other moms who said their kid's cord smelled, but my son's did not. 2 weeks 3 days isn't that long. We were told to keep it dry so only sponge baths until it came off.

purplefan1 · July 2016

I concur. Dry dry dry. Some research has shown that, although alcohol was recommended before, it actually turns out that it wad prolonging healing by multiple days. And if you get it wet when giving spongebaths, dry it like crazy and air it out a lot. Luckily it's super hot out most places, so just let baby lounge around in diaper and air out. It will come off soon!!

trythebleucheese · July 2016

It took just shy of 3 weeks with this one, and 2 and a half weeks with my first. I made sure to get in there good with the q-tips and alcohol. Mine never smelled, but I've heard of others smelling rotten. I'm guessing it's normal.

Want a personalized experience?

Belly button cord concern

Re: Belly button cord concern

Choose Another Board

Search Boards