cleaning intact 2 1/2 yr old

[lauriebeth]

ok, so i know once you are retractable, you clean under the foreskin.  but how do you know if you are retractable if you dont want to forcebly retract?  When do most boys retract?  Is 2 1/2 too young to worry about this yet?

[Storm Bride]

Yes. Two and a half is too young to worry about this. DS1 is 18, and stopped hanging around the house naked at age eight. He wasn't retracting at that time, and I have no idea when (or even if) he started to do so. DS2 was four (and very proud of his new "trick", which he came to show everyone). When your son is ready to retract, he'll do it (all the time, in many cases!). You just need to let him know to retract, rinse and replace in the shower (I don't even think that's 100% necessary, except to avoid odour buildup).

[lauriebeth]

i had a pedi tell me (after i yelled at him for retracting just the tip of DS to "see & make sure everything was ok")

the pedi told me that if you dont clean you get infections.  Now i know he was misinformed, but i dont know HOW misinformed...  Can you get infections if you dont clean?  (after you are retracting, of course...  this dude wanted me to forcibly retract & clean)  WHen I told him I thought intact penises were "self cleaning"  he rolled his eyes and told me he had seen more "uncircumcised" penises than me and knew what he was talking about.

We never saw him again.

[lauriebeth]

also, how do you get an infection?  how do you prevent them?

i have heard about younger men "needing" circs because of XYZ...  i think they are misinformed? 

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride 

Yes. Two and a half is too young to worry about this. DS1 is 18, and stopped hanging around the house naked at age eight. He wasn't retracting at that time, and I have no idea when (or even if) he started to do so. DS2 was four (and very proud of his new "trick", which he came to show everyone). When your son is ready to retract, he'll do it (all the time, in many cases!). You just need to let him know to retract, rinse and replace in the shower (I don't even think that's 100% necessary, except to avoid odour buildup).

Thanks for the tip. I can't wait for my three-year-old to discover this trick.
Good thing it never even occurred to me that my sons' intact penises would need any special care beyond being thrown in the tub along with the rest of them!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

The only thing you need to do is tell your ds when he is old enough to understand and can retract is to retract, rinse, replace. But he dosnt need to do it until he is older.

No not retracting to clean will not cause infection, odor possibly and smegma build up but it will not cause infection.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by lauriebeth 

also, how do you get an infection?  how do you prevent them?

i have heard about younger men "needing" circs because of XYZ...  i think they are misinformed? 

I think they're usually misinformed. I also think the medical community's insistence on tearing back foreskin creates a lot of issues with adhesions, and probably infections, that end up "requiring" circ to address. (I don't even think circ is necessary in these cases, but the issues that exist are iatrogenic in the first place.)

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Megan73 

Thanks for the tip. I can't wait for my three-year-old to discover this trick.
 

You may get lucky. DS1 had  passed the "run around naked everywhere" stage before he started to retract, so he never felt the need to share this one.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Ds was around 4 when he could retract enough to see the glans. He came to me and showed me and said it was poop : I had to explain to him that no it wasnt poop it was part of his penis.

[Megan73]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride 



You may get lucky. DS1 had  passed the "run around naked everywhere" stage before he started to retract, so he never felt the need to share this one.

Let's hope so. Whenever we have company DS1 gets so excited he strips off his clothes and runs around screaming, which I find sufficiently embarrassing without adding public retracting.

[aeterna]

Originally Posted by MCatLvrMom2A&X 

Ds was around 4 when he could retract enough to see the glans. He came to me and showed me and said it was poop : I had to explain to him that no it wasnt poop it was part of his penis.

ROFL!! Can't wait to explain this one to my son, someday. 

[serendipity22]

I told him I thought intact penises were "self cleaning"  he rolled his eyes and told me he had seen more "uncircumcised" penises than me and knew what he was talking about.

Rolling the eyes can be a form of non-verbal abuse (signal of contempt).

According to his logic, the ritual third world circumciser who has circed tens of thousands, knows much more than what he does.