The Care and Keeping of the Cord

What you can expect from your newborn’s umbilical cord

The umbilical cord is one of the new baby body parts that seems to get the most attention. After serving for so many months as a vital connection between mom and baby, it quickly becomes unnecessary once your baby is born and starts breathing and eating on her own. You can expect your newborn's umbilical cord stump to dry up and fall off within a few weeks (anywhere from 1 to 5, to be more precise). In the meantime, you may be relieved to know that the blood vessels that once ran through it are now closed off and your baby's umbilical cord and belly button are no longer a direct connection to anywhere.

Letting Go

Many new parents are very tentative when it comes to caring for their newborn's umbilical cord. For the most part, dealing with the umbilical cord actually means waiting for it to fall off. While some health care professionals apply a special infection-preventing purple dye after birth and others recommend gently applying rubbing alcohol to the umbilical cord stump to help it stay clean and dry, it has become routine in the past few years for pediatricians to recommend doing absolutely nothing. When left alone, most umbilical cords will just fall off by themselves. Even if you're not going to apply rubbing alcohol, we've found that it still helps to speed up the drying process by intermittently pushing down the skin surrounding the umbilical cord so that the base of the stump gets some exposure to air as well.

In case you're worried about hurting your baby, you'll be relieved to know that there are no nerve endings on the cord itself and babies don't feel any pain or discomfort with careful wiping or handling. Of course they may startle or react to the feeling of cold, but you can think of it as similar to the sensation you get when removing polish from your nails: maybe a little cool, but definitely not painful. No matter what cord-tending technique your pediatrician recommends and you ultimately choose to adopt, the most useful approach to cord care is to avoid undue moisture to the cord.

Innies Versus Outies

Ever look at your own belly button and wonder why it was that your doctor didn't do a better job of giving you a cute little innie when you were born? Well you'll soon discover, if you haven't figured it out already, that the innie versus the outie status of your newborn's belly button is completely out of anyone's control. Ultimately, how much or little your newborn's belly button sticks out depends on how the umbilical cord scar heals.

 

Uncooperative Cords

Some of you may benefit from a little forewarning: Not all cords cooperate according to plan. Some of the more common inconveniences we come across include

• Hanging on. Some cords are persistent, clinging on for dear life despite daily encouragement to fall off. While range of normal is as long as 5 weeks, it's worth discussing an obstinate cord with your pediatrician to see if there's something that can be done about it.
• Oozing. After the umbilical cord stump falls off, the belly button tissue may take its own sweet time to heal. If it continues to ooze or develop a little pink moist bump that doesn't dry up, your pediatrician may apply a touch of a chemical called silver nitrate to quicken the healing process. Rarely, pus may ooze from the belly button and/or the surrounding skin may become red and swollen. If this happens, show your baby's doctor without any delay because any and all potential infections warrant immediate attention at this age. True infections of a newborn's umbilical site generally require medical management, antibiotics, and close observation.
• Bleeding. When your newborn's cord comes off, don't be surprised if there is a little bleeding to go along with it. The best way to explain the bleeding: It's like when a scab comes off and pulls a bit at the normal skin as well. There's bound to be a little short-lived bleeding.