My baby girl is 11 days old and her cord stump is about to come away, it is hanging by a thread. But it STINKS, I remember Caitlins did as well and my midwife told me to use a little metho to dry it out, but at the hospital they told me not to before I left.
The main reason I ask is although the main bit is coming off the inside is still full of stuff, (she had the longest piece of cord ever!) so I want to dry it out.
have you used Metho? Was anyone else told not to?
am a nurse myself and has an 8 month old.his cord came out when he was just 5 days.but from day one i used to clean his cord and around area with methyl spirit.after his bath always dried his cord nicely and used some betadine powder over it.so his belly button was clean and dry.dont use too much but a little on those soft skin.if it still smelly baby needs to see a doc.hope u find this tip good!
All but one of ours had this (our 2nd baby's fell of the day she was born for some reason). We just used cotton tips to keep cleaning the muck out and to help with drying. I was told to use metho, but didn't want to put a chemical on my babies that I knew I reacted to.
I was also told I could use the alcohol swabs that pathologists use. Never got round to trying that one. You can get some from your chemist though.
Hi....l was told by a midwife to use alcohol wipes on my sons belly button as his cord stump fall off at 5 days and was very smelly and sticky in the area. After using them it got better and healed really well. Good luck.....but if it does not show signs of getting better take your baby to her health sister or doctor as it might be infected.
It may smell because it isn't getting properly dried off? Remember not to get it wet.
What the doctor and nurses have told us is to always drop rubbing alcohol onto it at every diaper change (using a cotton ball or alcohol wipes). This ensures that the belly button stump is always dry. Of course sometimes we don't end up doing it every diaper change, but it's probably enough to get it down at least 2x a day.
My docs said not to use Water and soap... it will dry out faster if you do not! I was told to use the Alcohol wipes for when you get a shot and stuff... you can get them at a normal store I think.
jakes was like this, it smelt cos he did a big poo and it got stuck in the clamp, the midwife came and looked at it and she just cut it away and told me to use saline on it to keep it clean
i know what you mean it smells disgusting but i would just leave it, as you said the cord is about to fall off and if you keep cleaning the belly button with a cotton bud and clean water it wont take long to heal up.
sorry if the spelling is wrong, but Isopropic alchole. That is what we used on Alex. Its the stuff they use to clean ears (earings)and like on those wipes they use to clean your skin before you have a needle or blood out.
Hubby said Metho is way to harsh on a babies skin too.
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