How do you get a newborns umbillical cord to fall off quickly?

Question

I've been putting alchohol at every diaper change but this thing is real thick and holding on. My daughter's almost a month. Any remedies yall know?

Answer 1

My pediatrician with my oldest child said alcohol only once a day because he'd seen some stumps that were so well-preserved by so much alcohol that they would never fall off on their own.

Answer 2

You should keep the cord area dry and clean and use an alcohol swab to clean it once a day. If the cord does not fall off in the next few days or so, put in a call to your pediatrician. He/she can cortorize it with silver nitrate and in just a couple of days it will probably fall off.

Your should really watch for signs of infection since the cord has remained on a little longer than most. Call your pediatrician immediately if you notice any foul smelling mucousy substance coming from the cord area as well as redness and irritation around the site.

Answer 3

Yeah, some of those cords are really thick. They do take longer. But it will happen in due time. Keep doing what you are doing.

If the area starts to look enflamed, or has a sour smell....then let the Pediatrician look at it, to make sure there is no infection. But if you are keeping it basically sterile with the alcohol, no worries. :o)

One thing I DON'T reccomend is pulling, tugging, and messing with it. My daughters was slow to fall off, and I was getting tired of it....I mean, it is like this huge dead dry slug-like scab thing! So I would pull up the edges, and tug to see if it was detatching anymore.
Well....thanks to me she has a pretty prominent OUTTIE belly button. I should have kept my hands to myself and been patient.

If the Pediatrician thinks it is taking too long, she can remove it, and put a dab of silver nitrate on the area that is raw underneath, to seal it and dry it. That is what happened with my daughter. Then I got the bill....that Silver Nitrate application cost $85!

Patience....patience. It will happen. ;o)

Answer 4

Don't do alcohol at every diaper change. The nurses had us do that with our first child and it took nearly a month to fall off and she ended up with a small umbilical hernia. On our second child we only used alcohol when it was necessary for cleaning and it fell off in less than a week. Let it rot.

Answer 5

DON'T. That dried up lump is like any other scab over a wound. It protects the healing skin underneath. Until it completely heals, that umbilical passage is a fast lane for all kinds of nasty bacteria and junk to go straight into your babies system. Remember, this was what kept your baby alive for nine months. It has direct access to some pretty vital stuff inside your baby.

Answer 6

Keep up with the alcohol at every change and just sponge bathe until it falls off. My son was the same way. His stump didn't fall of until 5-6 weeks when I was told that it should have fallen off at 2 weeks.

Answer 7

This is Eb and let me tell you something, keep doing what you are doing. If you try to pick at the umbillical cord your child can die from that and I know that's the last thing you want. So please do not mess with it only put alcohol on it.

Answer 8

It will fall off on its own, and you probably shouldn't be using alcohol on it without doctor's instructions. Just make sure you keep it dry and outside the baby's diaper.

As long as there is no bleeding it isn't anything to worry about, just be patient!

Answer 9

First of all you need to take that baby to a doctor and ask the doctor. There is no need to rush it from falling off. If you are concerned then take that baby to a doctor and not try anything foolish at home to get it off before you hurt that child.

Answer 10

Continue what you're doing. It's the right thing. it took our son almost 6 weeks and it fell off at the doctor's office as he was being examined.