Umbilical cord still attached

Olivia is coming up to 4 weeks old and her umbilical cord is still attached and doesn't look anywhere near coming off. My midwife doesn't seem to be concerned and said I don't need to do anything and that it'll come off in its own time but I've heard that most cords come off between 7-10 days.

When did your babies cords come off? and were you told to put anything on it to help it along?

PJ's came off at 7 days, and I was glad. It was funky, I had trouble keeping it dry and it smelt terrible.

It didn't heal for another 2 weeks on top of that, it weeped a lil blood from time to time. I went to the doctors to check out bubs mastitis and he was prescribed and antibiotic that cleared up both his mastitis and his unhealed belly button.

If your unsure about it, it doesn't hurt to get it checked out by your doctor.

I haven't had kids but have worked with plenty of babies in an orphanage and we used meths spirits to keep it clean and it dried it out too.
We just dabbed it on after we changed a nappy or gave them a bath.

Mum said they used meths on ours too, bought from a pharmacy so I don't know if that's different?

Bellas came off at 3days and healed perfectly. I would just wait and not touch it as the body will heal it in its own time. Some nappy off time might help to dry it out.

Daniels came off in about 6 days, he had a bit of jaundice and was having 10 mins sunning time in the mornings the MW said this will help his umbilical cord - so maybe it did help.  He had a little bit of black left in his belly button but that washed out in the bath a couple of days later and he was fully healed.

It has been shown that meths and other stuff like dettol are bad for healing worse as it is too harsh on the healing tissue. It also does sting as it would if you were putting it on a wound. Now a days all that is used to clean wounds is saline (salty water) this is best practice when promoting healing in any wound. Even if an infection is present that is all that is used to clean it out.

SOunds like you a have a stubborn cord there  Freesia, maybe it is healing from the botton up (granulation healing) which is fine. Just keep an eye out for infection including swelling, discharge or smell. If you notice any of the above then take he in to see the GP. Otherwise just continue to bath her as normal with no special care to the umbilicus.

Kylahs came off after 4 days and healed perfect. The midwife was twisting it everyday??

It sounds as though hers is pretty abnormal then. We do fold her nappy down under the cord and we don't put her in clothes that will rub directly on it (like pants). It doesn't smell or weep so we're assuming that it's okay. We see my MW on monday so I'll prod her a bit more about when we should start to worry.

Can I also ask what they look like before they come off. Hers is still quite large and has black areas where the veins are. Do they drop off like that or do they shrivel right up?

Jack's shrivelled up, went veiny at the start, then completely black within about 3 days. Good that it doesn't smell or anything though! Is it completely attached, or semi-attached?

I reckon try the sunbathing thing as it worked for us and seemed to work for others whose babies cords fell off quickly.