Random ?'s about retraction and poop!

[AnnDMFT]

What are some signs that your boy(s) were beginning to retract.  My son's (he's 15 months old) foreskin opening seems to be getting bigger, almost like the slit has gotten bigger and it's hanging looser on him.  It looks like I could take it and pull back on it now or something (but, don't worry, I won't!!!!)  

Could this be the beginning of something? 

Also, even though I am educated and know better, I still can't help but freak out whenever he gets a poop all over his penis.  I live in dread of a UTI because I'll have to deal with a moronic doctor and because I can just hear all of the "I told you so's!"  from various people!  He usually can poop without getting any on it but there are always those rare times when I open up his diaper and it's ALL over his penis!!!    Please tell me your boys have had tons of poops on their peens and never had an issue!  I also get nervous when I have to clean it off of his penis, cause sometimes to get it off, it feels like I'm pulling on it and moving the foreskin around....almost like I'll accidentally forcibly retract him or I'll somehow get poop into his foreskin opening and cause an infection. 

Those darn cement poops!

I so want this kid to never have a problem so I can tell everyone to shove it and yell "I told YOU so!" to them!  

[nathansmum]

DS never had an issue with infections (and yes he used to have poop all over it at times). I just wiped what I saw and was done. I guess the next lot of wee would clean things out too.

Can't help on the signs of retraction - I only knew it was retracted when DS aged 4 proudly "showed" me what he could do...lol

BTW, I live in NZ where non-circ is the norm (ie only a tiny tiny percentage would even consider circ at birth). We don't get any special warnings about anything penis. Except to leave it alone, wipe it clean of poop, swish it in water in the bath and that's it. Most parents wouldn't even know or think about when it will retract or what to expect (except that everything will do what it needs to do, and if for some rare reason it doesn't then a trip to the doctor (without guilt thankfully or being made to think we should have done something different).

This reply isn't to minimise your own feelings or concerns - just trying to show the "non-issue" this is for those in countries where circ is not the norm. Hugs to you, and all the best!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Oh my yes ds got poo on his penis at almost every change. He had those lovely watery bf poo's that went from here all the way to there I would just wipe from the base to tip over and over till I was satisfied that I had gotten all I could knowing that the next time he went pee it would wash out any leftover that I couldnt see or get to easily.

He never had an infection because of poo. The one and only problem he had was due to playing with his penis after being outside playing in the dirt. It was totally my fault I brought him in to change him and just didnt think to wipe his hands off first. It was a truly shocking infection in that he swelled so badly but he got better just as fast with the help of abx and bacatracin.

My mom did get to put in a little I told you so but then I got to show her that a single infection dosnt mean issues from here on out. My older brother was circed at 3yo due to 1 single infection that was easily cleared up with abx but the Dr. wanted to circ to prevent it from happening again No circ for ds of and no issues since then.

[eepster]

When DS was a baby, getting him clean could be a real struggle sometimes.  I kept a squirt bottle of water by the changing table.  If it's a really bad mess, you can just sit him in the sink and run water over it.

On the rare occasions when something would get into the opening of the foreskin, it would just get rinsed right back out next time he peed.  Never caused any problems.

[ElliesMomma]

nm

Edited by ElliesMomma - 5/28/11 at 11:18pm

[vachi73]

All four of my intact boys have had the "sitting in poop" happen multiple times, and never a single issue of infection/etc. Luckily, it's a perfect self-cleaning apparatus :) so you don't have to do much. Urine will wash out anything that gets into the wrong place.

WRT the cement poops that are hard to get off .. when that happens, I just pull up the onesie and plop their little bottoms into a sink full of warm water. Honestly, it's pretty rare that I do this, but it saves me from wiping and wiping and wiping and making their skin raw ... it's more for that than for the penis, but it works for both.

If you don't have a sink in which you can do it, use a big plastic basin or bowl, and then just send through the dishwasher if necessary. (in other words, I would use caution WRT poop in the kitchen sink or in something you would use to serve food ;) )

Although this seems annoying/troublesome right now, in the big scheme of things, the diapers phase is over pretty quickly. I realized last night when changing one of my twins that they're probably a year or so from being out of diapers ... which for me is actually a bittersweet realization (these are my last babies!) It really does go by quickly.

GL!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I had to do the washing with water in the sink/tub a time or two not only with ds but with dd as well. I so dont miss the blow outs

[pranava]

Good advice ElliesMomma about starting him on the potty.  I started this with DS at 13 months.  It helps a lot! 

Just wanted to add another "Yes, poo all over the penis many many times and never an issue."  Also, to make matters worse, DS was forceably retracted as a newborn by an uneducated ped.  Grrrr!!!  So, sometimes poo even got under the retractable foreskin.  At these times, DS got a bath with a quick retract, swish and rinse with water, and replace.  Probably not the advice you'd get from many here, but most people don't have a retractable infant. 

[AnnDMFT]

Thanks for the great advice, ladies!  I just get paranoid because I'm surrounded by people here that have no idea about what to do with an Intact penis!  I feel as though I don't have any safe place to take him if he were to have issues....