Umbilical Hernia

[flossy17]

Hi Ladies was wondering if you could give any advice, my friend has 6 week old twins and one has quite a big umbilical hernia. The dr's and health care nurses tell her that they dont cause any discomfort or pain and go away eventually but she thinks its causing her buba to be an extremely windy baby. Is this possibly the cause or just coincidental? Thankyou

[~Serenity~]

My youngest 2 both had them and they grew out of it, they were both really tiny when born though

[Marnikat]

Phoebe has one. It was quite big at first and now at 3 months old is nearly gone. I'm sure it didn't cause her any wind issues but does have reflux (under control as we are seeing a chiro). My dr refered us to the Children's hospital and they saw her and said that they leave them until they are 4-5 and if it is still there then they may operate.

[~Kim~]

My DD has one still at 4. It's only tiny and having worked at the Kids hossy (in op suite) I'm not going to bother about it. It was quite large when she was born and she was little so it was obvious.
about the wind theory but I doubt it. I think parents just want to label and a reason for an unsettled child (sorry if that offends but it's JMO).

[Just Me]

My DS also had a very large umbilical hernia until he was 18 months old. The doctor said that they heal themselves most of the time because the 'mesh' that holds all the muscles in is quite lose and stretchy at this age. By the time they are 4 or 5 that 'mesh' starts to strangle the bit that is poking out so they operate but it is not a problem until then. DS was my non windy baby so I don't think that there is much of a link between umblical hernias and wind.

The doctor warned me though not to stick the hernia down or interfere with it at all - just treat it exactly like a normal belly button and it will be fine.

[flossy17]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I've passed all your info onto my friend. I really feel for her as these are her 5 & 6th babies. She's had twins before but this is the first time she has ever had a windy baby. Its driving her batty not knowing why but i suppose sometimes it just happens. Hopefully it will settle down soon for her.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

My baby girl has an umbilical hernia and shes very windy as well. I never thought they could be linked but that is rather interesting..

My mum was born with one too and it hadnt healed by the time she was 8 so they operated.

[Just Me]

Windy babies are really sad to watch. I hate that they seem to be in so much pain. I had two of them - I tried Infant's Friend (a natural remedy from the chemist) and it worked brilliantly with DD2 but with DD1, I used infacol. Infacol is also great but it works over time so it takes a couple of days to be effective.

I hope your friend is doing alright. It can be really stressful and exhausting and emotional at times.