Pulling foreskin back. Yes or no?

[Aidan's Mummy]

Hi guys. My little boy (5) said his willy ws really itchy. I had a look and there is no redness. I mentioned it to my partner and he said he might not be wiping it properly. I asked what he meant and he said he should pull his foreskin back and clean around the head? I was always told not to pull it back or is that just to a certain age? I feel kind of bad that I might not have been teaching him to clean it properly. Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[JASMAK]

No. My son rinses his but boys don't wipe.

 

[JASMAK]

My son never pulled it back. .. it comes back naturally. .. and if not don't pull it

 

[pinklightbulb]

I have gently retracted Liam's but it went back easily for me (he had a lot of redness and wanted to check it wasn't too tight etc). If it won't though I'd leave it and book an appt with GP to be on the safe side

 

[alicecooper]

I've never retracted my almost-5-year-old's foreskin, nor my almost-7-year-old's either.
My DH's foreskin doesn't retract at all.

 

[Kate&Lucas]

I never have, he gets infections there because the skin is too tight but the doc has always told me never to try pulling it back but encourage him to play with it in the bath which will make it retract naturally.

 

[Claire788]

My 4yr old just had cream for a bacterial infection. The GP advised us to show him how to roll it back and rinse in shower. Advised to let him do it, as he won't hurt himself (we could). Since he's been washing, no sign of further infections!

 

[meli1981]

My lo is 13 months...my gp told me since his foreskin is so tight i can start to try to loosen it abit. Ive always thought that it doesnt start to loosen until around three to five yo. He has been getting more erections...so im just going to let nature do its work! Hoping it doesnt become to tight and start to hurt him!

 

[vocado]

Pulling foreskin back.
Yes

 

[mummy2o]

I haven't touched my 7 year old sons foreskin. But then he's never had a problem.

 

[minties]

I wouldn't pull it back myself. Is fine for them to play with it and let it happen naturally, which can be at any age! My first boyfriend was 16 when he managed to pull his back.

 

[rwhite]

I'd say he's probably fine as he is - because the foreskin is fused to the head of the penis from birth, the age that it can be pulled back varies depending on the boy. It's recommended that the boy pulls it back himself because he'll know how much to pull it back if that makes sense. I know for my son, his pulls back most of the way now but not 100% yet - so definitely safest for your little boy to try himself.

And to clean it all he will really need to do is pull the skin back and give it a swish in the bath