2 yr old...

[peasinapod339]

Hello,

I did a google search of the issues my son has recently been having and it led me here.

In the past month and a half, my intact 2 1/2 year old has been pointing at his penis and complaining, saying "Mommy, I have an owie" or he'll grimace and saw "owww!".

I took him to the doctor who admonished me for not retracting him regularly. She examined his penis and said that the glans underneath the foreskin was reddened. She told me I need to begin retracting daily and to use a diaper cream to help. I felt like this was inaccurate, so I did some research that told me it is normal for a 2 year old to NOT be retractable. I also read that some redness of the glans is NORMAL.

I am at a loss as to what to do. I read something about bubble baths, no I do not give him bubble baths. He does regularly take baths with oatmeal soap in the water, his excema requires this or else the poor thing destroys his skin from scratching at the excema.

To me, his penis looks perfectly normal. I can find no irregularities. Any ideas on what could be causing him pain at this point and what I can do to help him?

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

It is very possible that he is going through the separation process, when it is happening some boys will complain of pain because the skin between glans and foreskin is a bit raw for awhile after it releases. Another possibility is that your ds is getting erections and because he is only 2 he dosnt have the words to describe the feeling so he is saying ow to describe the sensation.

The normal color of the intact glans is usually a bright reddish/purple depending on the skin ton of the child so a red glans isnt something that would mean irritation right off the bat. Since the intact glans is protected it dosnt have the dull color that the circed glans does.

You should never retract your ds and the Dr. shouldnt have done it either. It can cause issues especially if the foreskin is not totally retractable it can cause it to tear if to much force is used and also it can cause the foreskin to become trapped behind the glans which is a very bad thing.

You can always put the cream on the tip of the foreskin and it will work back up under there on its own.

Here is a thread you might find helpful http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=764732 it has things that can be helpful with separation pain and deciding if that is the issue or if somethin more is going on.

And Welcome to the forum.