How long should my baby have his umbilical stump?

Question

My son's umbilical stump fell off when he was 8 days old, however there were some black remnants of it in his belly button. Now, he is 6 months old and still has some black remnants of the umbilical scab thing.

It isn't dirt or anything like that - It is definitely the umbilical scab in there. He gets baths all the time and I've washed his belly button a lot. Have any of you had babies who kept bits of their stump this long?

Answer 1

My 5 month old still has some black stuff like that in his belly button too.

I've tried to get it out with a qtip..  But I can't....  I figure it will go away eventually!!  =)

Answer 2

My son has this too, he's almost 7 months old and it just looks like a little piece of dirt in there... the doctor says its nothing to worry about, I've tried getting it out and it wont come out... his had to be treated with silver nitrate when he was about a month old though because he still had a piece inside his belly button that wouldn't fall off.... If it's a big scab that falls off and comes back then I would suggest going to the doctor, but if it just looks like a little piece of dirt or something then I wouldn't worry about it.

Answer 3

My son didn't lose his until he was 6 weeks, and I kinda pulled it to help it along, but I seen it was all skin underneath it was just stuck there.  

Answer 4

try cleaning it out with a q tip and alcohol... if it doesn't work ask your ped for an opinion

Answer 5

My baby had little pieces like that for a couple months.  Just remember to keep it clean.  We have always kept hers clean with a  q-tip and a little alcohol for any dirt.