boy bits? might as well ask.

[the elyse]

so... this goes along with the cleaning the girly bits thread... if i have a boy i'll have no idea what i'm doing. any special instructions?

[Carlito's_wife]

Nope not really. Boys are so easy. Just grab the feet, lift, and start wiping. The only part that gets kind of dirty IMO is the testicles when they are kind of shrunk in I would say. You have to kinda stretch the skin a little to make sure no little poopy particles are stuck in the lines. I had both of my boys circumsized so I don't know if it is any harder if you dicide not to. That is foreign territory to me.

[LoveChild421]

yep just make sure to clean under the scrotum. And if its a super-poop just put the kid in the bath. Ds is intact and we've never had any hard to clean issues because of it...no infections either...a regular bath is all it takes.

[smokeylo]

You should be aware that baby boys get little baby erections often! This is normal and mostly amusing -- just aim it down whenever you put the diaper back on. You'll catch on, I actually think boys are easier to clean up than girls.

[flapjack]

Nah, don't do anything to foreskins at all, just ignore them. They'll sort themselves out with a lot of fiddling (and once they get to a few months old, there will probably be a LOT of fiddling)
There is, ahem, a tendency that small boys have to wee in your eye when changing nappies- and a special look that a penis gets in that split-second before they wee in your eye. I'd also strongly recommend packing a clean top for yourself in your changing bag, just in case...

[kathywiehl]

Boys are definitely easier to clean than girls, except when it's really poopy and there are bits left in his testicles.

Be warned, though. Some boys get all giggly when you wipe their bits. My son cracks up. I think it tickles or something.

Then of course when they are bigger you will see that they can't keep their hands off it. You have time before you have to deal with that part!

[Writerbird]

Avoid the "pee pee teepees" - little paper cones to put over the penis to prevent squirting.

The kid'll just squirt it right off and send the now-soggy cone splatting right on the wall.

It was funny as heck the one time I saw it I have placed a stack of washcloths next to the changer for protective purposes.

[Gunter]

yes, i would like any tips! i don't know that i am certainly having a male babe but just in case!

specifically, what do i need to know about his little intact part? TIA!

[kathywiehl]

Gunter- you just leave it alone, and even if you think your doctors knows what she's doing, don't assume she knows not to retract the foreskin. I thought I had a super crunchy intact-friendly doc and one time during a visit, she pulled it back and made him bleed. It happened so fast that I didn't have a chance to stop her. I've learned that before even taking the diaper off, make it a point to tell the doctor or nurse not to retract the foreskin.

[Mommy2Austin]

What worked best with DS was to open his diaper and let the air hit it and then cover it back up for a minute or two. That gave him the chance to get that "cold wind induced pee" out and then I'd change him into a clean dipe

[LoveChild421]

Originally Posted by Gunter

specifically, what do i need to know about his little intact part? TIA!

pretty much all you need to know is don't let anyone retract it under any circumstance. Make sure you tell all his caregivers this. When I worked in daycare I once saw a new girl almost retract a little boys foreskin during a diaper change to clean it. I jumped in and said "NO! you don't pull it back. you leave it ALONE!"

Good point about pointing it down and yep as they get older they definately like to fiddle with their penis while you're changing the diaper.

[nolonger]

The best way I've hard it described is "clean it (the penis) just like you would a finger."

"chocolate-covered" testicles sometimes require a bit more effort, but really aren't that bad.

I did want to warn you that diapering boys (with prefolds) has a bit of a learning curve; for the first week or so after ds was born, there was a certain tendency for the dipe to stay dry and puddles to spontaneously appear a foot or two away from the baby.

[Mommy2Austin]

Oh yeah!! Make sure the penis points down into the dipes because if it points up it just comes out the top lol

[the elyse]

see, i had no idea that you have to point it down... makes sense but it may have taken me a few dipes to figure it out. haha.

[eilonwy]

It's real easy with cloth-- I advise you to fold a prefold before you put it on the baby (I like the newspaper fold for boys, and find the bikini twist more successful for girls). Clean diaper (cloth or paper) goes down first, followed by baby in dirty diaper. Undo diaper, grab ankles and start wiping. Once everything's clean, remove dirty diaper, give things a quick once-over and put the clean diaper on the baby. I learned quickly that the peepees can and will fly, so I put another cloth diaper over Bean-- this required me to work blind, but it kept my shirts clean and by the time I'd started using cloth, I was pretty quick & confident.

But yeah, boys are much easier than girls. They also have an easier time learning to wipe themselves than girls.

[Gunter]

thanks for the tips about intact boys. i wouldn't know what to do if there was anything TO actually do. We haven't let people change ezra's diaper ever just b/c i am not comfy with other people near my child's vagina. my MIL may have changed a few and has helped her potty but it took me a while to let her do that. i don't expect anyone to change this babe's diaper other than hubby and i.

we don't do ped visits but if we had to for whatever reason, what are some tips or what do i say to prep them/myself/babe boy before the visit starts?

[bloominmamas]

I also found my ds to be easier to change. I just had an extra diaper in the diaper bag and where I changed him at home to cover him just in case he let a pee fly. As for how to prep a nurse/dr, just let them know the baby's intact and that they do not need to retract the foreskin. I honestly don't know what else you could tell them and watch them like hawks.

[liseux]

sorry to crash the ddc, I just want to add that of the 3 types of babies, cut boys, intact boys & girls: intact boys are by far the easiest to clean. Totally wipe it off like a finger, nothing will get under the foreskin, its fused like a fingernail is to a finger. Just wipe and go. My boys also didn't pee at diaper changes, I think having a foreskin keeps air from being such a shock.