What are the precautions after the baby's umbilical cord falls off?

Generally speaking, under normal circumstances, the umbilical cord of a baby will fall off automatically about a week after birth. After the umbilical cord falls off, the belly button is formed. After the baby's umbilical cord falls off, parents must take care of the baby's navel, because the navel is very delicate at this time and can be easily invaded by some bacteria, causing inflammation. Now let’s talk about what to pay attention to when caring for your baby after his umbilical cord falls off.

1. Clean your belly button every day

There is often secretion in the umbilical cord of a newborn baby. When the secretion dries, the umbilical cord and the base of the umbilical cord will adhere to each other, making it difficult to clean. Pus may appear in the umbilical cord. Therefore, you should thoroughly clean the navel. The method is: dip a cotton swab in 75% alcohol every day, gently lift the ligature of the umbilical cord with one hand, and use the alcohol swab with the other hand to carefully wipe the navel and the root of the umbilical cord so that the umbilical cord is no longer adhered to the navel. Then, use a new alcohol swab to wipe in circles from the center of the navel outward. After cleaning, don't forget to disinfect the ligature with alcohol.

2. Keep your belly button dry

Before the baby's umbilical cord falls off or just falls off and the umbilical socket is not yet dry, make sure to keep the umbilical cord and the umbilical socket dry, because the umbilical cord that is about to fall off is a necrotic tissue and can easily be infected with bacteria. Therefore, once the umbilical cord is soaked with water or urine, it should be immediately wiped dry with a dry cotton ball or clean soft gauze, and then disinfected with an alcohol swab. Your baby should not be bathed in a tub until the umbilical cord falls off.

3. If the umbilical cord does not fall off

Generally, the baby's umbilical cord will gradually turn black and harden and fall off in 1 to 2 weeks. If the baby's umbilical cord has not fallen off after 2 weeks, you should observe the condition of the umbilical cord carefully. As long as there are no signs of infection, such as no redness, swelling or pus, and no large amount of fluid oozing from the umbilical cord, there is no need to worry. In addition, you can use alcohol to wipe the baby's navel to keep the umbilical cord stump dry, accelerate the shedding of the umbilical cord stump and the healing of the navel.

4. Do not let diapers or clothes rub against the umbilical cord stump

When the umbilical cord has not fallen off or has just fallen off, avoid irritation of the baby's navel by clothes and diapers. You can fold the upper front end of the diaper down a little to reduce the friction of the diaper on the umbilical cord stump.

5. If there is discharge from the umbilical cord

The healing umbilical cord stump often exudes clear or yellowish, viscous fluid. This is normal fluid seeping from the healing umbilical cord stump. After the umbilical cord falls off naturally, the umbilical fossa will be a little damp, and a small amount of rice-like liquid will ooze out. This is because the surface of the umbilical cord that has fallen off has not fully grown, and the liquid in the granulation tissue has oozed out. You can just wipe it clean gently with 75% alcohol. Generally, 1 to 2 times a day is enough, and the navel will become dry after 2 to 3 days. Gently wiping the umbilical cord stump with dry gauze can also speed up the healing of the belly button.