Foreskin & retraction question

[stephaniebrookeh5]

My husband is European...he cringed at the idea of circ. Just FYI, it happens on its own...been doing it for years on the other side of the ocean.

[Kätzchen]

Why are American doctors so into little boy penis? I hear the craziest things online; my husband said he didn't retract until age 13, never has had an infection, or any issue. I would not want a paediatrician touching my son's penis.

[musicalisa]

My son's doctor does the exact same thing, OP. He will be five at his next physical (next year) and I'm going to have to be more firm about asking her to not do this. It always rubs me the wrong way. She seems to feel that his foreskin should be retracting by age 5 but from what I gather from research, that's not true at all.

[wonton]

My son is 9.5, I honestly dont know if he's retracted, but I know he spends a lot of time in the bathtub, playing w/toys and whatever else.
For the longest time we saw a general family practitioner who never even asked to look at his penis.
Now as a young boy he wont let the new ped look at his penis, he's too shy.

When he was six months old we went to a new ped and he attempted to retract him, that was the end of our visit and business w/that doctor.

[FindingMercy]

As long as he's able to urinate properly, there's no reason to be checking it. Gracious, you would think American doctors ink there's treasure hidden under there or something.

[RainandRedemption]

Originally Posted by FindingMercy As long as he's able to urinate properly, there's no reason to be checking it. Gracious, you would think American doctors ink there's treasure hidden under there or something.

Yea I'm always confused when I hear stories like this.... our doc looked at ds when he was a baby, once, didn't touch, and hasn't checked since.

[hibiscus869]

Originally Posted by stephaniebrookeh5 My husband is European...he cringed at the idea of circ. Just FYI, it happens on its own...been doing it for years on the other side of the ocean.

YES this.

[Shaunam]

Nothing special happens when a boy starts to retract. You don't have to start pushing it back or anything. HE can do it when he's ready.

I wouldn't let her continue to "check", because your son is the only person who knows how far is too far. What if she goes a little too far one time and hurts him? It's not worth it since there's literally zero benefit to checking anyway.

I remember our first ped checking when DS was a baby and I didn't think much of it. Only learned later it's not a good idea. No one has tried to touch his penis since that newborn stage, thank goodness.

Chances are, he'll never be hurt by gentle "checking". But you just never know. Maybe she's gentle now, but at the next visit she'll feel he's at the age where he "should" retract and gets a little more aggressive. Doctors have all sorts of crazy ideas about foreskins. And most of them seem to have arbitrary ages where they deem it's necessary for a boy to retract.

[danner]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll be having a little "talk" with the ped next visit. The idea of this continuing makes me feel even worse now but I appreciate the information.

Rule 1. LEAVE IT ALONE

[bigmamakelsey]

I don't see any reason to check. My ped. never checks my DS's penis. You'll KNOW when it retracts, and then you teach them to pull in back in the shower. How old is your DS? It doesn't usually happen until 5ish anyways.