At our last nappy change, DH pointed out that DS's foreskin is 'opening' up. I actually thought it was later that this happened? Anyway.. do we have to be careful and clean him properly down there now, like pulling it back a little to clean?
It was also a little red inside, not sore red, just red. Is this normal? Any advice?
I don't think you need to worry about retracting it until much, much later. I think it's something like school age (4-5 or so?) that you can start teaching them how to clean properly under there as by then they've probably pulled it back themselves. I've noticed, especially in the bath, that K's foreskin can look a bit 'open' at times and it does look a bit redder in there but just figured it was normal. I just wipe down as normal and he has a good soak (and play with himself LOL) in the bath. I think that's all that's really needed at this stage.
Last edited by Angel; January 28th, 2008 at 02:04 PM.
Jesse's, before he was circumcised, always looked open. You could always see the head of his penis as he didnt have much forskin to start with and from memory there was a little redish tip too. I asked my GP about it before he was circumcised and he said it was normal. I dont think the OB would have circumcised him if there was any infections or what not so i think its just normal
Yeah I knew that.. but I had also thought that the reason you didn't retract it for a long time is cos it wasn't open yet.. so when I saw that it was quite open just now.. I thought.. oh - does that mean we need to clean it now? heheh
Just going to bump this one up as DS can pull his foreskin back quite a way (OK, it looks like he's trying to pull it back to his body) and I'm wondering if I should be cleaning - I'm guessing not now but just want to check.
When they're newborn the foreskin is bonded to the penis like your nails are bonded to your nailbeds. Over time (from the opening back) it starts to slowly loosen. The general rule is that most boys can retract their foreskin by age 4-5, and if not they need a quick trip to the GP to ensure all is well (which it almost certainly will be, the majority of those boys will be able to retract by puberty, which is when it actually starts to matter) but as you've seen with DS some can do so way earlier.
Until puberty the penis produces minimal amounts of smegma to keep the glans clean and moisturised. Gently clean off any which appears at the opening of the foeskin when it is not retracted. Don't wash the glans (although if DS pulls the foreskin back in the bath, this isn't a cause for worry or anything, it's just not something you need to be doing yourself) and don't retract the foreskin yourself. If you notice infection (redness, heat, "angry" looking opening to the foreskin, more than usual discharge or smegma or pus, fever, signs of pain in the genital region) just take him to the GP.
Regard what is under the foreskin as the same as what is under the clitoral hood of a baby girl - fine doing its own thing until it's owner is big enough to deal with it.
Just make sure that when he is in the bath it gets a good splash of soapy water over it without retracting it and he will be fine. The first time I noticed LIndsay's open up, it did look very red/purply in colour but I was assured this was fine and normal. When you look at the glans of a circ'd adult male, it is still quite a darkish pink/red/purple colour anyway.
Cleaning him - down there
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