Is circ. any less 'traumatic' for a potty learned toddler than an infant? - Page 2

[Collinsky]

Originally Posted by Quirky

Oohhhh, very interesting! Do you have any kind of a good site that explains this that could be linked? It would make a great addition to an anti-circ siggie.

This article talks a bit about implicit memory.

I highly recommend the book Parenting from the Inside Out, it talks about the formation of memory more detail.

[hakunangovi]

Collinsky, thank you - that is a most interesting article. Logicaly, one would have to believe that there would be serious consequences involving the mental health of a toddler who got circumcised, with or without pain relief. Of course, any doctor who would do this deserves to loose his licence, and I can't even say on here what those that do not use pain relief deserve. The destruction of the little guys trust in his parents is just the start.

Reference the stories told above - For what reason were those unfortunate 2 and 3 year olds circumcised ???

[SleeplessMommy]

There are known risks to general anesthesia ... including a very small chance of death. Also, the infant or toddler penis is pretty small. Do you really want a resident learning how to do operations on your son's penis?

If the parents really have their hearts set on circ, you can suggest it be done at age 18.

With the penis fully grown, the scar can be placed exactly where the 18 year old wants it (near the head vs. on the shaft.) The amount of skin removed can be exactly tailored to the adult size of the penis. There will be no messy diapers and BM on the penis - lowering risk of infection. Decreased risk of meatal stenosis, damage to the head of the glans, adhesions, skin bridges, etc. If a penis is going to be circed, the absolute best "cosmetic outcome" will be gotten with the adult procedure, done by a cosmetic surgery specialist. They can even do a penis lengthening procedure at the same time (cutting the ligament underneath) if that is important to the parents. And at 18, it will be possible to find a doctor to do it under local - to avoid the risk of GA.

As a bonus, the 18 year old will be able to refuse the procedure

You can find pictures of damage from infant circs here: http://www.noharmm.org/IDcirc.htm
(graphic!)