Foreskin....right or wrong??

[tears_of_joy]

Well im confused

When DS was born i was told by my midwife that there is no need atm to retract the foreskin as long as you gently wash the area with water and a flannel or cotton wool when bathing then it is clean and since he was born thats what i have done and so far we haven't had any problem! I was also told that while they are young and can sit in the bath they touch/fiddle with it and it gets clean also, and when they are old enough to understand they can be shown how to do it and can then do it themselves. i was also told that if you accidently pull it too far it can tear and have complications.

Today when i was at the hospital with ds another midwife nearly bit my head of when she asked if i did this and i said "no i dont touch it" she told me if i dont then he is very likely to get an infection and then he will have to be circumcised and i wont have a choice. She then rolled it back to show me how to do it.

Now i have no idea?? Am i doing it wrong??

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

NO! You are not doing it wrong. When it is ready to come back you don't have to roll it back, it will be all wobbley (ask your DH to demonstrate!). DS loves to pull and play with his and you can see it's not attached any more, but I still don't really do much with it other than make sure it's clean and look at it every nappy change in case of inflammation/infection.

[Shellbelle]

Yeah, I thought you didn't pull it back, that it normally does when they do it themselves so to speak around 7/8ish.

[paradise lost]

No. You are doing exactly the right thing in leaving it alone. Lots of little boys have fiddled enough by the time they're 1 or 2 that it is loose, it is only considered a problem if it ISN'T loose by the time they're 7 or 8, but that is VERY rare.

Bx

[~Raven~]

No no no!
Did she roll it all the way back and expose the head? You can roll it back a bit but then it gets stuck. I've done this to clean up a really pooey nappy. If she has forced it back all the way before it's ready then she could tear it and that could cause an infection.

I have one 6yo that can't roll his back at all and doesn't want to cos he says it hurts. And one 4 1/2yo that has rolled his back and for the next few days he said it hurt when he weed. It's fine now though.

There is no way I'll be forcing Mason to roll his back any time soon.

[Trillian]

My eldest DS was just over 5 before he could pull his back by himself. Before that I have no idea if he ever fiddled with it though.

[Alan]

Ignore that midwife. You are doing the right thing. Leave alone.

[aussienic]

I agree with everyone else. I have boys and have never touched thier foreskins.. Even in the bath I used to just swish the water around it and let it do it naturally.. Only one of my sons has had a slight redness and that is my youngest and because he refuses to wear jocks and we think it got dirt in it from the sandpit or something but a few days of being extra vigilant with washing cleared it up.

I have to teach my 8 yr old how to clean his soon :/ Might get DH onto that one

[Ozziehoffy]

OMG... I have no idea where that midwife has come from.. .but this is not something new!! My first is 14 1/2 and I was told way back then to just leave it alone and don't pull the skin back! Just keep doing what you were doing, it was the right thing

[Nicambhar]

Definately don't touch it.. My sister never touched it either until her MIL told her that she should be pulling back the foreskin and giving it a good wash. She showed her youngest how to clean it and that if he didn't clean it each day he might get an infection. That kid scrubbed so hard every day that he rubbed it so raw he couldn't walk and ended up with a terrible infection.
I have never pulled the foreskin back to clean my boys and they never had any problems at all and they are 9 & 14 now.

[Evie76]

I second, third, fourth and fifth that!! Don't pull it back!!

My mum (DS's grandma) looks after Daniel two days a week and I had to specifically inform her not to pull it back at any stage. (She's only known blokes - my Dad and brothers - that have been circumsised).

I cannot believe the mw rolled it back!! Boy, oh, boy.