Pulling back foreskin 7 week old

[Vicky08]

My 7 week old DS has had a urine infection, when it cleared up the doctor sent him for some tests one of which involved putting a catheter into his penis to put in a contrast liquid to take some x rays. The doctor who did this procedure commented that it was really difficult to insert the catheter because the opening in the penis was almost completely covered by the foreskin. She asked me was I not pulling the foreskin back a little bit every day when I bath him. I told her that I was advised by the HV not to, the doctor told me that by not doing it my DS would have problems in the future.

I mentioned this to MIL who has had 3 DS and she told me that she always pulled back their foreskins, she even suggested that my DS UTI could have been caused by me not doing this. Now I feel really bad that I may have caused all of this suffering for my poor DS.

What do you think? Should I be pulling back the foreskin a little every day or should I just leave it.

Thanks in advance

Hi Vicky - as a HV we are advised to tell parents not to do this unless advised by a paediatrician for medical reasons. So in answer no - and certainly I never did it woth my son,

Definitely your not doing this is NOT the cause of the UTI.
Have been advised by Cons Paed that it is more likely to cause UTIs than prevent them.

I haven't got a son but I think your HV is right. One of my baby books, in a chapter on circumcision, says that mothers forcing back the foreskin can create problems which mean circumcision becomes inevitable - and that for many babies the foreskin is closed at first but it sorts itself out.

Thanks so much for your replies, my HV is really good and I have a lot of faith in her but this did make me doubt her a bit. I'll continue doing as she has told me and get her to have a look at it at the next check up just to make sure its OK.

MIL actual comment was that if I washed my DS more (I bath him almost every day) and took more care of his foreskin by pulling it back then he wouldn't have got the UTI in the first place!

Your MIL sounds like mine Vicky lol

MIL is BU. Pulling back foreskins was the probably recommended when she had her sons, but isn't now.

Leave it alone. It's sort of joined at birth and gradually detaches so that it can retract by the time they are 5-7. DS had a minor problem with his and that's what I was told.

And tell your MIL to piss off butt out!

MIL can be a bit forward with her opinions at times but that's a whole other thread.

Thanks again for all of your replies, you've all made me feel a lot better. Definatley not going to touch DS foreskin.

Pulling back foreskins used to be recommended until it was realised that the inner foreskin is lightly bonded to the glans from birth and only separates naturally to allow retraction anytime between toddlerhood and puberty. The average age at which this happens is 3-5 but it may be later and still be normal. Nature uses this adhesion to prevent the ingress of foreign matter, dust, clothes fluff etc. The foreskin has an elasticated opening to keep it closed and only allow urine to escape under pressure.

Retracting the foreskin prematurely can damage this delicate mechanism and that is why it is not recommended nowadays. Of course the doctor's need to insert a catheter countermanded this. Whilst I imagine she proceeded with caution, it would be extremely difficult to achieve this without at least partially retracting and breaking some of the adhesion. Once this process has started it is necessary to continue with it cautiously over time but never forcing. This means you are into partially retracting and washing the exposed part twice a day to keep infection at bay, hence your doctor's advice. Use clean warm water, no soaps etc as they can irritate. As your son becomes able to do this for himself you need to make sure he does.

The fact that your doctor had this difficulty and you had never pulled back your son's foreskin, indicates that nature's protective mechanism was undisturbed. Therefore you are in no way to blame for the UTI. The incidence of UTIs in the first year is quite rare but it is an unfortunate research finding that uncircumcised boys are ten times more likely to have one than those who are circumcised soon after birth. For this and other reasons I chose to have both my boys done at a few weeks old.