What care for baby's umbilical cord?

The umbilical cord is a vital element. Connected to the placenta, it allows the fetus to oxygenate and eat. Once the baby comes out of its mother's womb, the cord is of no use. When cut, it leaves a small wound. Discover in this guide all the steps to follow to provide first aid for the umbilical cord.

Many young mothers are reluctant to do the first umbilical cord care . They fear hurting the baby. However, cord dressing is a crucial step. It helps protect your little one against possible infection. Here are the good reflexes to adopt to facilitate the healing of the umbilical cord.

When the baby is born, the midwife places two Barr clamps on the umbilical cord to prevent blood irrigation.

At this stage, it is essential to protect the navel against water and possible sources of infection. For this, doctors recommend regular cleaning of the cord. For this step, it is essential to remove all impurities, particularly dead skin, using a sterile compress soaked in 4% chlorhexidine.

If you do not have this antiseptic product in your medicine box, you can use a mild soap to clean the umbilical cord . When the umbilical cord is completely dry, do not hesitate to apply aqueous eosin. This solution accelerates the fall of the umbilical cord.

Please note that it is recommended to follow some precautions to facilitate the healing of the umbilical cord . If you have given birth to a little boy, take the time to properly position your baby's penis during each change. Dripping urine (even just a few drops) onto the belly button increases the risk of infection.

When the umbilical cord falls , it is not uncommon for slight bleeding to appear. But this is not likely to cause complications. In principle, regular care of the navel helps optimize its healing.

Before getting down to business, it is necessary that you respect all hygiene rules:

• By taking the time to wash your hands, you reduce the risk of wound infection.
• Also remember to close the windows before undressing your baby. Exposure to cold can promote the onset of colic in the newborn.

For the care of the navel, the steps to take are very simple. On the other hand, they must be regular in order to promote healing of the wound:

• Clean the wound with a compress soaked in antiseptic product.
• Gently rub the center of the navel.
• Apply eosin to it.

Some doctors recommend leaving the navel exposed to the air to speed up its healing. Some diapers have a rounded cutout at the umbilical cord. This helps prevent irritation and makes cleaning the navel easier for parents. Love & Green ecological diapers have this cutout on diapers in birth size and size 2.

In some cases, one may face a late fall of the umbilical cord. This situation is generally caused by a drop in the baby's immune defense or a malformation problem.

But rest assured, these pathologies are extremely rare. They only affect one case in a million according to health professionals. As a general rule, complications of healing of the umbilicus remain benign:

• Sometimes the umbilical cord does not fall completely. In this case, a bud appears on the newborn's navel. Even if the wound starts to ooze, you shouldn't panic. To promote healing of the navel, the pediatrician will provide specific care. He will apply a solution based on silver nitrate to the center of the navel in order to dry out the bud. Please note that this process can be repeated if the bud does not fall off.
• When the umbilical cord is not clamped carefully, the navel may begin to bleed after a few days. If you are faced with this problem, it is important to remain calm. Generally, it is enough to tighten the clamps or install others to speed up the healing of the umbilical cord .
• If you notice that the secretions from the cord are greenish and purulent, this is undoubtedly a sign of a infected umbilical cord . To prevent the situation from getting complicated, it is necessary to take your baby for a pediatric consultation. Depending on the severity of the infection, the doctor may prescribe medication.
• In the event of the formation of a hernia of baby's navel , a grandmother's method such as applying a bandage helps put an end to the problem.

Umbilical cord care does not cause a baby to suffer. Therefore, you should not hesitate to clean the wound. Keep in mind that only good hygiene can prevent complications from occurring.