Cord ties - good idea or not?

[Edelweiss2020]

Have seen that you can get handmade ties for the baby's cord instead of them using the plastic clamps. They look nicer but no idea if they actually work/are beneficial other than being less bulky?

Anyone used one, was it better than the clamp? Were the hospital okay with it?

That sounds like a brilliant way to get excited new mums to part with more money. There's no benefit to them and the cord falls off after a week so I really wouldn't bother.

They sound like they might be tricky to keep clean? Also no way that the hospital can verify they are sterile so don't think they would allow them.

Umbilical stumps are pretty ugly to be honest, not much is going to improve that.

If it gets urine or poo on which is quite likely you can’t clean them, at least the plastic clamps you can wipe. A urine soaked tie next to a freshly cut umbilical cord is an infection risk.

Plus I’ve read there is a small chance of the tie not being done tight enough as midwives aren’t trained in their use and rarely see them and a baby could bleed to death if it’s not tied properly. Certainly the plastic clamps were redesigned a few years ago after one wasn’t properly fastened and a baby died. So it’s not beyond the realms of possibility though I admit unlikely.

Don't do this. My first had an umbilical infection due to getting poo on the plastic sterile one even though we cleaned thoroughly. She ended up on intensive care on 4 antibiotics and ended up needing infusions through a line even after we got home. Don't risk anything because it "looks nicer".

Waste of money.

@kensue19

That sounds like a brilliant way to get excited new mums to part with more money. There's no benefit to them and the cord falls off after a week so I really wouldn't bother.

This!

The midwives at our hospital actually refuse to use these because they aren't sterile. You can take the plastic clamp off and tie it on yourself if you like here, but obviously they advise against it.

Don't waste you're money, they're an infection risk and I bet they stink after a couple of days!

I was that new mum that bought one. It hasn't been out of the packet. The clamp they used does what it's designed to do and can be cleaned whilst the one I bought couldn't be kept clean so I didn't risk using it. I didn't think it through!

Thank you all, definitely won't bother then! :)