Many parents are puzzled about how long the umbilical cord usually falls off, especially when they see that the umbilical cord has fallen off a few days after the birth of other babies, and their own baby's umbilical cord is still firmly hanging on it. Generally speaking, the umbilical cord of most babies will fall off in 1 to 3 weeks. While waiting for the baby's navel to fall off, what parents need to do is to keep the baby's navel dry and clean, and wait patiently for it to fall off naturally, instead of trying to peel it off forcibly. Dry and clean umbilical cord care is the key. The most important thing is to keep umbilical cord dry and clean. After bathing the baby every time, fully expose the umbilical fossa, and then gently wipe the umbilical stump and umbilical wheel with a clean cotton swab. Pay attention to the root of umbilical cord, then umbilical cord and surrounding skin when wiping. When putting diapers on your baby at ordinary times, you should also pay attention to the fact that the diapers should not be wrapped too high, preferably below the umbilical cord, so as to avoid the navel being polluted by urine and feces. In addition, some parents worry that clothes will rub the navel, so they wrap a layer of umbilical cord around their baby. In fact, this is not conducive to the local ventilation of the navel, which is not conducive to the natural drying of the navel. What is more advocated is to choose a loose cotton close-fitting dress for your baby.
Before the umbilical cord falls off, mom and dad should pay attention to the baby's navel every day to see whether the umbilical wheel is red and swollen, whether there is abnormal secretion in the umbilical area, whether there is bleeding, and whether the umbilical cord has fallen off. In the first few days after the umbilical stump falls off, it is still necessary to continue to observe whether there are abnormal secretions and granulation tissue hyperplasia in the umbilical region. If you find that the baby's umbilical secretion is purulent or smelly, the skin around the umbilical region is red and you will cry when you touch it. Parents should be vigilant and see a doctor as soon as possible to rule out the possibility of neonatal omphalitis. Small umbilical hernia can heal itself within 2 years. Some parents found that the baby's navel bulged with a small bag of 1 to 2cm, which was more obvious when crying or bloating. When you press it gently, you can see that this small bag shrinks or is returned to the abdominal cavity. When you press it, you can still hear the bowel sounds. This small bag is a common umbilical hernia.
According to Zhu, umbilical hernia mostly occurs within a few weeks after umbilical cord falls off, which is a common congenital developmental defect in newborns and infants. Umbilical hernia is a weak ring formed by the incomplete development of rectus abdominis and anterior and posterior sheaths on both sides of navel. When the baby cries, the abdominal pressure increases, which makes the abdominal organs such as the small intestine protrude from the umbilical ring. When the baby has umbilical hernia, you can consult a surgeon for evaluation first. Generally speaking, if the umbilical hernia is about 1cm in diameter, it can heal itself within 2 years with the gradual improvement of abdominal wall muscles. Therefore, small umbilical hernia within 2 years old can generally be treated without special treatment, and some small umbilical hernias can hope to heal themselves even when they are 3 to 4 years old. However, if the diameter of umbilical hernia is larger than 2cm, it is still not cured after conservative treatment with 1 year, and there is an increasing trend or there is a risk of hernia incarceration, so surgery is recommended.