[Telle Bear]

O.K. so I am fairly new to this board and I have an intact 7 month old baby boy. Ever since I got educated on this issue I have been very pro-active. I have spoken to neighbors, friends...random people...I have a bumber sticker....but now I'm not sure

: .
My 7 year old niece just got back from summer camp today

It was her first time away and she had soo much fun that she only showered once. I just started thinking about my little guy. I know in my heart and soul that I did the right thing (which oddly enough is nothing), but I couldn't stop thinking about when he wants to go to camp. Will he have to be the weird kid that HAS TO shower everyday? Or will he have to spend his days worring about being dirty and getting an infection.......Just looking for some reassurance here.

 

[Plummeting]

An intact penis does not require any special care that a circumcised penis doesn't require. Every man needs to wash himself now and then. Let logic guide you for a moment: Human men evolved with intact penises. 10,000 years ago no men were circumcised, but I highly doubt that humans of 10,000 years ago bathed daily, taking special care to retract their foreskin.

Besides, nowadays only about half of all American baby boys are circumcised, so he won't be the only intact kid at camp by far!!!

 

[Fi.]

Quote:

Will he have to be the weird kid that HAS TO shower everyday?

Lord no. In fact, in terms of "dirtiness", girls need to shower twice as much as intact men to wash away smegma. And intact men need to shower just as much as cut men.

 

[tuhraycee]

Quote:

In fact, in terms of "dirtiness", girls need to shower twice as much as intact men to wash away smegma.

That was my first thought also!

Please don't feel like you've created a problem or more work for your little boy. You made a great decision that will last a lifetime (maybe longer if he has sons too!).

 

[Quirky]

I'm not trying to be snarky here, but what other parts are you going to cut off to prevent dirt accumulating? My ds is 4, and you should SEE his fingernails at the end of a long, hard day of playing outside - seriously, BLECH. He doesn't get infections under his fingernails, and he doesn't get infections under his foreskin, which stays a heck of a lot cleaner than his hands do. I'm not planning on removing either his fingernails or his foreskin!

 

[DreamsInDigital]

You wouldn't pull all his teeth because he might have to brush them to keep them clean.
You wouldn't have his eyelids removed for fear of an infection like conjunctivitis.
You wouldn't shave his head because his hair might get dirty or smell bad.
You would not have your own clitoral hood removed because you got recurring yeast infections.
A foreskin is just as functional, purposeful and needed on his body as the rest of these parts.
Only in America do we see the removal of a foreskin as a solution to potential problems like dirtiness and infections.

 

[babygrant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital You wouldn't pull all his teeth because he might have to brush them to keep them clean. You wouldn't have his eyelids removed for fear of an infection like conjunctivitis. You wouldn't shave his head because his hair might get dirty or smell bad. You would not have your own clitoral hood removed because you got recurring yeast infections. A foreskin is just as functional, purposeful and needed on his body as the rest of these parts. Only in America do we see the removal of a foreskin as a solution to potential problems like dirtiness and infections.

Exactly!

 

[AntoninBeGonin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital You wouldn't pull all his teeth because he might have to brush them to keep them clean. You wouldn't have his eyelids removed for fear of an infection like conjunctivitis. You wouldn't shave his head because his hair might get dirty or smell bad. You would not have your own clitoral hood removed because you got recurring yeast infections. A foreskin is just as functional, purposeful and needed on his body as the rest of these parts. Only in America do we see the removal of a foreskin as a solution to potential problems like dirtiness and infections.

I'm an odd American, I don't see being dirty as a problem.

~Nay

 

[Susuhound]

Even if he was incredibly filthy that's not a reason to circumcise. My DH is intact and we have both been *ahem* 'several' days between showers at various times as we go camping in out of the way places. Those bits don't seem to get any dirtier than the rest of him, or me, for that matter. His feet, on the other hand, are a whoooooooole different story......

:

uke
I'm seriously thinking about asking him to amputate those.

 

[Pandora114]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telle Bear O.K. so I am fairly new to this board and I have an intact 7 month old baby boy. Ever since I got educated on this issue I have been very pro-active. I have spoken to neighbors, friends...random people...I have a bumber sticker....but now I'm not sure : . My 7 year old niece just got back from summer camp today It was her first time away and she had soo much fun that she only showered once. I just started thinking about my little guy. I know in my heart and soul that I did the right thing (which oddly enough is nothing), but I couldn't stop thinking about when he wants to go to camp. Will he have to be the weird kid that HAS TO shower everyday? Or will he have to spend his days worring about being dirty and getting an infection.......Just looking for some reassurance here.

Ok, true story here.

My DH is intact. He also was on the HMCS Vancouver during operations in the Persian Gulf. This meant water restrictions. In other words, no showers except for the CO's *duh* and cooking and drinking water was rationed as well.

This went on for about a week...

He still has his penis, he still has his foreskin, he never got an infection (save for jock itch due to being in a set of black boarding party gear most of the day but that's humidity and sweat..and no it didn't affect his foreskin just his scrotal/leg area)

Trust me, they can survive without bathing for a week. Now weather we want to be NEAR them after no bathing for a week, tha'ts a different story.

When DH went on shore leave in Dubai, you betcha he hit the showers at the hotel his buddy rented! No need to offend the strippers of the port now is there?

ETA: The only penis that ever got talked about aboard that ship was the one belonging to my DH's best friend. He happens to have a tatoo on the glans. That's the only penis that ever got gossiped about, but he didn't care. He wouldn't have gotten the tat if he didn't want it talked about lol

 

[Pandora114]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susuhound Even if he was incredibly filthy that's not a reason to circumcise. My DH is intact and we have both been *ahem* 'several' days between showers at various times as we go camping in out of the way places. Those bits don't seem to get any dirtier than the rest of him, or me, for that matter. His feet, on the other hand, are a whoooooooole different story...... : uke I'm seriously thinking about asking him to amputate those.

MmmmMM Boot foot..

gotta love it eh?

*shudder*

 

[ericswifey27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plummeting Besides, nowadays only about half of all American baby boys are circumcised, so he won't be the only intact kid at camp by far!!!

True, true!

 

[Susuhound]

Oh BTW I just want to add my 2c worth (again LOL). I see a lot of 'if he practices basic hygeine than it doesn't matter if he's intact" around - or words to that effect. Even hard core intactivists seem to say this quite a bit. Hygeine has NO relationship to circumcision. Even the filthiest person on earth deserves to remain intact. If they wash or not, so be it. I asked my intact DH what would happen if an intact guy didn't wash for 'x' amount of time (or even never) and he's like :"um. Nothing?" Just not an issue. At all.

 

[AXEius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susuhound Oh BTW I just want to add my 2c worth (again LOL). I see a lot of 'if he practices basic hygeine than it doesn't matter if he's intact" around - or words to that effect. Even hard core intactivists seem to say this quite a bit. Hygeine has NO relationship to circumcision. Even the filthiest person on earth deserves to remain intact. If they wash or not, so be it. I asked my intact DH what would happen if an intact guy didn't wash for 'x' amount of time (or even never) and he's like :"um. Nothing?" Just not an issue. At all.

Exactly. I had a post awhile back that talked about this same thing. I am a fully restored man and have spent weeks camping in the wilderness with no water for bathing. Nothing bad ever happened to my penis from living with out bathing water. Anybody starts to smell after that amount of time and my penis was one of the LEAST smelling parts of my body during that time. There are buddhist monks who live in the mountains and come down once a year for a bath and they aren't dying from penis problems . So how long does it take from not washing to develop these dangerous infections that according to many foreskin amputation friendly doctors ,apparently can't be treated with normal antibiotics or creams (sarcasm: they can obviously be treated through normal methods not foreskin amputation). I really don't know but i can tell you what will make a penis get infected in a hurry. OPEN WOUNDS, especially from a circumcision and PREMATURE RETRACTION. OR as i have experience personally, FORCEABLY SEPERATED ADHESIONS. Not surprising is that all of those are a result of human intervention. So to the OP, don't worry. Of course you're having doubts, if you were like most people here you've been taught to believe that the foreskin is "some kind of thing to be feared, for it is ripe for infection". "Its just waiting to cause its owner grief, its ugly , unnatural". We all here know what a load of crap that is, but its still hard to shake something that you've been lead do believe your whole life by people who knew no more than you before researching and finding the truth for yourself.

 

[Telle Bear]

Thanks for the feed back. I just want to make it completely clear that in NO MEANS was I thinking about mutilating my son....I was just feeling like it may have caused him some weird situations later in life, or even stop him from doing some things....

 

[eightyferrettoes]

Funny you should mention this; I was just reading a link to a mainstream medical advice site, and while its info on intact penis care is basically correct, it DOES add the caveat, "and the boy must retract and wash under the foreskin every day while bathing."

No such mention for the apparently crucial importance of showering for cut boys.

Soooo.... I can see why you'd feel concerned.

I just think this attitude on our part comes more from a background culture that still views foreskins as being inherently "dirty" or "dangerous," somehow, even when we're trying to advocate for retaining them.

And yeah, I'm an intact woman who's gone DAYS without showering while camping or in the field. It ain't flowers down there, for sure, but it's not deadly, either. Worst that'd come of it would be a yeast infection, and we all know cut guys can get the yeastie-beasties, too.

 

[utahandy]

My intact ds went to summer camp. He also never showered. He was no more stinky than any of the other boys. They all desperately needed showers. Like susuhound said, the feet were the worst part.

Once he showered he was good as new.

Just a side note. My girls also come home from camp stinky. The first thing they all do is hop in the shower.

 

[InDaPhunk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telle Bear O.K. so I am fairly new to this board and I have an intact 7 month old baby boy. Ever since I got educated on this issue I have been very pro-active. I have spoken to neighbors, friends...random people...I have a bumber sticker....but now I'm not sure : . My 7 year old niece just got back from summer camp today It was her first time away and she had soo much fun that she only showered once. I just started thinking about my little guy. I know in my heart and soul that I did the right thing (which oddly enough is nothing), but I couldn't stop thinking about when he wants to go to camp. Will he have to be the weird kid that HAS TO shower everyday? Or will he have to spend his days worring about being dirty and getting an infection.......Just looking for some reassurance here.

Well, if your kid will be odd man out showering every day then so will my little intact guy

.

Honestly, I don't even worry about it. I've never given it any thought but an intact person I was very close to did many outdoor activities- Boy Scouts, fishing trips.....longs ones where they drop you out in the middle of the wilderness in Canada, canoeing, camping, played every sport imaginable and at college level, etc- and seriously, it never affected him at all. Your worries are just another misconception put forth in American society. Your DS will need to take as much- or as little- care at camp as anyone else. Let's hope they're all encouraged to shower daily....or at least bi-weekly

.

 

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

My father is intact. He will often spend a week or more in the bush on hunting trips and I can asure you that he isn't showering when he's out there. He has never had any problems.

 

[lactivist]

I have an 8yo intact boy and if I could get him to shower every day that would be a MIRACLE. I have done nothing to his penis other than just wash the outside of it. He doesn't involve me in his hygeine and never complains about any sort of penis trouble. There are times that go by when i realize he hasn't showered in a week and I force him to but still no penis trouble. He has never had any sort of infection or any problem of any kind. I just don't think camp would ever be an issue because he is intact. I have never worried about any of those sorts of things since I figured he is how he is supposed to be and everything else will work out. We have absolutely no issues, situations, conflicts or anything else because he's intact. It is just something we rarely thing about.
Wendi