Immediately after your baby was born, the family life is filled with new experiences. For young parents, caring for a newborn in the early days is an unfamiliar and rather difficult task. From the first days of a baby's life an incredible amount of questions appears! One of the first questions for young mothers is how to properly treat the umbilical wound in newborn babies so as not to harm.
The umbilical wound in newborns is formed as a result of the umbilical cord falling off on 3-5 days of life.
How is the umbilical wound formed?
At the birth of a baby, the umbilical cord is fixed with a clamp and tightly bandaged near the future navel. Further, the umbilical cord is cut off: the doctor makes an incision between the clamp and the dressing site. As a result, a small portion of the umbilical cord remains, which subsequently dries up and disappears on its own. In the place of separation of the umbilical cord, the so-called umbilical wound appears.
How to properly handle and care for a wound
What you need to have for the treatment of the umbilical wound:
- Cotton buds;
- Pipette;
- Sterile gauze wipes;
- Hydrogen peroxide (3% solution);
- Zelenka (1% alcohol solution of brilliant green);
First-aid kit for a child - full list
Step-by-step processing:
- Processing is necessarily carried out after bathing the child.
umbilical wound treatment - Before processing the navel, you must wash your hands thoroughly.
- Dipped in hydrogen peroxide (concentration of 3%) with a cotton swab, remove the discharge from the wound and lubricate its entire surface.
- If there is a lot of detachable and the stick is soaked with it, then for further processing take a new stick.
- If the wound contains residues of hydrogen peroxide, then they are removed with a clean, dry cotton swab.
- At the final stage, the wound is lubricated with brilliant green.
If you notice discharge from the wound or redness of the skin around it, then the treatment of the wound should be carried out 2 times a day (morning and evening), it is also necessary to notify the patronage nurse or doctor about this.
Hygiene of a newborn with an unhealed umbilical wound
Until the wound has healed, it is necessary to prevent possible contact of the navel skin with bacteria. To prevent infection, the following measures are taken to treat the wound:
- Bathe a newborn with an umbilical wound in boiled water;
how to treat an umbilical wound - When bathing, a solution of potassium permanganate is added to a pale pink color (in which water to bathe a newborn baby);
- Chamomile, string and nettle have anti-inflammatory properties (swimming in the grass);
- Change of vests and diapers (sliders) must be done several times a day, even if you use diapers and baby clothes are dry;
- The umbilical wound should not be covered with a diaper, nor should there be dressings on it;
- After washing and drying, all the child’s laundry is ironed on both sides (how long do you need to iron a diaper for a newborn);
- The umbilical wound is treated on a clean diaper.
But if your newborn baby has a belly button bleeding, then check out with article
What should parents do with a long-term non-healing, wet, umbilical wound in a newborn? Should I see a doctor? How to care for and treat the umbilical wound - tips, tricks, videos
When does the umbilical wound heal?
Subject to hygienic recommendations and rules for the treatment of wounds, healing of the navel occurs no later than 2 weeks (10-14 days) after birth. It is worth noting that in the first few days after discharge from the hospital, the child is observed by a patronage nurse from the clinic. She can demonstrate how to treat a wound if maternity staff did not.
We also read: Umbilical hernia in infants and how to treat it?
Our umbilical wound healed for a long time, although all the instructions were followed exactly. It was processed primarily with peroxide, and then it began to smear with brilliant green only later. They only washed in water with potassium permanganate, now the pharmacy sells one-time sachets for one bath, it is very convenient.
Processed the old method on the advice of my mother and doctors from the hospital. smeared with ordinary green. At first, while the wound was completely fresh, it was covered with a bandage and a band-aid, and then when the wound was almost healed, it was only greased with green.