Always remind doctors/care providers not to manipulate your son's foreskin in anyway, shape, or form. There is no reason for them to even touch his penis. The biggest danger to an intact boy is forcible retraction so you will need to be very careful that everyone who may care for/examine him knows not to try to retract for any reason. It is best to remind the doctor BEFORE the diaper comes off during exams. This might sound like over-kill but it is really not, many US doctors will ignorantly try to retract. They don't receive any training about foreskin development.
Take some time to read these:
Protect your Intact Son:
http://www.mothering.com/articles/ne...uncircson.html
Your Intact Boy:
http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet4.html
AAP Care Guidelines:
www.cirp.org/library/normal/aap/
Development of a Retractable foreskin in Child/Adolescent (this explains retraction):
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcisi...kinleaflet.pdf
Forcible Retraction:
http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet6.html
If poop gets on the penis you can wipe like a finger, from base to tip. You don't wipe after urination this is totally unnecessary and could disturb the natural flora.
In the bath you just swish in the water. With both boys and girls you want to avoid bubble baths and soaking in soapy water. This can irritate genitals and cause flora imbalance. I always apply the baby wash to my son last after he has finished playing and then rinse him immediately. Never apply soaps directly to your child's genitals.
This is not foreskin related but good to know:
For both boys and girls yeast infections can happen during the diaper wearing years or after a round of antibiotics. This is has nothing to do with his foreskin but I thought I would address it anyway. Yeast is easily treated with an OTC anti-fungal or prescription anti-fungal. To avoid yeast infections you should always have give your child probiotics during and for one week after a round of antibiotics. You can get probiotic supplements from the pediatrician or from a health food store. They have some especially formulated for infants and babies. Probiotics are just healthy bacteria. Also, if you choose to cloth diaper you will want to strip your diapers with vinegar and hang them to dry in the sunlight if you ever get diaper yeast (thrush). Yeast can be quite hard to remove from cloth diapers. You will want to use sposies until the yeast on your baby is treated and all the diapers have been stripped.
Development of the intact boy:
During childhood/adolescence your son will go through a normal separation process as the foreskin separates from the glans. The foreskin is fused during childhood to protect the developing penis from feces and other pathogens. Separation is different for each boy and happens at a different age for each boy. During this time he might experience some irritation, itching, stinging, minor redness, minor swelling, ballooning, spraying, smegma pearls, uneven retraction, etc. These are all totally NORMAL and resolve by themselves. We get a lot of concerned parents come here asking about their son's irritated or slightly inflamed penis. 97% of the time it is just normal separation occurring. Some boys don't experience any of this but most boys have 1 of these symptoms at some point.
Unless it gets increasingly worse, extremely inflamed, he has fever, or you suspect yeast there is nothing to worry about. Bacterial infections are VERY rare! Usually the symptoms of separation resolve themselves within 48 hours. Due to the fact that US doctors know very little about the development of the intact boy, it is wise to wait it out and let this resolve on its own..
Here is a helpful thread about separation:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=764732?
Remember that just b/c the foreskin has separated from the glans does
NOT mean that anyone should try to retract your son. The opening of the foreskin remains very narrow and widens with sexual maturity. A foreskin only becomes retractable
after the foreskin has separated and the opening has widened. Hormones play a big role in the widening process. These hormones replace the fiberous tissue with a more elasticy tissue. Through self-discovery your son will learn when he is retractable. Only 50% of boys are retractable by age 10. It is normal for a boy to not become retractable until after puberty. The only person to retract a boy should be the boy himself. Once a boy/man is retractable he can retract, rinse with water only, and replace the foreskin back over the glans during his showers. Easy as that.
