Navel
. The healing of the navel. When the baby is in the uterus, it feeds through the blood vessels of the umbilical cord. Immediately after birth, the doctor bandages the umbilical cord and cuts it closer to the body of the child. The remaining piece dries up and eventually disappears, usually in a week, although sometimes the cord keeps longer. After the umbilical cord falls away, there remains a site that heals for several days, sometimes weeks. He heals slowly, it can form a hard cloth, which is called granular, but it's not dangerous. The navel should just be kept dry and clean, so that it does not damage the bacteria. If it is dry, it becomes covered with a scab and gradually heals. Nowadays, most doctors do not recommend bandaging the navel when it heals. In this case, it will rather be dry. Sometimes it is recommended not to bathe the baby completely before healing the navel, but this is not necessary if you wipe your navel with sterile cotton wool. It is sensible to keep the diaper below the navel so that moisture does not get on it.
If the unprotected navel becomes moist and suppurating, it should be wiped daily with cotton wool and alcohol and carefully protected from a wet diaper. A doctor can recommend an antiseptic powder or crushed alum to speed up healing.
If the navel and the surrounding skin turn red, then an infection has started, and you should immediately consult a doctor. Until the doctor examined the child, apply a moist compress.
When a scab on a healed navel is torn off with clothing, it may cause one or two drops of blood. This is not dangerous.
Umbilical hernia. After healing of the navel in the depth of the muscle layer, there is still a hole through which the blood vessels of the umbilical cord passed. When the baby cries, a part of the intestine fills the hollow space and pushes the navel out through the hole( called the umbilical ring) outward. This phenomenon is called umbilical hernia. If the hole is small, then the protruding part is no more than a pea, and after a few weeks or months the ring usually closes. But if the ring is large, it may take months and even years to close, and the protruding part will be the size of a cherry.
It used to be that a tight elastic bandage helps the ring to grow faster. But now doctors believe that it does not matter. It is better to do without bandaging, because bandages often get dirty, dissolve and irritate the skin.
No need to worry about the serving part. Umbilical hernia rarely causes trouble, like other types of hernia. Do not hold the child from crying.
In older children and adults on the abdomen there is a layer of fat, and therefore the navel appears as if in a deepening. But in the first two or three years of life it happens so rarely. The navel of a small child( externally it resembles a pink bud) protrudes above the abdomen. The protruding navel should not be confused with a hernia. The hernia is probed under the skin like a soft balloon. And she makes the navel perform much more than usual.