Your baby’s umbilical cord will fall off by itself in one to four weeks. You may notice a yellow base underneath your child’s umbilical cord. This is called granulation tissue and is considered normal. Clean the cord base at least as often as it takes to clean up any secretions around it and to keep it from smelling bad. An extra cleaning might be in order if water, urine, or stool gets on the cord. In general, the more the cord is cleaned, the longer it will take to come off. If the navel oozes spots of blood or a clear moist fluid for a while after the cord drops off, don’t worry. This is natural. However, if the oozing persists for more than two days, the discharge smells particularly bad, the skin around the cord gets red, or your baby develops a fever, notify us.

Revised 3.22.09