Come and reassure me about ds's willy...

[Tatties]

Been to the out of hours doctor this afternoon and ds (2yo) has been prescribed with AB cream for a skin infection at the end of his penis. He seems to be weeing fine, and thankfully it's not causing him any discomfort. One thing the doc said worried me though, he asked if we pulled his foreskin back. We have never tried to - I was under the impression that you leave it alone and through all the tugging and pulling little boys do (and ds does!) it stretches and retracts naturally by around 4yo... Can anyone put me right on this? Have I been doing the wrong thing by not trying to pull it back yet?

I know the skin infection isn't a big deal either but I'm feeling a bit upset about it. I hate anything happening to my PFB and whenever he gets ill I am a nervous wreck (generally thinking I could have prevented whatever is wrong). To top it all we are going away tomorrow (why do things like this have impeccable timing?) so I am already stressed to the eyeballs with cleaning and packing.

As you can gather I need to chill out, so if anyone has anything reassuring to say I will be VERY grateful. Need to get ds in the bath soon, so may disappear in a bit, but will be back later...

No - leave it for a couple more yrs - my ds found his at age 3 and over about 2 weeks went from not pulling back at all to parading around the garden showing us his 'ice cream'...delightful child!!

He'll be fine, and it is good that he's not in any discomfort.
Doctors advice for us has always been NOT to pull the foreskin back.

I have never pulled back either of my boys foreskins ever

My mom asked me about this because I think they used to but I gather you dont do it now

he will do it by himself when playing with it

My ds didn't pull his back til he was about 5 or 6 and this was despite constant fiddling with it at every opportunity.

oh blimey, i have 2 boys and noone has ever told me to pull them back, in fact, I thought one shouldn't force it as it happens by itself. sooner or later, except in rare cases.

Perhaps the dctor wondered if you had been doing it to clean, as this might casue an infection?

I found this gem on the net - ''About 50 per cent of one-year-old boys will have a non-retractable foreskin, 30 per cent of two-year-olds, about 10 per cent of four-year-olds and about 5 per cent of 10-year-olds.''

ive wondered the same thing too tatties. i even asked about it on here. i was directed to a wikipedia entry on phimosis (non-retracting foreskin). is pretty informative and reasurring.

cheer up my dear

PMSL at 3senough's delightful child!

is the infection he has balanitis? if so if you search balanitis on mn you'll find loads of info.

my ds only stopped getting it when i started gently (very very very very very VERY did i mention VERY gently) pulling his foreskin back and giving it a little wiggle in the bath to clean it.

he has not had a hint of redness since.

THANK YOU.

I am calming down now

The doc didn't say anything about ballanitis, so I'm not sure if that's what it is. I think it's possibly down to scratching himself, perhaps catching the foreskin with his nail or something..
It is good that he isn't having any discomfort with it - he's just done a massive wee all over the bathroom floor and didn't flinch

my ds3 is vicious with his willy and scrotum, whenever he gets the chance... is quite shocking how rough he is with it tbh... no idea if its really itchy or what! he has been like this since day one so if its itchy it has been for 15m so far...

not really relevent, but just musing really - and trying to show youre far from alone wondering about these things

Tatties I am sorry and I understand about the extra anxiety just before a holiday

I have never done anything with ds's penis but I am pretty sure he has managed to pull his foreskin back himself a few times, I think I remember dp mentioning it. I am guessing I should be getting him to clean under it in the bath?

Tatties - its all a bit of a worry isn't it, an maybe harder if your dcs are boys, because its a new bit of equipment for us Mums to understand
I have read that gently pulling it back is okay after 3, my 4 year old has done this proudly a couple of times.
I am sure like other posters say, it will happen at different times for individual boys. Bad timing as ever with these things though

and Tatties have a FAB holiday

Thank you all - I really appreciate the reassurance. Seems the doc is talking out of his arse then

Feeling much more relaxed now, just about to paint my toenails. And decide what clothes to pack I may need a new thread for that...

Cerise toenails for holidays

Too late - they are a kind of iridescent shell pink shade

oooh

LOL is that good oooh or bad oooh?!

[enigmatic]

Ooh you're such a tease

Really Califrau! Dp's memory is crap though, so maybe they can't remember "little boy" issues?

gosh yes, have a lovely holiday Tatties x

Just to reassure you, a urologist told me that little boys sort out their own foreskins with all the pulling they do on their willies. ds constantly has his hands down his pants and manages to do lots of wierd and wonderful things with his!