I’m sure my poor little man will have a complex when he older. I’m always saying he is the most difficult of the three! Hardest labour and birth. He doesn’t like to sleep as much as his sisters, he likes to feed himself and I’m not that experienced with baby-led weaning. AND his belly button has never healed since he was born. He has an umbilical granuloma and we are still waiting for him to be seen by the paediatric team at our local hospital.
An Umbilical Granuloma – The Little Man’s Story
I’ve had three kids and I’ve seen three baby stumps fall off and heal (or not heal in this case!) I remember that funny smell as they heal and waiting for them to look like belly buttons!! With the gremlin her belly button stayed a little red after she was born and she was referred to paeds but by the time we got there, it was healing and looking a lot better. I remember Piglet’s being a little smelly and we were convinced it was infected but it wasn’t and all was good.
The Little Man has been different though. His stump fell off and what was left was a red, weepy, sometimes bleeding stump. It sticks out when he cries and can get a bit smelly from time to time. It has been very red and we think the skin around a little infected, so he’s needed antibiotic cream.
I must have been to see the GP (it feels) 10 billion times who initially told me it was an umbilical granuloma and it would heal. You can find out more about these here but basically is an overgrowth of tissue during the healing process of the belly button (umbilicus). It usually looks like a soft pink or red lump and often is wet or leaks small amounts of clear or yellow fluid. It is most common in the first few weeks of a baby’s life.
However, he is now over 6 months old and it is still not healed. You can see on the picture below, where the plaster has moved.
The GP’s first treatment line was silver nitrate and they expected it to heal when we came back. It never did. The Little Man started going for weekly treatments. It has still not healed. The GP has said he has never known it not heal, which is slightly concerning but has reassured us the Paediatric team should know what they are doing!
Luckily he’s not in any pain or discomfort. It is more of a pain for us, as we have to cover it with a special dressing, as if not it weeps and leaks all over his clothes, our clothes, the floor! You name it, whatever it is touching.
I’m fairly laid back about it all, as I’m, sure when he is seen properly there will be a solution to it. We do worry a little about infection but he seems to have never had one fully. I guess, I’d like my baby boy to be fully healed and raring to go but in the grand scheme of potential issues, it is pretty mild.
We are still waiting for him to be reviewed and I’ll keep you posted.
If anyone has any experience of their baby’s belly button not healing, I would love to know more and please comment!
