For some reason I can't remember what I did with my boys... do you use alcohol to dry up the cord or do you just sponge with water?

we used alcohol wipes...

Ditto...alcohol wipes.

nothing
or alcohol wipes (as I had a big box of the things in my birth kit) occasionally

water or nothing is the current recommendation given here- i virtually ignored it. :)

Absolutely nothing!:-D

Thanks everyone!! I think I might've used alcohol with my first and then with the 2nd I did nothing... seems like they don't push alcohol anymore...

How long *should* they take to fall off? I had a couple kids who's cords just didn't want to fall off, and the ped put some stuff on it at the office to help dry it up.

I use either nothing or just a bit of water.

Jen...if I recall correctly it can take up to a week or two...but around here the docs put stuff on the cord before you go home to help them dry up (makes the cord turn black.....makes me think of putting ink all over it lol). I'm not sure if it takes longer when you don't have whatever that stuff is put on it right away. (Sorry, I can't recall what it's called.)

I think maybe alcohol with #1, nothing with #2 IIRC. I don't even think that I waited until it totally fell off to give him a bath. He was just fine.

I did nothing with either of the kids. Waited to give eldest a bath, it took hers three weeks to come off. Second kid, came off in like five days. I was surprised it happened so fast. Both kids were fine.

we used just a little alcohol on a Q-Tip. You can ring around the base of the stump quite nicely. I guess that's where an infection would start if it were going to.