Proper care for the baby’s belly button

For nine months, the umbilical cord was the link between mother and child. It connected the fetus in the womb to the mother’s bloodstream via the placenta, and in this way provided the child with vital nutrients. This unique bond is severed immediately after birth. What remains is the navel stump, which will develop into the navel within the next one to two weeks.

This is how the baby’s belly button develops

Immediately after cutting the umbilical cord at birth, it is clamped with a plastic clamp just above the abdomen to prevent bleeding from the remainder of the umbilical cord. The short part that extends beyond the clamp at the top is called the umbilical stump. At this point it is still firmly connected to the rest of the umbilical tissue, but does not contain any nerve endings, which is why this “open wound” does not cause the baby any pain. In order for a typical belly button as you know it to form, two things need to happen. First, the rest of the umbilical cord has to fall off so that the actual belly button can heal and form the “typical” shape.

The umbilical stump begins to dry out quickly, since it is permanently cut off from the blood supply by the tightly closed clamp, and it turns dark, almost black. How long it takes for it to dry up completely and then fall off depends on a variety of factors. However, the umbilical stump usually resolves within ten to twelve days. However, the period of time varies considerably from baby to baby, which is why significantly shorter or somewhat longer healing processes are possible and usually not a cause for concern.

After the remainder of the umbilical cord has fallen off, a small wound and a small remnant of umbilical skin remain. During the final healing process, the wound closes and grows into a “typical” navel. In most cases, the overgrown umbilical skin, which can be seen as a kind of scar, pulls back into the abdomen. In some cases, however, the baby’s navel remains permanently convex.

Proper care for baby’s belly button

Even if many parents are afraid of doing something wrong with this important topic: this fear is completely unfounded! For one thing, caring for your baby’s navel isn’t as complicated as you might think. There are no nerve endings in the clamped umbilical stump, which is why you cannot hurt your baby by accidentally touching it.

Secondly, your follow-up midwife will usually take care of the special umbilical care anyway until the umbilical stump has fallen off. She monitors the course of the healing process and initiates appropriate measures if necessary. So you are never left alone with the care of this sensitive area on your baby’s body. On the contrary, you only take on “assistant” tasks and observe what the midwife does during her daily visits.

Open and closed navel care

There is no general recommendation as to what the optimal care for the baby’s navel should look like. Many midwives decide based on the situation what is needed for the respective navel. In general, however, one can distinguish between two types of navel care: open and closed.

• Open navel care: When it comes to so-called “open” navel care, the motto is: less is more! Because the midwife does not use any special tools in this case, but only makes sure that there is always enough air to get to the navel so that it heals quickly and easily. Midwives often use a special wrapping technique. To do this, the upper edge of the diaper is turned inwards so that the navel is not covered and is not in the warm, damp environment of the diaper, but in the air. This also prevents stool or urine from soiling and softening the navel. In addition, the diaper cannot rub against the sensitive navel and cause sores.

• Closed navel care: With closed navel care, your midwife also ties the stump of the navel with a sterile, air-permeable navel compress to protect it even better from moisture and bacteria. Some midwives also use a special non-clumping powder from the pharmacy to speed up the drying process. However, this should then be thoroughly removed at least once a day so as not to encourage germs to settle. A sterile compress soaked with a little calendula essence diluted with water is particularly suitable for this cleaning. Calendula not only cleanses well, but also prevents inflammation.

Important: After cleaning, make sure that the area is dried well again.

Your role in caring for baby’s belly button

Even if the midwife primarily takes care of your baby’s navel until it has healed, you of course also come into contact with this special part of the small baby’s body every day. You should also not be afraid to touch your child. However, for the time when the midwife is not present, it is important to consider the following two things when changing your baby’s diaper or cleaning the area around the navel:

• Protect from dirt: Your newborn doesn’t really come into contact with dirt at first. Nevertheless, you should pay attention to increased hygiene when dealing with the healing baby’s navel. Even touching it with dirty fingers can quickly lead to inflammation of the sore tissue. And even seemingly clean hands can swarm with bacteria and pathogens. Therefore, disinfect your hands before each diaper changing to avoid transferring germs to your baby.
• Keep Dry: Since the umbilicus needs to dry out in order for the umbilicus to heal properly, it is very important to protect the area from moisture as much as possible. You should therefore not bathe your baby in the initial period after birth. Once the navel stump has fallen off, bathing the baby is possible, but the nascent navel still needs special attention. After the bath, gently dry the navel with a cotton ball or ear swab. To do this, spread it gently with your fingers so that no moisture remains in the small skin folds inside and no sore spots or inflammation develop. Your midwife will certainly advise you in detail in this area and take the first steps together with you.

What you shouldn’t do

There are a few things you should definitely avoid when handling the baby’s belly button, as they can delay wound healing or promote inflammation:

• Do not use creams or oils to care for the navel area. They soften the tissue and thus delay the drying out of the umbilical stump. Certain ingredients in personal care products could also irritate the sore umbilical stump and lead to serious inflammation.
• After a few days, crusts of wound secretion may form on and around the stump of the umbilicus. Under no circumstances should you try to remove them. The loosening of stubborn scabs impedes wound healing and, in the worst case, can lead to feverish inflammation or bleeding.
  Important: Under no circumstances should you try to loosen the umbilical stump mechanically. The tissue at the navel is still very sensitive and you could injure your baby.
• Do not use any alcohol-based detergents to clean the baby’s navel, as the skin on the navel is still very sensitive and can become very irritated.

Baby belly button wound healing problems

If the baby’s navel smears during the healing process due to wound secretion, it can easily lead to navel infection if there is insufficient hygiene. The moist areas offer an optimal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, which can easily penetrate the wound and spread. If you suspect that your belly button has become inflamed, you should never treat it yourself . Always seek the advice of your midwife or pediatrician if you have signs of inflammation, such as a high temperature or reddened, pimply skin around the navel. If pus escapes from the umbilical stump, you should consult a doctor immediately.

If an inflammation is detected quickly enough, treatment with an antiseptic ointment is usually sufficient. However, depending on how far the inflammation has developed and what its cause is, an antibiotic may also need to be used. If necessary, the pediatrician will take a swab from the wound to determine the exact pathogen and initiate appropriate treatment.

Important: A navel infection must be treated professionally, otherwise it can lead to blood poisoning.

Even after the umbilical stump has fallen off, wound exudate or small drops of blood can still escape. As a rule, however, such a “grease navel” will soon heal by itself. However, if you observe that small drops of blood keep forming, you should consult a doctor to clarify the cause. A lack of vitamin K, which is responsible for blood clotting, is often responsible for this phenomenon. Especially fully breastfed babies usually still have an insufficiently developed intestinal flora and can therefore not produce the vitamin in sufficient quantities themselves. The pediatrician can give your child an appropriate dose of vitamin K, which will stop the bleeding.

Don’t be afraid of navel care

Taking care of the baby’s belly button is very important. However, it is not nearly as difficult as many parents imagine before the birth. Use the support of your midwife. She will take care of the navel until it has healed. She will also answer your questions and tell you how much or how little care is needed for your baby’s navel.