Cord Care

My grandmother was the same way when my daughter was born... she would call me EVERYDAY to see if my daughter's umbilical cord had fallen and was telling me something must be wrong since it hasn't fallen off. She drove me nuts. It's suppossed to fall off when it completely dries out... that's why it's still red and wet under when you pull it back. Just imagine how much it might be hurting your baby to be pulling the umbilical cord... ouch...please dont' do it. Our ped recomended the same thing--alchohol twice a day. It's just not ready yet...my daughter's took about 5 weeks or so to fall off. Take the time to enjoy your new abby and give your husband some kind of 'duty' to keep his mind off it.
Congratulations on your new baby!

don't touch it!! it'll dry up and fall off over time, it might be a while....we never did anything to the cord on both of our kids and it just falls off eventually. moreover, the more you fiddle with it the more it'll get irritated and will bleed. also, when you give a bath in the beginning just cloth bathe so the cord doesn't get soaked....

My daughter's took forever to fall out, too. Our osteopath told us to get the goldenseal and open up the capsule and sprinkle the powder in the belly button. It's a natural antibiotic. It helped dry it up and keep it from getting oozy.

You gave birth and possibly you are nursing, so the belly button is an area that your husband can focus on. and is probably more interesting to him than diaper care. Like most aspects of being a parent, milestones for our children happen when they are ready to happen and not when we want them to happen. The stump will fall off when it is ready. The alcohol is drying but either way, with or with out dabbing it the stump will fall off when ready.

Good luck.

I was actually very worried about my daughter and her umbilical cord not falling off. The doctor and books I've read all said not to immerse the baby in water until the cord has fallen off. Well, 7 weeks came around and I didn't know what to do. We had already seen the pediatrician who put silver nitrate on it twice (two separate appointments). I contacted my doula and she said to go ahead and bathe/immerse my daughter in water. I did and the very next day it fell off.

Hi! We used a powder called goldenseal provided by our midwife. It looks gross because it's sort of greenish but it does help to dry the wetness quite well. You might do an internet search to see where you can buy it. I think it's important that you don't pull back on the area. Just let it heal as it needs.