28.03.2024

Baby navel care

Caring for the umbilical wound of a newborn is simple and should not cause difficulties.

Need to adhere to the rules:

No need to help fall off the umbilical cord – the process should occur naturally.

  • In order for the wound to heal well, it is necessary to provide air access. You need to arrange your baby regular air baths.
  • Make sure the diaper or diaper does not rub the navel area.
  • Until the umbilical cord disappears, the child should not be bathed. It is better to limit yourself to washing some areas of the body and wiping with a damp sponge. After the fall of the umbilical cord of the baby can bathe. This should be done in a small bath in boiled water. It is recommended to add potassium permanganate diluted in a separate container to the water so that the potassium permanganate particles do not burn the skin of the newborn. Bathing water should have a pale pink color.
  • After bathing, let the navel dry out and then process it. This must be done before complete healing.
  • Smooth diapers and baby’s undershirts.
  • The healing of the navel of a newborn takes about two weeks. All this time, the umbilical wound needs to be processed 2 times a day – in the morning and after swimming.
Treatment of the navel in the newborn

Before starting the procedure, wash your hands and treat them with a disinfectant solution, such as alcohol. To process the navel of a newborn, hydrogen peroxide is used. It can be applied with a cotton swab or pipette, causing a few drops of the drug to the wound.

In the first few days of life, bloody discharges may appear from the navel in small amounts. Apply a cotton swab moistened with peroxide to the wound for a few minutes.

On the umbilical wound may form small bloody or yellowish crusts, which are a favorable environment for the formation of pathogenic microbes. They must be removed after they are soaked from peroxide. Use your fingers to spread the edges of the navel, then using a cotton swab moistened with peroxide, carefully remove the crusts from the center of the wound. If the particles do not want to be removed, they do not need to be torn off, as this can lead to bleeding.

After processing, let the navel dry out, and then brush it with green paint. The solution should be applied only to the wound. It is not necessary to handle all the skin that is near it.

When to see a doctor
  • If the navel does not heal for a long time.
  • The skin around it is swollen and red.
  • From the umbilical wound are abundant discharge.
  • There were purulent discharge with an unpleasant smell.

Care for the crumbs in the first days of life gives parents anxiety, feelings and fears. One of the frightening moments is the processing of the navel of a newborn. There is nothing to fear. The main thing is to carry out the procedure correctly and then there will be no infection, and the umbilical wound will heal quickly.

Catching and falling off of the umbilical cord

During intrauterine life, the umbilical cord is the main source of nutrition for the child. Shortly after birth, the blood flow through it stops and the body begins to function independently.

The umbilical cord is cut immediately after the appearance of the baby on the light, or a few minutes after the cessation of the pulsation. It is clamped with a clamp and cut with sterile scissors. After that, at a short distance from the umbilical ring, it is tied with a silk thread or pinched with a special bracket.

The rest of the umbilical cord after a couple of days can be removed surgically. Also, it can not touch, leaving dry and fall away independently – this happens within 3-6 days. Both in the first and in the second case there is a wound surface that requires maintenance.

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