Newborn navel care, these common sense teach you

The belly button of a newborn is relatively fragile, so it is very important to take good care of the belly button. Parents must pay attention to cleaning the baby's belly button every day and keep the belly button dry. Do not let diapers or clothes rub against the umbilical cord stump.

(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 navel 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. You can wash your upper body first, dry it, and then wash your lower body.

(3) 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.

(4) 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.