proper cleaning??

[Cadensmom]

My son is 14 months old and i dont pull the foreskin back to "properly" clean it like my doctor says i should, is this wrong and will he get infections?

Off topic, but what does "crunchy" mean?

[mamaroni]

I don't pull my ds's back either (he's almost 18 mos) and my ped doesn't say anything about it. Just leave it alone, I think. THere are many others on this board with way more knowledge than I, though.

Crunchy--to me it always meant a hippie-natural-environmentalist-type. In college we were called also tree-huggers or granola chicks.

[somemama]

Your doc is wrong!! Do not pull back on, or retract, the foreskin. When your son retracts on his own, you can teach him to gently clean underneath with water. Docs are woefully ignorant about this. Don't let your doc retract his foreskin, either!

[momsmyjob]

My ped. said not to pull it back, he will on his own and my oldest started doing it on his own around 3 I think.

[calngavinsmom]

You are absolutely right! No retracting ever. Our son is almost two and we have never had a prob. Just bouncing around in the tub is enough. Here are some great inks on care for you, maybe the one from the AAP could get passed along to that doc so he doesn't advise other parents to "properly" clean their sons and end up harming them.

http://www.nocirc.org/publish/4pam.pdf
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap/
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/
http://www.nocirc.org/articles/fleiss2.html

Take care,
Tara

[Frankly Speaking]

Frank's Highly Detailed Step-By-Step Manual For The Care And Maintenance Of The Infant/Child Foreskin


For the health and comfort of your son, you should carefully follow every step in this manual with out fail and without deviation. If necessary, print this manual out and tape in in an easily visible position near where you bathe your son. Once you have raised your son to the point that he can care for himself, it is highly desireable that he be taught the proper steps. When he is ready to retract, he will ignore all instructions anyway.

1. Wash the outside just like a finger.
2. Rinse
3. Dry
4. Never let anyone retract your son's foreskin for any reason. This includes medical professionals.
5. THE END!




Frank

[Gitti]

Those darn ignorant pedeatricians!

Please copy the AAP statement from the pp and hand it to the doctor.

Just in case, here it is again:
http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap/

Here is another link:
www.cirp.org/library/hygiene

I have a six yr. old grandson and we NEVER did anything to his penis except wash it on the outside like you would wash a toe or a finger. Ah, actually I don't think we washed it quite that way either, we simply let it float in the tub. :LOL
And he, of course, over time started retracting himself. By the time he was 5 yr. he fully retracted. As a matter of fact, it happened in the bath tub one night. Scared him, he called his mom to show her what had happened. She said, that now he is a big boy. Then he was so proud of himself, he wanted to show EVERYONE.

Anyway, we never did ANYTHING and he NEVER had any problems with it.