The first operation that occurs in a child’s life is to separate it from the umbilical cord. After cutting the umbilical cord, a brace is placed on its rest. Some maternity hospitals practice surgical separation of the navel residue on the second day after birth, but most often the mummified residue disappears on its own, leaving a wound. The deadlines for the remainder of the children are different. Sometimes this happens on the second day, sometimes on the 10-12th day - it all depends on individual characteristics.
First unrest
In the maternity hospital, nurses are engaged in the hygiene of infants; before discharge, mothers are given recommendations on how to handle the navel of the newborn and what. But new parents, in addition to this, have a lot of other troubles, so it will be useful to repeat again.
Firstly, the remainder will necessarily disappear. Regardless of whether it was pinched with a brace or clothespin. The blood vessels inside him have dried up, there are no nerve endings in it. If the process drags on, you just need to be patient. You can’t pull and separate the balance yourself!
The second question: how many times to process the navel of a newborn? This should be done twice a day until the umbilical wound is overgrown. The complete healing process can take anywhere from two weeks to a month. For successful healing, three components must be provided: dryness, cleanliness, ventilation of the skin. You can’t bandage, glue, close the navel with a diaper.
How to handle a newborn's navel
Within a few days after the loss of the remainder, the child may have a blood flow. Drying tissues form crusts, which are a favorable environment for the development of pathogenic bacteria. Daily treatment will help prevent inflammation and infection.
For processing you will need:
- Cotton pads and cotton buds.
- Pipettes.
- Hydrogen Peroxide 3%.
- Zelenka or potassium permanganate ( 5% solution ).
Before handling the navel of a newborn, wash your hands with soap. First you need to pipette a little hydrogen peroxide. The edges of the navel must be carefully moved apart with the thumb and forefinger and drip 2-3 drops of peroxide from the pipette. The discharge will foam.
It is very delicate, acting from the center to the edges, with a cotton swab to collect the foamed contents. The peels remaining after cleaning should not be forcibly separated; this can cause bleeding. If there is a lot of dirty contents left at the end of the cotton bud, the procedure is repeated. Each time a new wand is used.
It is necessary to let the navel dry out a bit, you can get it wet with a cotton pad. Then the green stuff is collected in the pipette. It is necessary to drip 1 drop and strictly on the navel, avoiding contact with the skin around. This is done in order to see a discoloration of the skin around the wound in case of inflammation.
What to look for
Before processing the navel of a newborn, it must be carefully examined. Thick discharge, redness, unpleasant odor - an occasion for urgent treatment to a pediatrician.
It is possible to bathe newborns with an unhealed umbilical wound if a number of conditions are met. A solution of potassium permanganate is added to the water before bathing , which stains it in a pale pink color, or the water needs to be boiled. If healing is slow, bathing can be replaced by washing individual parts of the body. If there are difficulties with the treatment of the wound, the local doctor or nurse can show how to properly process the navel of the newborn, and control the healing process. By the age of one month, a neat, healthy navel is formed in the baby.