My 3mo nephew who was born 4 weeks early has just been recommended for surgery to repair an umbilical hernia. He also will have his circ fixed at the same time. Anyone on the board have experience going through this procedure with an infant? I'm a little worried about the recovery because I watch him everyday while his mother works.

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I am surprised they want to do surgery right away as my son has the same thing right now and hes only 2 months old. Usually they go away on their own after time. My son's pediatrician isn't to concerned and they check it every doctors appointment. His pediatrician said if it doesn't go away after 6 months or so then he would consider doing surgery. My brother had one when he was young too and it did go away on its own.

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I would get a second or third opinion on having surgery on something that will probably heal on its own in the coming months.
Here is a link to an article on it.
Umbilical hernia - MayoClinic.com

I would also suggest a 2nd opinion. My nephew had a rather large umbilical hernia that went away on it's own too.

I had one and my mom says I was about 6 months old when they did surgery. She says it was no big deal, just keep the area clean.

dl

My daughter had a rather large one too, they did surgery when she was 4 months old.

We went through this with our first. I waited and watched it til he was 8 or 9 months old. He had just started pulling up and holding on to things as he went around the room. The same day as the surgery we came home (it was outpatient). He was up playing and having a big time just as normal.

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My son was born with a umbilical hernia and even now at 9 yrs old he still has it and they have said time and again they wont do surgery, it has gotten smaller over the years. I think its a unecessary painful surgery for a infant, but the circumcision problem definitely needs to be fixed if there is a definate problem. I say get a 2nd or even 3rd opinion on the umbilical hernia.

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I was born with one and when I was 5 years old they did the surgery. Mine stuck out about 2 inches. If if would have been an option to do when I was an infant, I know my mom would have done it. They is no reason for a child to go thru the emotional issues of surgery if it can be done as an infant on an issue like this IMO

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Thanks for all the input. His mom saw the pediatrician yesterday and this was his idea. Perhaps when she goes to the surgeon he will have another opinion. My other niece is in a residency program to become an anesthesiologist and her concern is putting him under because he's such a little peanut. She may end up having to go to wh Syracuse where there is a teaching hospital instead of getting it taken care of here in Utica.

Again, thanks for the opinions. It's a big help to hear from people who have actually gone through this operation.

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My son had an umbilical hernia and they watched it for months and months. They didn't do surgery until he was 18 months old. It stuck out about 1 1/2 inches right before surgery.

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One of my kids had this problem too when they were a baby. I don't remember it being a big deal and it went away pretty quickly/from one well baby check-up to another anyway. The Dr. didn't seem concerned about it at the time. I don't remember them telling me to do anything specific with it or to it even, so I am guessing there must be varying levels of this problem. I would urge her to get a second opinion for sure before the surgery though. You never know and no sense in chancing a surgery an infant might not need, ya know?

Wow, this seems extreme to me. My twins - boy and girl - both had this when they were born, but my daughter's was slightly more pronounced. The pediatrician said they would most likely be gone on their own by age FIVE and to wait until they were 5 before making a surgery decision! (They are 7 yrs old now.) Sure enough, by the time their 5th yr well visit came, they had both virtually disappeared. DD does have an "outie" belly button, but it's cute.

I think surgery at this young age calls for a second opinion....

JMTCW.
Suzanne

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