new-ish-born kitten care question

common sense tells me to bath them, but i want to make sure its alright to do that or if there's a better solution.
the kittens are starting to smell.(nothing to signal something is wrong-just a smell of needing a bath).
also the momma spazes out anytime i touch them and they whimper so its hard to do anything without stressing her out. (i cant blame her lol).

also, the umbilical cords. what exactly do i do with them? or should i do nothing? the momma took care of them, but theres some with brown/black things. being 3 days old i didnt know if these should be dried up completely or should still be there.... or what to to expect. (some have ones as long as a inch or two).

:-) thanks!

Kittens that young who have their mother should definitely not need a bath. Even for orphans, bathing at that age would need to be done very carefully, because a chill can be fatal. And their mother would probably do something drastic, believing you to be drowning them. I don't recommend bathing them at all.

Have you been changing their bedding every day? More often if needed?

Oh, and don't mess with the umbilical cords. They'll fall off on their own, any interference could cause a nasty infection.

ok thanks so much!!
and sorta to the bedding thing, the momma spazes out on me when i try even slowly changing the bedding out (mainly because the slightest touch (or even the scent of me) will make them start hissing and crying which causes momma to come running and then she'll move them(last time was to the litter box. and i moved them back and removed the litter box from her reach for about 30 mins so she wouldnt keep moving them back)

Saphris25 said:

and sorta to the bedding thing, the momma spazes out on me when i try even slowly changing the bedding out (mainly because the slightest touch (or even the scent of me) will make them start hissing and crying which causes momma to come running and then she'll move them(last time was to the litter box. and i moved them back and removed the litter box from her reach for about 30 mins so she wouldnt keep moving them back)

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first, be prepared and smart.  IF momma moves them again, use the time to change in the bed!

Move them back first afterwards!  

Nay, more seriously.  Whatever you do, try to do it when mom is there and looking on. That is the usual trick.  For example, when you weight them their daily weighing.

Good luck!

tahnks :-) (i just get scared because the litter box is one of the infectious places in this place so i dont want them getting sick and dieing)

No please don't bath them. Have you observed momma washing them? If she is doing that regularly then that is enough. Just try and change the bedding as often as she will let you, that should help with any smells. The cord will drop off around 2 weeks old.