Retracting at 2?

[greenemami]

Forgive my ignorance here...while I read a great deal about the topic of circumcision in generally, I find myself kind of clueless about the whole retraction deal and the intact penis' appearance in general.  I am hesitant to google very much, because I am afraid of what I might end up with! :) 

I think my 2-year-old is starting to retract. I had thought this was something that would happen much later, and I read that the average age is somewhere around 10, but that really any age is okay as long as it is not forcible?   He is doing it himself, repeatedly, and I don't think it is fully retracted, though honestly I don't know what that would look like!!!  In any case, he is definitely not causing himself any pain, it seems to be the opposite, and he is getting quite a kick out of it.  We are still potty training, so he is naked a good deal.  Basically, he is pulling the foreskin back and you can see the tip/head of the penis coming out.  My 5-year-old dd was asking me what he was doing and was actually a little concerned about this new appearance to his penis, so I thought I better get my act together and see if experienced mamas could help me out! 

Is this "normal" meaning not a cause for concern in a 2-1/2 year old?  Is there anything that needs to be done cleaning wise? Anything else I should know or a reputable website where I can see what should be going on without running across anything else objectionable?

Thanks!

[artekah]

That is not a cause for concern. It's on the early side to be retractable but that is nothing to worry about.

My DS is almost 3 and not retractable at all, so I haven't had to think about cleaning it yet.

With older boys I know that all you have to do is tell the boy how to clean it himself--which is basically, pull the foreskin all the way back, rinse with clean water (no soap!!!) and replace the foreskin. That's it. He can clean it himself whenever he takes a bath, and nothing else is required.

I'm not sure your son is old enough to clean himself, however, so maybe someone with a retractable toddler can chime in--one thing I'm sure of is to NEVER ever ever force it back in any way, which is why the general advice is nobody but the boy himself should ever do it. Maybe you can ask him to do it and show him how to splash water to rinse it, until he gets the hang of it.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

At his age a simple swish in the bath is all you need to do still. As he ages you can start talking to him about retract, rinse, replace.

What you have read is accurate 10 is the avg. age but any time up till then and even later is normal. When he can retract it all the way you will be able to see the whole glans like a circed penis but that may be years or just a few weeks away. Odds are he wont hurt himself but a little irritation after ruff handling can be expected sometimes.