Is it normal for my baby's umbilical cord to have a foul stench? There's also blood crust around the…

are you keeping it clean and dry? it's not suppose to get wet at all

The smell is normal! It's a piece of rotting cord.. dried blood is also normal. Red skin around the belly button, fresh blood that reappears once you wipe it away isn't normal. Keep it clean with a baby washcloth, warm water and soap.

I usually wipe my babies with a wipe .. hers is about to come off as well

@haileybuttons, ok thank you so much. Do I clean off the crust also? It's on the verge of coming off, I'm afraid to wrap my son & I'm trying to avoid him budging with it when he moves his arms.

@masonjim, definitely clean off the crust. just don't wipe hard. Be gentle so you're not pulling the belly button. No worries girl! I had to cut my son's off (my Dr told me it was okay) cause it was irritating him and hanging by a thread. she really helped me through that. It's scary! Sounds like it's doing good tho. good job mama

This is what his stump looks like. Im trying not to get it too wet, it's a bit hard to clean, maybe I'm just afraid. @haileybuttons

It looks so good! Nothing to worry about. It's supposed to look gross. Just keep it clean around the edges, it'll be gone before you know it. You can take a qtip and gently wipe away the blood. They suggest not to use alcohol cause it doesn't dry out any faster than not using it, but to clean it off I found that alcohol worked reallly well

I did the alcohol method. Just around the edges, & it did work. I didn't want to bother the crust on the inside of the belly button. But thank you soooo much! I was worried about it for the past couple hours thinking it's not normal.think I better put some loose clothing on him as well. @haileybuttons