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#1
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button
stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! |
#2
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
oregonchick wrote: Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! Using a cotton swab, gently run around the stump with some rubbing alcohol. You're going to want to GENTLY tug the stump in the opposite direction (so if you're swabbing at 12 o'clock, you're gently pulling the stump in the direction of 6 o'clock) so that you expose the yellow, cruddy, wet part that's under the brown, cruddy part. You're aiming to get the rubbing alcohol on the yellow part. Do this a couple times a day, and see if she still stinks in a couple days. If so, I'd take her in, but I'd imagine that it only stinks because it's getting ready to fall off. Amy |
#3
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
"Amy" wrote in message ups.com... oregonchick wrote: Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! Using a cotton swab, gently run around the stump with some rubbing alcohol. You're going to want to GENTLY tug the stump in the opposite direction (so if you're swabbing at 12 o'clock, you're gently pulling the stump in the direction of 6 o'clock) so that you expose the yellow, cruddy, wet part that's under the brown, cruddy part. You're aiming to get the rubbing alcohol on the yellow part. Do this a couple times a day, and see if she still stinks in a couple days. If so, I'd take her in, but I'd imagine that it only stinks because it's getting ready to fall off. Amy It's so gross! You have this beautiful little baby, and then this stinky ugly stump... I remember they told me to use rubbing alcohol on my first daughter 8 yrs ago, but this time around they told me not to. I was wondering, will the rubbing alcohol sting like it does when you put it on an open wound? Betsy |
#4
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
"oregonchick" wrote in message
... It's so gross! You have this beautiful little baby, and then this stinky ugly stump... I remember they told me to use rubbing alcohol on my first daughter 8 yrs ago, but this time around they told me not to. I was wondering, will the rubbing alcohol sting like it does when you put it on an open wound? I was told 10.5 years ago to use alcohol, and 9 years ago *not* to, and 3 years ago when I had my last baby I was fussed at for not using it! It's weird how it changes so much. The babies don't act like it stings but I still hated doing it and had dh do it. Marie |
#5
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
oregonchick wrote:
Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! Alcohol kills the bacteria that helps the stump to fall off. If there is no redness, it probably isn't infected. If it makes you feel better, use the alcohol, but you might be prolonging the detatchment. My DS cord fell off on day 3! It did smell just before falling off, too. Jo |
#6
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
oregonchick wrote: It's so gross! You have this beautiful little baby, and then this stinky ugly stump... I know! I found it kind of sad, too... It was like the last evidence of her physical attachment to me was going away. I'm weird, though, and then I remembered that we're nursing, so she'll be physically attached, intermittently, for a while yet. I remember they told me to use rubbing alcohol on my first daughter 8 yrs ago, but this time around they told me not to. I was wondering, will the rubbing alcohol sting like it does when you put it on an open wound? Mine didn't show any sign of pain. In fact, she seemed kind of curious about what we were doing. Just be very, very careful not to pull too hard on the stump. I guess you could sort of think of it as a loose tooth... It's going to fall out, but if you tug at it you're going to cause more trouble than if you just wait. We were told by the nurses in the hospital to use alcohol, but our doctor said not to, and then he changed his mind at one of her early weight-check appointments and said "it wouldn't hurt if you did..." Medical "science" isn't always very scientific, I guess, and the trends change, sometimes in a short amount of time. The main thing is that you don't want an infection there, because it's a central line right into her little system. It would be pretty bad, I think. Is it looking/smelling any better today? I'm sure that it'll fall out soon. Amy |
#7
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
I found a good picture he http://pregnancy.about.com/od/newbor...cordcare_5.htm It's that yellow area at "12 o'clock" that you're after. The other page in the series also says that any foul odor warrants a call to your ped ASAP, so you might want to give them a yell today. Amy |
#8
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
"oregonchick" wrote in message . .. Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! That's normal and I would not mess with it. -- Dagny |
#9
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
Amy wrote:
oregonchick wrote: Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! Using a cotton swab, gently run around the stump with some rubbing alcohol. You're going to want to GENTLY tug the stump in the opposite direction (so if you're swabbing at 12 o'clock, you're gently pulling the stump in the direction of 6 o'clock) so that you expose the yellow, cruddy, wet part that's under the brown, cruddy part. You're aiming to get the rubbing alcohol on the yellow part. Do this a couple times a day, and see if she still stinks in a couple days. If so, I'd take her in, but I'd imagine that it only stinks because it's getting ready to fall off. DS's stump took a while to fall off, and got stinky while we were. We asked the ped at his 2w check up, and they said it's because the stump was staying too neatly on top of his belly button (even though it was already loose, just holding on by a thread). They gave us instructions like the above, and it fell off a couple (few?) days later... Emily -- DS1 5/02 DS2 9/05 |
#10
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stinky belly button on newborn...???
In article ,
"oregonchick" wrote: Emily is 9 days old now. We've been taking care to keep the belly button stump dry, and watching it for any sign of problem. I started to notice today that something about her was stinky. I assumed her bottom, but realized the odor was coming from the cord stump. There is no redness or swelling, but it is starting to come off on one edge, and behind the stump it looks gooey. ICK. Should I worry? Is there something I should put on it? Does this warrant a call to the pediatrician? I can't wait for it to fall off! It's just the bit of dead meat going off. No need to worry unless there's inflammation or a discharge. It will be off in a day or two, especially if you bath her. AFAIK there is no great magic in "keeping the cord dry" (apart from drying it after baths, of course). I hear plastering it with cow dung is a bad idea, but we're well-designed to cope with ordinary conditions. -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is nothing worth being eager or vigorous about." Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893. |
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