Basically just leave it alone. Be gentle, obvi.
You don’t want to get the umbilical cord wet until it falls off and heals completely, so baths become your biggest logistical challenge. Newborns don’t technically need daily baths in theory. But you’ll probably want to give them one to four before the cord falls off anyway. Biggest reason? Poop blowouts (less likely with a brand-new new baby) or spit-up catastrophes.
Sponge baths are your friend
Sponge bath is the option before the cord is gone and healed. That can technically be a sponge, but more likely just a baby washcloth. You don’t need baby-specific washcloths, but they’re nice to have when their bodies are so tiny. With Mouse I actually started using makeup eraser cloths (love them). I travel with them now for baths with the kids too.
You can use a baby bathtub on the kitchen counter to support them. Cover them with a dry towel and “reveal” parts of their body one-by-one to wash, then tuck back under the warm towel.
In-between cleaning
For in-between baths I also like using micellar water. I keep it at the changing table and use the makeup eraser cloths for a quick wipe-down, especially if it’s been a high spit-up day but we aren’t due for a bath. I still do this now that he’s five months old.
The cord itself: don’t panic
The cord may get a little wiggly before it falls off. Try not to poke at it. But also, even though it’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen, don’t worry too much. Evan poked at Cleo’s and it fell off at like day five and she was totally fine. Mouse’s held on a bit longer and his was a little gnarlier, but he’s totally fine now.
Two things that happened with Mouse’s umbilical stump that we freaked out about that were not a big deal:
- The bottom got a little greenish-yellow and swollen but was NOT leaking pus or blood or anything. Just a little weird. We sent a photo to our doc and they were not concerned.
- After it fell off he had a granuloma, which really just means it wasn’t fully healed. Our ped swabbed it with some silver nitrate which sort of dries it out. It finished fully healing within a few days.
After it’s a normal belly button
Once it’s healed, care for it like you do yours. Gently. Babies are basically wiggly stem cells so their skin turns over a LOT. If it gets a little gunky in there, you can use a syringe to blast it out with either water or micellar water.
This same reality (babies are constantly growing new skin) means that baby creases become gross real quick. When you’re bathing, get between the folds in their arms, legs, neck, etc. Their armpits may get gross. Their hands will get gross. I’ll do a separate post on how to actually clean baby folds. Because there’s a system.
Part of our Newborn Survival Guide.