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Original poster

To be stunned....babies feel no pain statement.

211 replies

salsmum · 12/10/2010 22:01

I work as a carer and a lovely lady who I work with told me that her grandson was circumcised a week ago (part of their religion) at 4 weeks old, by a priest and although hes still a bit sore its better to have it done when they are little because babies don't feel pain Shock.
Having 2 kids who are now adults I'm afraid I'm inclined to disagree with her.
I'd like to clearly state that I'm not against circumcision for what ever reason I just find it strange that she should think that babies dont feel pain Confused.

OP posts:
TandB · 13/10/2010 19:12

"People often ask me why I am having my son circumcised when we are both atheists ... If they had been with men with and without a foreskin I highly doubt they would even need to ask me the question"

Why did you even bring the issue of sex into the discussion? I think it is a thoroughly strange issue to discuss in relation to any medical decision relating to a child. I didn't suggest that you were perverted, but I do suggest that considering the issue of adult sexual pleasure in relation to this decision is selfish and bizarre.

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:16

nobody has suggested you are a pervert.

I still cannot believe that you would deny him a choice. I know the healing time is greater, but choice is ALL.

If you are in America, it's average, and he will probably never question your decision, but if you are in Great Britain he definitely will, because his penis will look different to that of all his friends. Girls will say "What's wrong with your dick?" (they will, I promise you, they do and they will). So give him a choice! make him able to say "I was circumcised when I was 12 because it cuts the risk of Aids down by 60% and my mother was kind enough to sort it out for me to have it done" rather than "Mum just did it when I was a baby."

MumNWLondon · 13/10/2010 19:16

I am sure they feel pain - DS1 and DS2 both circumcised at 8 days old - and I am sure they both felt pain during and after the procedure BUT the pain was very short lived (both back to normal selfs later that day) and the risks are less than if an anesthetic was used.

lennon80 · 13/10/2010 19:16

But you see this is where you show you dont know what I am talking about....this is your own interpretation...I was talking about HYGIENE!

I totally give up...

Prejudice is being down on something you're not up on.

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:20

But YOU SAID you were doing it because of AIDS! About 10 minutes ago! And what possible hygienic benefit does circumcision have over soap?

This is why people are getting cross with you Lennon, your left hand seems to type entirely independently of your right hand and neither seem to know what the other is posting!

lennon80 · 13/10/2010 19:21

I kind of hope he wont be associating with girls who would be so insensitive. To be fair I think he will say 'erm there is nothing wrong with it, I am circumcised' and realise she is red neck or inbred and move on.

I think he is more likely to ask me when he is a toddler..'mummy why is mine different to daddy's' if I didnt get it done.

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:21

lennon80 Wed 13-Oct-10 18:35:49

"Yeah that will be why..I have a massive issue with his penis. That is the thing with the internet and chat forums its often full of narrow minded and culturally parochial people who want to argue about things that they have very limited knowledge of. I am not wasting any more of my time on this as I can see it is totally futile as you do not listen you just want to score points with glib and highly immature comments. Enjoy the rest of your life with your blinkered outlook.

It lowers the transmission of HIV..an indisputable FACT..and the primary reason why I will protect my son because I cant be there ensuring he always wears a condom but this is something I can do for him.

www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/circum cision.htm"

lennon80 · 13/10/2010 19:22

I am doing it PRIMARILY because of Aids, that does not mean that I am denying the other benefits..there are many as I have pointed out! I am not being inconsistent...there are many benefits but for me the reduced risk of STD and HIV transmission is the MAIN one. I have weighed up the pros and the cons and I feel it is in my sons best interests.

lennon80 · 13/10/2010 19:23

Why are you just splitting hairs now?

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:26

You're not being inconsistant about circumcision, no. You are very sure that you are going to do it to your son. You aren't being consistant with your answers to the question about why you want to do it.

One minute it's all about AIDS. Then it's all about Hygiene. Then it's all about women preferring circumcised penises (you DID say that, I will quote you if you have forgotten or didn't realise whilst you were typing)

And you have not given a decent reason as to why you don't think your child should have a choice about the body parts you remove from him.

Miasma · 13/10/2010 19:26

Last time I checked having a clean dick doesn't make men last longer in bed either...

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:27

I'm not splitting hairs, I'm pointing out gaping innaccuracies.

TandB · 13/10/2010 19:30

It's a little different to misinterpret comments about men lasting longer etc. These are comments about sexual experience/pleasure, not hygiene. If the "if you have had both" comment was a misguided joke then by all means say so, but getting hugely defensive and claiming you have been misunderstood is a little unconvincing.

BertieBotts · 13/10/2010 19:31

I disagree that at 12 it is more healing time. Yes it's more from an adult's perspective, but for a newborn, a week is a long time. That baby is going to be wearing a nappy - I assume you won't be changing him as soon as he pees, so the wound is going to be in constant contact with ammonia in urine, and fairly often is going to be in contact with fecal matter as well between the time that he poos and the time that you change him. It might only be a few minutes but that's enough time for bacteria to get in and form an infection.

BTW Lennon80 you seem to be under the impression that no circumcised male would resent it or wish that their parents had not done it. I know of one such man who has shared his (heart rending) story online, and a google for "I wish I had not been circumcised" brings up 184,000 results.

BertieBotts · 13/10/2010 19:33

The not looking like daddy's argument is kind of ridiculous. A toddler's penis looks nothing like a mature one. There's no hair for a start.

lennon80 · 13/10/2010 19:36

God Miasma what a nasty piece of work you are..lol. If you read back you will see why they last longer..when your husband pulls his foreskin back that area of skin has not been exposed and so is sensations are more likely to have him aroused and ejaculate quicker..I am really tired of this now..as soon as I try to answer a comment like this one here I get accused of all sorts and my reasoning is all apparently perverted..wtf.

Anyway I have to go now..I have things to do. I have outlined my arguments and I think if you read the lengthy post I have put up before about the studies that have been done you will agree that you are very unfair to suggest that women who circumcise their sons are all evil sadists, which is of course what you have pertained to in your comments. I am not someone who does something on a whim and I have been educated to PHD level at redbrick University and as such I understand how to undertake literature reviews and can determine what is a flawed study or methodology and what is not, hence what studies are valuable. I have not the time now nor the inclination to continue the debate as it really is futile and you still just want to make it about personal insults so I am going to leave it here now.

Good Luck with your lives quickly and happily judging others because things are out of your immediate remit.

TandB · 13/10/2010 19:38

That last post could have been a lot shorter.
"I have talked myself into a right mess and am flouncing off the thread".

Miasma · 13/10/2010 19:38

yaaaaaawn.

BertieBotts · 13/10/2010 19:41

If anyone is about to look at my link please be warned there are some upsetting images on there. I'm sorry, I haven't looked at the page for a couple of years and last time I looked at it the images were not there.

colditz · 13/10/2010 19:47

www.circinfo.net/a_member_of_nocirc_speaks_out.html

An entire website run by men who wish they hadn't been circumcised without their consent.

scaredoflove · 13/10/2010 19:56

didn't the trend of circumcising baby boys in America start with Mr Kellogg and masturbation? Sure I've read that somewhere. It was an anti wanking device and not for boys benefit at all

BertieBotts · 13/10/2010 20:00

Yes I heard that too, scaredoflove.

I also heard that the myth that babies don't feel pain (which surely every mother must KNOW is bollocks) comes in part from the reaction some babies have to being circumcised which is to fall asleep - parents/doctors took this as a sign that the baby hadn't noticed, but actually it's now been found it's a very extreme defence mechanism - the baby's body goes into shock and it simply shuts down :(

scaredoflove · 13/10/2010 20:08

Oh I know exactly how much baby's feel pain

I watched my prem child scream with daily blood tests and canulas and having a 'line' put in at her ankle to reach her heart - 6 weeks early and she felt pain just like me.

Why would any woman be happy that her man last longer in bed due to reduced sensation??? Isn't that the height of selfishness?

How to keep a penis clean...

  1. cut a part of it off
  2. use warm water and soap regularly and clean under the foreskin

Erm, does anyone really answer that with no1?

WinterOfOurDiscountTents · 13/10/2010 21:04

Never clean UNDER the foreskin of small boys! Really bad idea and unnecessary.

My DH is circumsised and neither of us would have dreamt of doing it to our sons.

dexifehatz · 13/10/2010 21:20

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