Occasional ballooning of foreskin normal?

[mum2sarah]

I didn't post this in the case against circ forum because I am skeptical of the answers I've read there, which I'll explain in a moment.  DS (3mo) occasionally seems to have his foreskin balloon out when he pees if it's been a while and he has a lot to pee, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.  What I've read in other forums and elsewhere online says it's normal for an older boy (like toddler or preschool age) and is a sign of the foreskin starting to separate.  But I'm skeptical of this, because if you aren't ECing your baby boy how could you possibly know if his foreskin is ballooning when he pees??  I mean I know even diapered boys sometimes pee when they're being changed, but like I said, this ballooning doesn't occur every time or even most times--just when there's a lot of pee built up.  Have any other ECers noticed this with a DS who's still a baby? Do you think it's normal?

[seraf]

DS ballooned about 10 minutes ago.  He is 7 weeks.  It's been doing that all along.  I've actually been pretty entertained to notice how his 'skin changes when he has to go.  I don't think it's ballooning like they're talking, tho.  His is still obviously attached, but the foreskin that's downstream of his glans will puff out during the flow, kind of like an 8, with the stream coming out of the top.  So it's still cinched in all around the glans.  Older boys can get what looks like a bubble where they're separating. I think the separation can start at different ages for different guys.

[bandgeek]

I didn't EC, but DS often went naked as a baby and he started ballooning around 8 or 9 months I think?  He's almost 7 and still balloons.  He thinks it's funny to squeeze it and make it squirt.   He's not retractable yet.  2 things have to happen for a boy to become fully retractable.  The connection between the glans and foreskin has to break and the ridged band (very end of the foreskin) has to become loose enough to slide back over the glans.  These two things can happen in any order, at any age.  They can happen at the same time, or years apart.  Some boys can pull the skin back over the glans and see parts that are still adhered.  Other boys balloon for a long time, indicating the entire connection is broken, but the ridged band is still tight.

I imagine DS will become retractable around puberty, when most boys do.  Until then, it's only a problem when he sprays the bathroom playing with it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Boys can start the separation process at any time from birth onward some are even born retractable. There is a huge variation of normal where the foreskin is concerned. The only thing ballooning shows is that the foreskin is at least partially separated from the glans but the prepetual (sorry cant spell that) sphincter is not ready to allow retraction to occur. That will happen when his body is ready for it to.

Either way ballooning is 100% normal no matter what the age.

ETA: Some boys never have ballooning and that is normal as well.

[mum2sarah]

Thanks for the reassurances!  I guess I'm still mystified by what's normal since this is my first boy...