Stinky Belly Button

Elizabeth's belly button stinks really bad. Seriously, it smells like something crawled in there and died. We've cleaned it out (there was a tiny bit of dried gunk, which indicates discharge to me) and kept it clean, but it still smells. It's not red and doesn't look irritated to me at all.

We're taking her in to the doctor tomorrow, but I wanted to see if anyone has experienced this before and if we can do anything at home. I'm not sure if it's an infection or if something really got in there (possibly milk or juice - she likes to let it dribble out of her mouth).

 

I would say rubbing alcohol and a qtip. We had the same problem when we realized that we weren't cleaning inside their belly buttons. Once we started do that, everything was fine. Let me know once you take them to the doc. I'm curious as to whether or not it's something more than that. I hope that it IS just crud in the crevices.

 

I'd nix the rubbing alcohol if you think there's discharge that could really sting. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE and a qtip will get the job done without the sting (and help de-funk anything gross).

Joe has this problem occassionally. He also likes to let milk, juice, whatever dribble out and down his belly. He's also cutting molars and is constantly drooling like a mad dog. I just give his belly a quick once over with the hydrogen p. after bath time and that seems to keep the funk at bay.

 

ok, don't laugh. I used to have a stinky bellybutton. I did. By BB was really, really tight (pre-babies, of course). And I couldn't always get the soap out. Between the old soap and a little sweat, it really starts to smell. I used to use qtips and everything do dry it everytime I got out of the shower/tub.

 

Thanks for all of your help!

We cleaned it out really good with hydrogen perixide and this morning it wasn't stinky at all - so we didn't go see the doc. woohoo! Like we needed another medical bill

 

I would get in there with a q-tip and alcohol too!! She's just got stuff stuck in there - it's a hard place to clean and harder to dry so she's got a little funk goin' on. I wouldn't be too concerned!