red, swollen and discharging penis in 3 yr old.

[Jessica Turner]

Hi all

Unfortunately my DS (3) has a pretty bad infection in his penis. He has really
been doing a lot of touching and playing lately, I never stop him but I usually
try to get him to wash his hands...none the less yesterday he woke up
complaining that his penis hurt. He has had times where his penis has been
irritated and then says nothing more so I initially figures this was similar.

It was red and I did notice a bit of the white residue (have not really ever
noticed that before.) His penis pretty much retracts to reveal the urethral opening and
not much more.

The day went on and he kept complaining from pain, but had no problem urinating
or carrying on as normal. I called our Dr's nurse and consulted with her
and at that point we thought perhaps it was yeast. When I picked him up later
that day, he was still in pain. At home I looked at this penis and the head was
very swollen. It was red, painful to the touch and more swollen than I would
have imagined. I took him into the urgent care at the advice of the on-call doc
at our clinic. They sampled his urine and said no yeast just bacteria. They gave
us an antibiotic Sulfameth (2x/day/7 days). So he has had two doses of that and
I have has given him some ibuprofen for the pain and swelling.

This AM he woke up with puss and more noticeable white discharge in his
underwear and a very sensitive penis, still very swollen and red. I called the on-call doc again, he was
concerned that the antibiotic given was not right for the problem...he said wait
another day to see if it clears up.

Anyway, I was and am so very hesitant to give antibiotics
(this is the first he has taken). I am given him florajen capsules along with
lots of fresh yogurt. Does anyone else have advice on this topic?? We have had
such a normal and easy go at the whole thing until now and it seems very scary!

Thanks in advance! Jessica 
 

[LonelyPageTurnr]

It doesn't sound like a UTI...did they try for a clean catch?  Just be very careful, because a lot of doctors will think an (obvious) infection like that will mean circumcision is necessary.  It definitely is not. 

You can try warm baths, sometimes baking soda can help and be soothing.  I'm sorry you're going through this.  If the antibiotic doesn't work, they need to change it, and it sounds very obvious he needs an antibiotic.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

My ds did end up taking abx for a bacterial infection. The only way to know for sure is to do a swab of the tip and see what if any bacteria is there. You can also use OTC bacatracin on there and see if you see any difference.

[serendipity22]

He may be going through through the stage where the foreskin seperates.

In that case, the white discharge is smegma and what is happening is normal.

No doubt in the US, there have been many many cases where doctors are unfamiliar with the normal development of the penis and seeing the seperation phase has led to unnecessary circumcision.

Is there a sticky somewhere which describes the normal development of the penis?

 

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

There is a sticky in resources that covers normal development and possible things you might see as your ds grows here it is http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=764732