He's intact...now what?

[lovingmommyhood]

Odd title, I know. I couldn't come up with anything else though. 

I have three sons, the latest was born four days ago. He's the first baby we haven't decided to circumcise. I told my husband I am completely ignorant when it comes to au naturale penises. (Peni?) Anyway... Is it supposed to be slightly red on the end? What is normal...how is it supposed to look...what do I have to look out for? I've been doing the "wash it like a finger" thing...but I've just used water and really just sort of put him under the warm tap every other day. 

I need help...advice...My pediatrician didn't say a word about it...nada...nothing...zilch. 

[Monkeygrrl]

Yes, it's normal for it to be a little red at the tip. There may be times when it's not. Yes, you just wipe/wash the outside. There's no reason whatsoever for the foreskin to be pulled back unless the child does it himself.

I'm not sure there's anything "to look for". If it's obvious that it's painful for him to urinate or that it's swollen and inflamed, then you might need to see the ped.

Did your ped see it and not worry about it? Or did s/he act like they didn't know what to do with an intact penis?

And whatever you do, make sure the ped doesn't retract it. Some of them just don't get that everything is attached for a reason. And detaching before it's ready causes lots of problems.

Hope that helps. :)

[ElliesMomma]

do.... nothing. that's the beauty of leaving your child intact. 

DON'T ask the ped. for help. they are notoriously wrong -- most of them seem to think you have to retract the foreskin and clean it with soap underneath. YIKES!

and finally, don't expect an infection. expect that he won't have an infection. you don't have to monitor it daily or obsess over whether it is OK to be slightly red at the tip. like ANY infection on any part of the body -- you will know it if you see it. assume you won't get one. my son has never had one.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Just like with your other boys look for anything out of the ordinary like diaper rash. Be sure to raise the penis up and wipe between it and the scrotum whenever I would forget to do that ds would get irritated on the bottom side of his penis and top of his scrotum. Like pp said the tip is often reddish depending on the natural coloration of the skin if it gets to looking dry and red then you are probably dealing with a diaper rash of some sort. Up the diaper changes if that happens, apply some barrier cream and keep doing what you are doing.

Congrats on your new little boy and good for you and your dh in making the decision to not circ. it couldnt have been easy after already having 2 that are.

[Dan Bollinger]

A red tip is normal. It is irritation/dermatitis, probably from ammonia trapped in the diaper or some other irritant. Here's a good washing instruction.

[philomom]

Also, you can try giving your baby more naked time just as you would for diaper rash. Plain old air helps a lot of skin issues. Just find a warm room and a waterproof pad.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Oh and good old breast milk on the foreskin does a world of good for minor irritation.

[lovingmommyhood]

Thank you everyone! All replies have been very helpful. His pediatrician didn't say anything about the penis either way except to say "And we're not circ'ing him, correct?" He wasn't born in the US so I automatically assumed he'd be a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and he may be but he had nothing to say about it either way. 

Thanks Mcatlvr it definitely wasn't an easy decision but I don't regret it. I'll keep the breastmilk thing in mind as well. 

Thanks again!

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X 

Congrats on your new little boy and good for you and your dh in making the decision to not circ. it couldnt have been easy after already having 2 that are.

Yes, bravo

[Quirky]

Do nothing, and don't worry! Honestly, intact girls are way more messy and prone to irritations/infections than intact boys (I've had both boys and girls, although none has ever had anything beyond a bit of normal diaper rash -- but the girls were way harder to clean with all those nooks and crannies!) You wouldn't be stressing about it if you'd had another girl, you'd just wash up as normal and treat any minor problems as just that -- minor. It'll take some getting used to but I promise, it will be easy! Just don't be too worried or paranoid or look for problems.

congratulations on your brand new baby and way to go for leaving him intact! that's awesome!

[Kiddoson]

My son is 4 now but when he was in diapers (cloth) we had trouble at one point with a yeasty (is that a word?) problem at the tip. It was definately because of the cloth diapers. I took steps to strip the dipes but I also made a paste with probiotics and put it on 2-3 times per day topically. I also would give him some in his mouth (powder probiotics for children) with my finger. I was BF so I also took some by I am not sure how much gets trasfered. Took care of it no problem!

That is the only prob we had. We use an old school pediatrician so I def was vigilant the one time he examined him (we didn't do well baby checks) and was ready to move his hand away and said don't retract him! He would have I think. That is the biggest problem, some peds don't know and will retract and that is what causes the problems in many cases.

He also has not noticed being different from Dad but I am sure he will when he older.

HTH

Kim

[Dan Bollinger]

Kim, What your son will probably notice as being different between him and his Dad will be size and hair.  

[Kiddoson]

Originally Posted by Dan Bollinger 

Kim, What your son will probably notice as being different between him and his Dad will be size and hair.  

Lol, you are probably right!

Kim