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Original poster

little boys foreskins...advice

16 replies

hilz · 10/04/2004 21:44

I was just wondering if you mums with little boys could tell me what sort of age the foreskin should have loosened up, you know so it can be properly pushed back when washing. My ds 3 1/2 is still quite tight. It goes back a little bit, but i tell him to pull back slightly when hes having a bath and it still seems to only go a few millimetres. Is that normal?

OP posts:
twiglett · 10/04/2004 21:49

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twiglett · 10/04/2004 21:52

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hercules · 10/04/2004 21:54

Leave it alone. You are more likely to damage it by pushing it. It doesnt need any pulling or pushing just normal washing.

Furball · 10/04/2004 22:10

Have a read of This

Original poster
hilz · 10/04/2004 23:36

woops feel stupid now. I just remember my mum always instructing my little brothers to make sure they pushed back and washed when we were young, so I guess I just thought that was the right thing. Ok. Well thanks. Now I will go feel quite ill-informed and embarressed on another thread!!!

OP posts:
toddlerbob · 10/04/2004 23:37

Yep, my NZ MIL had a good tug and a pull whilst going on about how my dh had "terrible problems". I was very ill at the time and couldn't be bothered to challenge her, but it makes me very angry now. Quite apart from anything else it's not any of her business. Leave it alone.

Tex111 · 11/04/2004 16:04

Hi hilz, don't feel stupid! This was very educational for me too. And Toddlerbob, my mother wasn't sure what to make of DS's intact willy and wanted to pull back the foreskin to 'get it clean' too. Virtually all American baby boys are circumcised at birth so his little foreskin is a bit of a novelty. Poor thing, I think every friend and family member in the States has had a good look!

aloha · 11/04/2004 19:19

Yes, leave it alone. The minute it gets 'moveable' believe me, your ds will move it

Babe · 12/04/2004 08:52

Ooh very interesting posts thank you all. I have a possibly related question - please can anyone answer it?

The doctor looked at ds' willy at 6 weeks and told us that we would need to stretch it or otherwise he would need to be circumcised. I was horrified as I'd never heard of this having to be done before, but we embarked on a post bath 'stretch' with cotton buds as gently as we can. Now I can't claim to have been as zealous about this as perhaps I ought to be, but reading the posts below and related link, I'm not sure that we should have been doing this at all.

Weirdly, my MIL was told to do this to my BIL (as a baby!) and my mum vaguely remembers something similar with my uncle, but I can't find anyone with a baby recently who has been told to do this. Should I continue?

toddlerbob · 12/04/2004 09:02

I would get a second opinion.

twiglett · 12/04/2004 11:03

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goosey · 12/04/2004 11:08

I took my ds to the doctor's when he was 11 because he still had great difficulty retracting his foreskin. The doc said it was perfectly normal and was only a problem if there was difficulty in urinating. He is now 14 and is completely normal.

Babe · 12/04/2004 14:13

Thanks, I will go and get a second opinion.

I won't miss doing THAT piece of work after his bath! The funniest thing was that he would always look at me vaguely puzzled as to why I was doing it. Now I know why...

Tex111 · 12/04/2004 19:39

We were told that our DS has a tight foreskin too and as long as he pees OK we should just leave it alone. He's 20 months now and I can tell that it's already loosened up a bit so I'm sure it'll be fine. Apparently DH had the same thing as a baby but grew out of it too (hereditary thing?). Hope that helps!

Babe · 12/04/2004 20:11

Thanks Tex - it's really reassuring to know that someone else has had a similar thing.

Soulfly · 12/04/2004 20:15

Think thats quite normal hilz. my ds is the same.

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