Shocked at how easy intact care is!

[tammylsmith]

I wanted to post another thread about normal penises, because I am just shocked an appalled that such a fuss is made over foreskin. I find it has been no trouble at all. So what's the big deal? In fact, my good friend has a circ'd baby just a little older than mine, and his penis looks so wounded and vulnerable to me now It's also always getting fuzz and stuff stuck in it. I barely give my son's penis a second glance, it's so easy to clean.

My ds (5 months) had no wound care needed, and we have had plenty of bouts of diaper rash by this point, and his foreskin is the only part that hasn't been red and irritated, lol, though that is probably just luck so far. I find it rather fascinating, since I don't have that particular plumbing, and sort of like a mood ring (though I guess that's just a penis in general). It changes with the time of day and such, but it is always really easy to care for. I just wish that everyone could see that!

Seriously, this is such a non argument... can you imagine what we could all be doing with all the spare time we currently spend worrying about this issue (of getting the word out)? Ok, truthfully I would probably still just be kicking around MDC but still...

[silverspook]

I agree, I was surprised at how easy it's been with both my boys with all the mainstream hooplah. But, no problems. Whatsoever.

[To-Fu]

It's amazingly easy, isn't it? I think it's all the misunderstanding about retraction that causes the confusion about cleaning.

[BMG580]

No problems here either for my 2.5 year old. We have completely left it alone, period, and zero issues. It couldn't be easier!

[serendipity22]

I have a 2 year old.

ABSOLUTELY nothing to it.

You don't do anything.

Once you have gotten used to the look of a normal penis, infant circumcision seems absurd.

Also, with foreskin, the penis looks like a single unit.

When its circed, it looks like its in 2 pieces.

I think it's all the misunderstanding about retraction that causes the confusion about cleaning.

[dmpmercury]

I agree caring for an intact penis is so easy. To me it seems so much easier to care for than a circumcised one. Now that I have a ds and see what it does it actually protects and is continuos and makes it easier to clean. My kids both got diaper rashes and his penis never gets irratated from it but my dd would get irratated all over. It funny that people make it seem like intact penis are more difficult to care for but it really the other way around.

[NSmomtobe]

Great thread! I'll never understand why people think an open wound is easier to take care of than a self-protected, self-cleaning body part. I know a lot of it has to do with misinformation and misconceptions about the necessity of retraction, but really--an open wound? In a diaper?

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by NSmomtobe

Great thread! I'll never understand why people think an open wound is easier to take care of than a self-protected, self-cleaning body part. I know a lot of it has to do with misinformation and misconceptions about the necessity of retraction, but really--an open wound? In a diaper?

It occurs to me that the fuss about "cleaning" an intact infant's penis may have another component. It's entirely possible that some people get squicked out about the "necessity" of retracting and cleaning underneath, because it's a penis they're handling. It may just cause people to experience some kind of sexual subtext - even just thinking about it - that makes the whole thing feel creepy, yk?

I have no idea where that came from, because it's never crossed my mind before, but I'm pretty sleep deprived today...

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Cleaning dd with a blow out diaper was worlds harder than wiping off ds. The only similarity between cleaning dd and ds where it was harder was getting stuff of those scrotum wrinkles and worrying about hurting his testicles.

Though after watching him yank on them I realized they where probably not nearly as easy to hurt as I thought they would be

[MommytoB]

It's seems so weird how many parents do think you have to mess with the foreskin and they feel so uncomfy with messing around with the penis but they would hav a doctor mess around with it to alter it then they end up doing the opposite than they would have if they didn't mess around with it at all.

[nia82]

I think it's from the myth that one has to retract and clean "under there". MIL totally believed that and that's what they did to DH's generation, yikes!
Cleaning DS is super easy, and his foreskin is perfectly fine. I once saw a coworker's little boy at the beach, they changed his Huggies (ca. 8 months old) and his circed penis looked so red and raw, and all the sand got stuck to it. I cannot imagine how uncomfy that must be for the poor little guy.

[texmati]

Originally Posted by NSmomtobe

Great thread! I'll never understand why people think an open wound is easier to take care of than a self-protected, self-cleaning body part. I know a lot of it has to do with misinformation and misconceptions about the necessity of retraction, but really--an open wound? In a diaper?

I know! I'm actually worried that if this one is a girl, it will be much harder. I'm not going to have her body altered, though.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by texmati

I know! I'm actually worried that if this one is a girl, it will be much harder. I'm not going to have her body altered, though.

I find girls a little harder to clean, but not much.

Honestly, except for the squirming and wiggling once they reach a certain age, I've never found cleaning and changing the diaper area to be a big deal with either gender. As long as the child isn't actively trying to play in the poop while I wipe it up, I'm good.

[jessjgh1]

I wish every parent to be would read this thread

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Originally Posted by jessjgh1

I wish every parent to be would read this thread

Amen!

Though, I'm glad that our third child was a girl. DS is intact because I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to circ him (he's 7 now--no issues whatsoever) and DH was deployed at the time of his birth (he wanted it done). So, no fight over whether or not to circ baby #3, as I'm sure he'd have lobbied hard for it to be done (over my dead body). Though I wonder if he knew that it could be done at any time whether or not he'd try to have DS done while I'm deployed or something--though 7 years of no issues should seal the deal to leave it alone.