DS is 7 and DH says his foreskin isn't retracting all the way

[LuckyMommaToo]

DH is also uncircumcised. DS has been complaining about his penis being red and sore, so DH has been supervising cleaning at the end of his shower. Should we be worried? Is this worth a doctor visit? I'm completely out of my league here and have no idea what to do!

thanks,

-E

[eepster]

It's perfectly normal for a 7yo not to be fully retractable yet.  The age that a boy becomes retractable varies greatly.  It is completely normal to not be retractable well into puberty.  Your Dh may have been retractable at a younger are, or possibly he was forcibly retracted in infancy, but your DS has his own time line.  It isn't a race.

Being overly vigorous during cleaning is more likely to cause problems than not cleaning at all.  The intact penis has a natural ph and flora balance just as a womans vagina does.  And, just as washing a womans vagina with soap can lead to issues such  as yeast infections, washing under the foreskin can lead to the same problems.  It should just be gently rinsed with plain water.  Only your DS should be trying to retract it, and only so long as it doesn't hurt.

[LuckyMommaToo]

Thanks! Yes, I did some research (and looked at the poll here) and of course you're right. I consider DH the "expert" and since he was worried it freaked me out a little. But of course he has absolutely no memory of how old he was when he could fully retract.

-e

[PlainandTall]

Intact men are not always the best go to source for child-care since A: they don't remember and B: they were often cared for with the old model (of forced retraction and rigorous cleaning) that is no longer recommended. 

I'm not sure of the roder of events- was the sore redness before or after the cleaning routine was upped?

I think you both would benefit from a visit to the CIRP.org website which has an archive of medical journal articles on various topics.  Of note, the section on phimosis which will explain that your son is totally normal for his age.  The study by Oster (a survey of Danish Schoolboys from their annual physical exams over many years) is a good one to read.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

If he is having some irritation it could be 2 things that I can think of. The first being he is going through the normal separation process which can cause some discomfort. Or 2 your dh is using soap to clean your ds with and for some soap cannot be used on the genitals it dries things out and like pp mentioned messes up the flora.

If it is the first then that will pass over time if it is the second then removal of the soap for cleaning will fix it.