Poll - foreskin retraction

[Claire and Boys]

I have a theory, that the studies showing increased risk of infection, UTI etc in intact males are largely to do with foreskin retraction. SO I'm curious to see how widespread it actually is for this information to be given out.

[mamacatsbaby]

Well, I've been told everything from "You've never had a penis, what makes you think circumcision is so terrible, you know hygiene is going to be a problem" to "You need to start retracting or it's going to be more painful" : crazy talk, for real.

My son is almost 3 and is not retractable yet. He was diagnosed with a UTI last night. The only person that touches his penis is him (barring baths) so from where I sit I gotta give a big . I just don't know about that. I'd be more inclined to believe the higher UTI and infection rate has more to with cleaning technique than retraction. And I'm reading your post as the intact males are already fully retractable and retraction is not being forced? I haven't looked for any specific study(ies)of which you speak so if I missed them, my apologies.

DS looooooves his penis . That's how we think he happened to get an infection, the kid just loves his penis, nuff said. The NP we saw is looking into a urologist rec for us since UTIs are so rare in males to rule any other issues out. She mentioned how boys constantly playing with their penises is what causes most of the UTIs in little boys.

It's been a looooong couple of weeks here so bare with me if I'm misunderstanding : .

[Raelynn]

My mom (who had 2 daughters) told me to make sure to pull back and clean, and thankfully I learned better while I was still pregnant with DS. I don't blame my mom for incorrect info, she was going with what she thought she knew, and she knows better now and has never challenged me on it.

Our Ped has never even touched DS's penis let alone retracted it. DS has also been catheterized and wasn't retracted then either. I have been pleasantly surprised at the level of intact care knowledge I've encountered here with the medical community (but we also have a high intact rate).

ETA: DS has never had any infections or UTIs.

[lovesdaffodils]

My midwife and all her assistants reminded us not to retract (which we already knew thankfully!) and were very foreskin knowledgeable. DS's doctor has never mentioned anything about his foreskin or how to clean it or anything.

[urchin_grey]

Honestly, no one really gave me any advice at all. DS was left intact by chance, so I did not know a thing about the intact penis at the time. Mommy instinct kicked in though I guess because I really didn't think anything of it for a while. I mean, you could tell that everything was closed up tight without even trying to pull it back so I just figured I'd leave it alone.

It wasn't until DS was over a year old that we learned the truth about circ and the proper way to care for an intact penis (which luckily for us is "leave it alone" because that's exactly what we did).

[2xy]

Originally Posted by mamacatsbaby

My son is almost 3 and is not retractable yet. He was diagnosed with a UTI last night.

Just want to mention that my older boy got a UTI when he was four, and we concluded that it had to do with all the bubble-baths he'd been taking. That was the only infection either of my boys have had. Lots of people don't think about bubbles or very soapy water as an irritant, but they are, and kids that age often stay in the bath for a very long time.

It's been years, but I can't recall anyone giving me any advice whatsoever about retracting. Other "advice," yes. Always unsolicited.

[purplestraws]

The only person who has told me that I need to retract DS' foreskin is my dad...and he's a nurse practitioner. He is so misinformed on circumcision and foreskin...it's disgusting. We got in a shouting match in a restaurant about circumcision once...hasn't been discussed since then. I'm very willing to have a civil conversation about it with him, but he can't do it. He starts yelling at me. His big thing was that it prevents cancer of the penis, but when I told him that men are 5x more likely to get breast cancer than penile cancer...he lost it and started yelling at me and making weird claims and comparisons that didn't even make sense.

One time DS had what we thought was a UTI...but in retrospect...I don't know. Whatever it was...cleared up on it's completely. Anyways, at that point my dad said the reason that he had it was because we weren't retracting his foreskin and scrubbing underneath. I wasn't in the mood for a fight so I just said, "Whatever, Dad. Not happening."

[3pink1blue]

our doctor is the only one who gave us advice, and he said not to do anything with DS's penis until he was "at least 8 or 9, maybe older."

I don't even know why people would think you have to retract. It doesn't look even remotely moveable, let alone retractable.

[njbeachgirl]

Not sure what to pick. No one has ever told me to retract. Honestly no one ever gave me any advice because I knew exactly how to take care of an intact penis before I ever had a boy, thanks to MDC

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by Claire and Boys

I have a theory, that the studies showing increased risk of infection, UTI etc in intact males are largely to do with foreskin retraction. SO I'm curious to see how widespread it actually is for this information to be given out.

I agree with that.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Nobody told me to retract not even the same Dr's who attempted to retract ds at the appt's.

But I asked on another board how to take care of ds's intact penis and I was lucky enough to get sent here when he was less than a month old. So I have known from the begining to leave him alone.

Thank the good Lord for MDC or my ds would have been hurt.

[sewingmama]

Two intact sons. . . nobody ever told me to retract them. I was told by multiple people (mainly online) NOT to retract them. My MWs have just asked if we planned to circ, and when we said no, they expressed approval, said there was no reason to circ, and told us just to leave it alone (which I'd have figured anyway, even if I hadn't had people online talk about not retracting -- it just makes sense to leave them alone). My ped has never tried to retract, nor told me that I should retract (or that it should retract by a certain point); she just told us to leave it alone too.

[2lilsweetfoxes]

When I was changing my brother's then-girlfriend-now-STBX-wife's son, my mom told me that I needed to retract and make sure I cleaned under his foreskin. That sounded off to me, even though I'd never changed an intact boy (he's a year older than my eldest child), so I just changed him and decided that I would not worry about it. When I found out I was having a boy several years later, I researched it and discovered it was not necessary. A friend tried to talk me into circing at birth because she did not circ her first son and he had all kinds of problems and infections despite the fact that she was diligent about retracting and cleaning so she went ahead and ended up having him circed at age 3 or 4 and her younger sons were done at birth. She was livid to find out she was given erroneous information--she thought she was doing the right thing at the time. (He's probably in college now...)

[mamacatsbaby]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Just want to mention that my older boy got a UTI when he was four, and we concluded that it had to do with all the bubble-baths he'd been taking. That was the only infection either of my boys have had. Lots of people don't think about bubbles or very soapy water as an irritant, but they are, and kids that age often stay in the bath for a very long time.

I'll keep this in mind. Sometimes his baths are quick, sometimes he's in there a lot longer. Even though the soap we use is very mild, DS loves making lots of bubbles with it just playing with the bar while in the tub. I try and keep that to a minimum, though it doesn't always work.

I'll have to ask DH what DS's baths have been like lately since I've been working a lot at night and haven't been able to do bathtime.

[Momily]

The only time circumcision (or not) has come up was in our intial pediatrician's visit (DS is adopted and I wasn't there in the hospital when the decision was first made not to circumcise him). The ped said "I notice he's not circumcized, are you leaving him like that?" I nodded, and she nodded like "good" and that was that. She might have said something about "not doing anything special", but there were not detailed directions.

I think I read somewhere not to retract, but honestly even if I hadn't it just wouldn't have occured to me -- it would seem like pulling back his fingernails to clean them (except that little boy fingernails get a lot dirtier!). Much later on I found this website and it confirmed what seemed obvious.

He's 9, and I'm pretty sure he's not retractible, but I haven't asked in a few months.

[hellyaellen]

my intact hubby thought that retraction was necessary b/c thats what his parents did when he was little. thank god i learned better and convinced him of it before kellen was born! (i voted no advice given b/c by the time kellen was here kurt knew better so didn't give any advice)

[eepster]

I got different advice from different people, that wasn't an option though, so I voted "told to by family."

[Peppermint Poppies]

I wasn't given advice by any health professionals. None of them did anything more than look - never made any attempt to touch or retract, never questioned me about circumcision, and never offered any advice on cleaning or retraction.

[onyxravnos]

I was never told anything by anyone until well after his birth and I had already learned not to retract by then. And have since shared the info with many a mom...

[yarngoddess]

I was told by our ped to NOT retract at all. To leave his pee pee alone. Our Ped is VERY anti circ- she doesn't circ in her office she refer's out. Said "I don't do that procedure because of it's violence." She ROCKS.

She has touched his penis- but never retracted in any way- not even manipulated it.