Parents, did your health professional teach you how to care for you baby boy's uncircumcised penis?

Chop that crap off already.  Get rid of it.  There is no use on earth for it.  All it does is collect smegma.

I don't understand why people act like foreskin is this crazy exotic thing that's impossible to take care of and clean. Routine infant circumcision in the West is a uniquely American phenomenon; it isn't done in most of Europe and people there are not confused by their own genitalia and swimming in disease. I was shown how to clean my glans at a very young age and I've never forgotten it. Never had a problem either; it's just not big deal. Parents do have a responsibility to show their sons how to clean themselves, but once that's done, it's something they will remember their entire lives. I'm glad I have a foreskin and would not have wanted it to be removed. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 23, 2018 11:20 AM MST

You should not under any circumstances peel back a baby or young boy's foreskin. For the first several years of life, it's actually fused to the glans. To pull on it would cause tearing of the skin, bleeding, possible scarring, possible lifelong damage, and immense pain. In fact, messing with it can cause infection, whereas leaving it alone rarely does.

Here's what NHS (UK) says on it: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/phimosis/#penis-hygiene 

I was a teen mom and there were no men in the picture at all when my oldest son was born. The doctor told me to leave his foreskin alone, beyond wiping it like I would any other part of him. I did, and he never had an issue.

By the time my youngest son was born, I was married to a man from the UK who came from a family of uncirc men. My youngest will probably hate me one day for saying this in public lol, but he had active little hands, and he did indeed pull on the skin and caused a small tear, which resulted in an infection. He couldn't have been more than 18-24 months old at the time. I took my son to a local urgent care clinic for antibiotics, and the doctor repeated something similar to what you said- that I should have been pulling back to clean. But, by that time, I knew damn well I wasn't supposed to mess with it at all. When the doctor told me he was going to retract the skin to clean, and reached for my son, I snatched my child back so quick it made the doctor's head spin. And then, I proceeded to tell him what an idiot he was. At that point, he essentially told me I was a horrible unfit mother and that my son would likely need surgery to correct the damage. I told him he was an idiot again and I left. I later visited the pediatrician, got my son on antibiotics, and he healed without issue. The primary care physician concurred that the urgent care physician was an idiot and had no idea how to care for uncirc boys. I asked the doctor if I should take my son to a urologist for a specialist's opinion and he assured me it was unnecessary. He was right. My son is perfectly healthy and suffered no consequences for the infection, but he would have likely needed a circumcision due to scarring if I had let the first doctor touch him. 

The skin doesn't start separating until about age 2, but it's not fully retractable until age 6 or so. I was the one who taught both my boys how to take care of themselves, but by the age it becomes an issue, they can already follow directions and do it on their own. There's no need for a parent to ever do it. 

It seems to be a touchy subject with some people in the USA.  My hubby and I refused to have our son circumcised.  The doctors encouraged circumcision so we had to ask those who do know about caring for uncircumcised boys and we also got our information from medical websites.  My brother was uncircumcised so my dad provided his experience.  Since he was circumcised he didn't know anything about not being circumcised, so when my brother was born my dad went to a urologist for information.  My brother never had problems.  I also have cousins in another country where circumcision isn't the norm and since I keep in contact with them I asked them about it.


Anyway, it's not rocket science.  The foreskin is fused to the penis at birth and it detaches naturally over time so if it doesn't roll back don't touch it but by the time it does detach and roll back without force the boy is old enough to know how to clean himself so it's really not much of an issue.

This post was edited by Livvie at January 24, 2018 12:41 PM MST

My children are circumcised so no need.

I'm circumcised, but I didn't have my son circumcised.
I read and read and read a ton of information before deciding to leave our baby natural, the way he was meant to be.
There were no good reasons to cut my baby.
It's an outdated and misguided procedure.
He had minor irritation at one point that was easily healed by some ointment.
Don't peel your baby's foreskin back, that's crazy.
My son is 10 now and he hasn't had any other problems.
I never regret my decision.
He can also decide for himself if he want's to be circumcised later on this way, but I don't know why any man would?
I hear sex feels better uncircumcised, the penis isn't so tight and dry and it's bigger if you don't cut any of it off.

People's attitudes need to change in my opinion.

Circumcision should only be done if it's required on an individual basis not just because we aren't used to seeing natural penises on this side of the world so we want them all to look the same.

It's really shallow and barbaric to circumcise babies for no good reason especially now when any minor irritation can be cured easily with ointment or regular cleaning.