To paint or not to paint... cords

[33-weeker]

just curious what differnt hoipsitals do for cord care...

we use triple dye (blue) and then alcohol a few times a shift.

my kids were born at home. i put alcohol on my daughter's cord 2 - 3 times a day. it fell off in about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks.

when my twins came, i used goldenseal powder instead (a natural anti-infective - or health food store antibiotic, if you will - popular among homebirthers). two or three time a day, i would open a capsule and sprinkle a little bit of the mustard-yellow powder on and around the cord. the twins cords dried right up and fell of at 3 and 4 days of age, respectively. since then, i've been sold on using goldenseal for cords - too bad i can't use it at work.

[htrn]

All kiddos get cord painted with betadine, then most get alcohol q shift. One MD has them get betadine daily and alcohol q shift.

We had a run of oomphalitis (?sp) several years ago, docs and NM did alot of research and we essentially do the same thing we always did. Only thing that changed was that nurses are now 'allowed' to remove clamps when the cord is dry enough - we don't have to wait for the MD to do it on day of discharge.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Soooo, what is the blue/ purlple dye called and what is it? All of my kids were ETOH at each diaper change, never had a problem and fell off by day seven. I now realize/ see that it isn't done anymore. Just took a tour of the new hospital that I will be going to and they use the dye. How long does it stay dyed...until it falls off?

I will do the research if someone can give me the name of the dye.

[nurse_atnite]

Well, we use triple dye once a day and we teach parents to use alcohol with every diaper change. The triple dye is a pain, gets all over everything!!!

[33-weeker]

soooo, what is the blue/ purlple dye called and what is it? all of my kids were etoh at each diaper change, never had a problem and fell off by day seven. i now realize/ see that it isn't done anymore. just took a tour of the new hospital that i will be going to and they use the dye. how long does it stay dyed...until it falls off?

i will do the research if someone can give me the name of the dye.

triple dye (name?) is a combo of alcohol, gentian violet (sp?) & some third substance that i can't remember the name of. it is a pain. it does get all over everything until it dries. i warn parents not to put on clothes from home until it dries.

the cords stay blue, but if it gets on the skin it wears off. alcohol can help get most of it off the skin.

i wish we could stop using it, but it is standing orders for now.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

The docs were taking the cord clamps off? Wow, we as nurses take them off or the CNA does during bath time.

We still use alcohol pads and give them to the parents to take home.

steph

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

We haven't done either in years.

[mitchsmom]

We officially use alcohol but I really don't do it b.c I knew about the aforementioned studies. I don't do postpartum a whole lot anyway.

[OzNurse69]

I am hoping that some of our Aussie friends will chime in on this one.

My dear SIL is in Sydney and has had 3 births there. She tells me that full immersion baths are not discouraged before the cord falls off and that she was educated to leave the cord OTA as much as possible.

Yep.

Full immersion baths, dry around the cord, no alcohol/lotions/potions of any kind.

Oh, and my youngest is 13, so this has been policy for some time. Most of our cords fall off in 7 - 10 days with no infection. (I'm in NICU).

[flytern]

We've been doing evidence-based studies. No more triple dye or alcohol for us. Supposedly alcohol slows down drying process. Also if you keep applying it to the skin around the cord (most parents do) it really dries out babes skin.

We usually take cord clamp off after 24 hours. Don't need MD order.

:balloons:

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

Our policy is "alcohol to cord q 8 hrs prn". As I found out several years ago that it takes longer for the cord to fall off if you use alcohol, I decided that I didn't HAVE to use it with the prn order. So I don't.

Maybe eventually this order will get changed! We used to have some peds who ordered Triple Dye for their babies, but it doesn't seem to happen any more.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

Due to evidence-based studies we don't use anything .... no triple-dye, no alcohol. There's no need for it.

[Justhere, BSN, RN]

Our hospital orders still say alcohol to cord with each diaper change after the cord clamp is removed after 24 hours. But most of us don't do it but maybe once a shift if we think about. I've seen cords almost dry at times when they have been on the warmer for 4 hours. Tonight I had a baby born at noon and when I did my rounds at 2000, her cord was almost dry except at the very bottom close to the skin and she had just been open to air. I had to look twice at what day she was born because I about removed her clamp because it was so dry, but we can't until they are 24 hours old.

I had almost for got about the purple stuff, I use to do that back in the early 1990's when I worked at a little hospital. Haven't seen that in a long time. Hated it, because it got on everything.