My wife is insisting that we wrap a cloth around our new born son covering his bellybutton. is there any logic behind this? i feel it just irritates the child?

A newborn's umbilical stump typically falls off about 2 weeks after birth. Keep the stump dry, expose it to air, and fold down the front of the baby's diaper to avoid covering the stump. Then let the stump fall off on its own. The newborn period is exciting, exhausting, and sometimes overwhelming. It sounds like you and your wife love your newborn son immensely. He's a lucky boy!

This often comes from an old wives tale that doing so will prevent an umbilical hernia, but it will not. Some even place a coin under the wrap to push in on the area. I find this irritates the kid and often leads to skin problems under the wrap. Leave it to the open air. Newborn girls are the ones most predisposed to umbilical hernias especially those of African descent.