baby acting weird after doc retracted baby's foreskin

[nilatti]

My 2-month-old is suddenly very fussy and irritable, not going to sleep easily, and especially fussing when he pees or needs to pee. My husband thinks the baby's pee smells kind of weird, too (not sure I agree). He's nursing really fussily too, lots of popping off and on and crying. I would suspect a UTI, but he doesn't have a fever and his pee is normal-colored.

The only thing that I can think of that happened recently that was kind of weird (maybe could have caused it?) was that, at his 2-month check up on Tuesday, the dr. pulled his foreskin back and asked if we were cleaning under there (yes, I know I shouldn't have let this happen, he was just suddenly DOING it). I said, "No, I was told to just leave it alone and it would separate on its own eventually." He gave me kind of a weird look and said, "We'll keep an eye on it." My baby was freaking out this whole time. Could that have caused these symptoms? First baby, I don't know anything. His little penis looks a bit different now--uhm...a bit... baggier? like the foreskin is a little looser than it was. That could be my imagination.

I just was so happy to be blessed with one of those magic non-fussy babies, and now THIS. I'm pretty ticked... of course it's possible that this is just a coincidence, and I was so upset that the doctor retracted his foreskin that I'm attributing everything to this.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[Fellow Traveler]

Originally Posted by nilatti 

My 2-month-old is suddenly very fussy and irritable, not going to sleep easily, and especially fussing when he pees or needs to pee. My husband thinks the baby's pee smells kind of weird, too (not sure I agree). He's nursing really fussily too, lots of popping off and on and crying. I would suspect a UTI, but he doesn't have a fever and his pee is normal-colored.

The only thing that I can think of that happened recently that was kind of weird (maybe could have caused it?) was that, at his 2-month check up on Tuesday, the dr. pulled his foreskin back and asked if we were cleaning under there (yes, I know I shouldn't have let this happen, he was just suddenly DOING it). I said, "No, I was told to just leave it alone and it would separate on its own eventually." He gave me kind of a weird look and said, "We'll keep an eye on it." My baby was freaking out this whole time. Could that have caused these symptoms? First baby, I don't know anything. His little penis looks a bit different now--uhm...a bit... baggier? like the foreskin is a little looser than it was. That could be my imagination.

I just was so happy to be blessed with one of those magic non-fussy babies, and now THIS. I'm pretty ticked... of course it's possible that this is just a coincidence, and I was so upset that the doctor retracted his foreskin that I'm attributing everything to this.

Has anyone else had this happen?

This is a tough one, odd smell of urine is certainly a symptom of a UTI as is odd behavior that you describe so I would watch closely for others symptoms and to see if his behavior improves. The problem is that retracting him could cause odd behavior too. I'd dig up the additional symptoms of a UTI and continue to monitor it closely. Sorry that this was probably little help.

Side note to mods: For some reason the second half of the OP's post didn't appear until I clicked the quote button.

 

[PlainandTall]

Nilatti... Wrongful retraction by the ped aside, fussy nursing and popping on and off is a common symptom of thrush. Check his mouth for white patches inside his cheeks or on his tongue.

[eepster]

Forced retraction can cause UTIs, so your DS is more vulnerable to them after such an incident.

You do not have to take the baby to the Dr (risking another forced retraction) to test for a UTI.  They only need his urine.  Call up and ask for a sterile baggy to catch the urine in, then take it to the lab.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I agree with pp having his urine checked is as simple as taking a sample in without baby. If you must continue to see this Dr. institute the no touching of the penis at all by the Dr. so you dont have to worry about this happening again.

[nilatti]

UPDATE:

About a day after I posted this, my son started behaving normally again. He never developed a fever, so I just decided to watch and wait. I'm definitely going to go to his 4-month check-up with print-outs of articles on the dangers of forced retraction.

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. It really helped me feel, at least, that I was NOT being unreasonable in my concern about the retraction.