And should we add that no retraction for toddlers of any age is totally normal. If your 3yo isn't retractable yet, and your dotor says they have to retract/circ DON'T DO IT.

 

Thank you so much for this!!!!

 

thank you for the reminder!

we had discussed this with our usual ped, but we ran into a problem once when we brought DS in with a possible UTI and the other doc in the practice partially retracted DS's foreskin without asking us first... luckily we haven't noticed any ill effects, but we try to tell every parent of a little boy to pre-emptively tell any doc their child encounters that they don't want retraction!!!

 

and also a note, to stand very close while any dr is examining your child. Even if a nurse is near his open diaper.

I had to knock an old nurse off my ds one time...she was trying to retract him. I gave her a very loud thorough anatomy lesson on the intact penis.

Be very vigilant@!

 

bump - this is so important!

 

It can happen in the blink of an eye. We were happy with our ped and she had made no move to retract our ds in 10 months.....then she did. When I called her on it and told her to "stop trying to retract him", she said "I'm not". We withdrew from her practice and included multiple articles on care of the intact penis and harm from premature retraction along with our letter that spelled out exactly why we wouldn't be back. We have heard nothing from the ped or the practice. Ds is luckily fine and dandy.

 

This is extremly important! I am bumping this one up again too!

I am a registered nurse and worked in a pediatric ER prior to my son being born. We routinely performed catheterizations on intact toddlers and infants retacting the forskin (once a tech and I even forgot to re-sheath and thankfully a doctor caught it before any blood supply was compromised). I am surprised though that he was aware that not re-sheathing or pulling the forskin back over the head is also a problem, as my point is that MANY healthcare providers are not taught about the care of an intact penis in nursing and medical school!

My husband (who is a physician) and I after considering our options knew that leaving our son intact was the right choice, but as we began to educate ourselves about the care of our sons intact penis we shocked that we had not learned this type of thing in school. We both attended very well reknowned schools here in the US.

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE do not assume that your healthcare provder knows this stuff. I am sick over the infants I may have injured because no one told me! Also, many providers will ask you to leave the room during a catheterization because they think it might be hard for you to watch. Stay with your child! This procedure is uncomfortable for any patient and so children will cry and be upset during it, but it is important that if your son is intact you remain there to remind the person performing the procedure that they should not retact the foreskin forcibly! They should gently move the opening of the forskin to line up with the urethra (the opening where the urine comes out) without retracting, then clean the area throughly, then insert the catheter gently until urine is obtained. another note is to make sure if they use betadine (the brownish yellow soap) that they wash it off throughly because it could disrupt the natural protective build-up of smegma if it pools under the foreskin. It is also a very irritating substance and any residure couldbe uncomfortable. I guess this is probably true no matter what soap they use.

Educate the people who are trying to help your intact sons. Don't assume that they are trying to intentionally hurt your child, they just may not know how to take care of foreskin. I recommend firmly saying "stop" if you see them trying to retract. REpeat this firmly until they take their hand off your sons penis. Then explain that they should not retact the foreskin. If they are resistant to your guidance, do not let them take care of your child at all. Request another provider.

 

Thank you for that noelsmommie. We know that there is a frightening lack of education on this subject here in the USA because of the high rate of circs in the past here. That is why I think it is so important to get the word out and why I decided to put this thread here and in a few other forums as well. If anyone who sees this has any questions please come over to the case against circ forum.

 

Wow, I didn't have any idea about this!
My 2nd and 3rd sons are uncirced and I asked the Ped. if there was anything we should do to take care of it.
She told us we should teach our son to retract it every time he bathes so he can wash it out.

 

At my sons 1 year well-baby check up, his Naturopath told me that he had undescended testicles, he does not - they're just retractable, and she pulled back his foreskin, but not forcefully, and told me that he had Paraphimosis, which he did not - and she told me to excercise his foreskin by pulling it back a few times a day!! I told her that I thought he had until puberty to ever even begin worrying about whether or not his foreskin was constricting his urethra.

She suggested I get a second opinion - so I did just, and that Urologists said that he's OK for now, but when he's older, if his foreskin doesn't retract, he is at higher risk for penile cancer - (or something, I wasn't even listing) - I strongly stated that would be for him to decide and high tailed it outta there.
Sheesh! Such ignorance and they speak their opinions as if they know what they are talking about!!!

 

And don't forget to tell daycare providers the same thing and your DS's preschool too. Nanny, grandparents, sitters, etc.

Anyplace that anyone who is not you may change a diaper - SPEAK UP!

 

I just want to add that forcibly retracting before it is ready hurts as much as pulling your fingernail away from the nailbed. OUCH!

 

to important to let it sit still.

 

 

Thanks for all the good info. It never occured to me that competant health care professionals might have so little education on the subject!

 

Thanks for the reminder. It happened to us when we saw another ped in the group...a ped who has an intact son herself nonetheless! I was literally saying "please don't retract his foreskin" as she did it. Ugh. Luckily he's OK...she only did the tip a tiny bit.

 

love and peace.

 

yet again

still seeing forced retraction cases