8 week old with large umbilical hernia

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Hi,

My son seems to have developed a large herniated belly button. We noticed it was raised slightly 2 weeks ago and since than cos he strains when his crying its gone really large. Like 3cm in diameter and 1.5inches high.

I'm concerned that this might strangulate. Saw GP and she has sent referral to paediatrics.

Has any parents had this and did they need to do operation to fix it (if yes,was it done straight away?) or was it resolved by itself.

Any advice appreciated. I'm not keen on my son having an operation this young.

Hi

My DD had a large hernia. It was apparent from birth. She was born within days of the first lockdown. We saw the GP eventually and they said they wouldn't operate until she was 2 as they tend to resolve themselves by then. I wasn't convinced it would do. She's now two and it is a lot less pronounced but still visible. It doesn't trouble her at the moment but we will get her checked again. I remember when she was a baby her crying and it sticking out with each strain so I understand your concern. Hopefully you'll get seen soon and that will put your mind at rest or give you a plan. Good luck.

Yes, mine had a big one, can’t remember how big, but it resolved on its own within months. A friend’s daughter had a really huge one that also didn’t need surgery. See the paediatrician but don’t worry about it.

My eldest is 5 and has had an umbilical hernia since birth. We were initially told that most go away by themselves within a year or so, but to speak to a GP if it was still there once he was a year old and they would fix it with a small op.

So we saw the GP when he was 1 and got fobbed off with "it will fix itself, it just needs more time."
Then it got bought up again by the HV at his 2 year check who told us to go back to the GP. The GP tried "it just needs more time" again but we pushed for a referral and saw a consultant.
Consultant saw him and said "it probably just needs more time but come back if it's still there when he's 4."
No improvement at 4 and a half so we went back again and he's currently on a the list to have it surgically revised, but because of Covid it's a long wait.

So we've learnt that generally they are reluctant to do anything about them until they are much much older as I think most probably do sort themselves - I think his is just stubborn!

It doesn't cause any issues though and it's never strangulated, although has occasionally caught on zips or in car seat buckles. In the last couple of years he's got quite self-conscious about it though so we'd like fixed for cosmetic reasons more than anything.

Thank you all for your encouraging advice.

DS1 had one. Recently had an option to rectify it at 3.5 years.

It never caused him any bother though. It's just the fact that it was massive and never went down despite several doctors saying it would.

The surgery was straight forward. He came home the same evening and was pretty upset that night and the next morning, but was right as rain after that.

Ds2 had one. The consultant was a bit scathing about the GP who referred because apparently he’d measured the lump on the outside and put that down as the size of the hernia - whereas the real size is the size of the hole underneath and so much smaller. Or something - long time ago and I was sleep deprived!

It did resolve itself though, perfectly normal belly button now!

Thank you all, my concern is the risk of strangulation with hernias. I have read its rear in infants who have umbilical hernia's

My little twin had one and it was very large - the doctors had asked if I'd tried pushing it back in - she said it was only a problem if I couldn't (or something along those lines) - and that children grow back to front - so the growth comes from their back then towards their tummy and this growth would pull the hernia back in - took about 3 months but gone completely now

Inguinal hernias strangulate because the gut passes through a tunnel. Umbilical hernias hardly ever strangulate (I've been in paeds over 20 years and not seen it happen) because the gut is poking between a couple of layers of muscle, not a tunnel.

Over 30 years ago , my son had one . The midwife ( fabulous woman ) told me her son had one and her midwife ( so now we’re back over 60 years !) had said tie a bandage snuggly around their middle put a penny on hernia and tie round again and it will pop back in . She said ‘you can lose a fist in his belly button’ 🤣 so I did … and it did ! Of course I’d never recommend it now … but it did work 🤷‍♀️