Red, raw penis - care for uncirc'd 23MO

[NEastMomma]

Hi all,

I accidentally left my 23 month old in his cloth diaper too long (13hours overnight! :( - I am awful).  Now the tip of his penis is very, very red and raw.  He's in pain too.  I spoke w/ a nurse at my dr's office who was very king and reassuring and told me it'd take about 24 hours to clear up.  I am cool w/ her suggestions, except one. 

Can any of you mommas of uncirc'd boys chime in to let me know what you think?

- Let him soak in a baking soda bath w/ no soap 

- Keep him as diaper-free as possible today and if I absolutley must put a diaper on him, put a major dose of Aquaphor on as a thick barrier

- Pull back the skin at the tip a bit to clean under there and/or apply the Aquaphor, if diapering. - is this true? I thought you're just to leave that alone?  My gut says to just follow the first two rules.... thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[Everrgreen]

Do not pull the skin back!  It's not necessary and could cause more problems!

This happened to my son after spending a weekend with Grandma.  It was very sore for him (he kept telling me it hurt and he didn't want to pee).  I gave him lots of naked time and put some diaper rash cream on it when I could (he really didn't want me to touch it).  It cleared up in a few days.

[NEastMomma]

Thanks so much.   I somehow overlooked my own sister, who has an uncirc'd son too (tho he's a big kid now) and she said the same thing - leave it alone! 

That's just what I'm doing.  Thank you so much for your wisdom!  Now I'm just spending this gorgeous day entertaining him indoors, nekkid from waist down and cleaning up lots of tinkles.  ;)

[Asiago]

As said, don't pull back the foreskin. It is still very much attached to the penis (as is the skin on your finger). You would risk injuring the penis, causing an open wound and perhaps infection.

Hope your little boy feels better soon. Bath and diaper free time should heal it quickly.

[NEastMomma]

Thank you.  It looks SO much better this morning, it is actually amazing how much better.  So relieved!

[danielpower]

I think you should ask doctor as soon as possible and enlarge penis.

Edited by danielpower - 8/6/11 at 2:22am

[sunnygir1]

If you are seeing improvement right away, I wouldn't bother with a doctor visit unless you have some reason for concern.

Of course she was totally wrong about the foreskin -- you might consider telling her that so she doesn't continue to give dangerous advice to parents of intact boys.

I might be concerned if this happens every time you leave a diaper on overnight -- maybe try stripping your diapers or applying powder before bed?  I leave diapers on my kids overnight.  I give them a sits bath with a splash of apple cider vinegar in the morning to neutralize any funk.

Soda baths are great.  I tend not to use ointments on my kids because they seem to seal things in.  I do on certain kinds of rashes.  I also LOVE golden seal powder sprinkled on anything that looks like it might be getting infected.  It works miracles overnight.