Toddler penis question...sorry if TMI

[MeAndMyShadow]

Hey girls,
I posted this in baby club a while back, but wanted to hear some of your experiences. My son turned 2 in February and his is uncircumsized. As some of you know, getting circumcized is kinda the norm in the U.S., but my DH is from England, where obviously it's not as common to circumcize. Anyways...my DH mentioned a while back that he thinks our son's foreskin is kinda tight, but isn't too worried about it saying that it will retract back in time. I compared my sons' (both are uncut), and my almost 9 month old seems to have a bigger opening or hole at the tip than my 2 year old. Neither one can be pulled back, which I know you never force either. I took my son to a urologist last week and he said it was tight and that he should be able to have the head fully exposed at 2. He said there was a 50/50 chance for circumcision and that we should just get my second son done too at the same time. Here in the U.S., doctors will jump on any opportunity to circumcize and my DH and I are very against it. In fact, my husband was quite mad that this doctor even suggested it, saying my son's penis was fine and will pull back eventually. I guess what I'm asking is, those with uncut sons, was the foreskin all the way back at 2? Should I be worried that there is just a very small hole at the end? At this rate, I can't see how it will ever stretch for the penis to come through, but I would say the same for both sons. Again, being in the U.S., this is all new to me, my English husband is not concerned, but I'm so worried Can any of you shed some light on this for me xxxx

 

[_Vicky_]

OMG really? Jesus I have twin 3.5 yer old boys and wouldnt have a clue how far their skin can retract as I have never given it a thought! I am UK and circumcision has never even crossed my mind (yuck ew gross and why would you do it to a baby spring to mind) my sons bits are kept clean and I check regularly for any redness and they never tell me they are in pain or sore. Also please rest assured that appearance of boys genitalia varies greatly - something that shocked me my sons are very different from each other and I assumed one was 'wrong' but when I raised it with midwives/health visitors etc they said they are both fine just different. No one tells you this now do they that they all look different - big hugs sweetie its all a bit alien at times isnt it having boys xxx

 

[MeAndMyShadow]

It is tricky having boys!! All very alien to me as my boys do look quite different down there...not even sure what is normal, apparantly they can differ quite a bit. I just hope they are both okay, wish circumcizion wasn't so common here(not meant to start a debate x)

 

[_Vicky_]

I think if your two year old wasn't ok for now you'd know it. One of my boys was quite tight and the mid wife just told me to look out for
Soreness/ redness. I would think if he is two and hasn't had any infections then its doing it's job xx

 

[sheldonsmommy]

My son just turned 2 and his foreskin doesn't retract all the way yet. But i've been told as he grows and plays with it, it will stretch on its own.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I just did a quick google search for my own information, and everything I found was consistent with the advice.

Two is a little early to have the glans fully exposed, though not impossible; it usually happens around 5 but can take until puberty.

If your son seems unaffected by his foreskin, he probably is. Some things to look out for include redness at the opening of the foreskin, urine being held in the foreskin after peeing, or the foreskin bulging out while he's peeing.

Keep having your guy's penis looked at with regular checkups, but I wouldn't do anything drastic without maybe a second opinion.

Hope this helps!

 

[minties]

I am so sorry! I was meant to send you a picture of Thomas' penis and I completely forgot. I even took the picture too, just forgot to send it. I'll get onto it ASAP. I'm on my ph at the moment so may even be able to take one on here and send it.

No way a foreskin should be fully retractable by 2. Hell, when I was 16 and lost my virginity, by 16 year old boyfriend hadn't even fully retracted his and it was fine!

ok gonna see about a pic now. And Thomas has no retractability at all. His penis has been viewed a lot as he's got problems with his nuts not staying down.

 

[minties]

I have some pics, if you could email me [email protected] I can reply and attach them. I can't PM on my phone. They are just cellphone ones and a bit yellow for some reason, but they show the area well enough.

 

[Kess]

It's not supposed to be retractable yet. Ro's certainly isn't. My Dr said unless it balloons when he pees, there's no tightness issue. Even if it is too tight, they try stretching it and steroid creams before the nuclear option of chopping it off.

 

[hattiehippo]

Tom is 3 1/2 and his foreskin doesn't fully retract yet. It is a lot looser than it used to be though - since he came out of nappies he is always playing with his penis when his pants are off. Spends ages stretching the skin and pulling the foreskin around

 

[polaris]

Thomas is 3 and a half and he just showed me the other night that he can pull his foreskin back! I honestly never gave it a thought until now. I think if there were problems you would know about it. He definitely couldn't retract the foreskin at 2 I wouldn't think, I was surprised that he was able to pull it back to be honest but like hattiehippo says he does play with it quite a bit especially since coming out of night time nappies so it probably stretched.

 

[smokey]

Iv always had this concern with lo as his has a tiny opening and doesnt retract at all.
The rim of the head seems to be very prominant as well at times under the forskin.
Hubby is insistant its fine so im just keeping an eye on it.
A few months ago lo did say it was hurting but he had just discovered fiddling with it so I put that down to pinching it as it looked ok at the time.
Hes 3 years 3 months and since beimg out of nappies I have noticed it seems to be a bit looser.
My concern is nearly every male in close family apart from oh has had to be curcumsised late in life due to problems and my nephew had to be done at 3 as well.
Its not like you can google pictures of toddlers penises for reasurance either

 

[deafgal]

My 12 years old is uncircumcised and I am from the U.S. (no one from England influenced us. We are southerners. My mom told me that dad is uncircumcised too...so your boy is not alone)

I always figured if he is not complaining of pain, he is fine!

 

[MeAndMyShadow]

curcumsised late in life due to problems and my nephew had to be done at 3 as well.
Its not like you can google pictures of toddlers penises for reasurance either [/QUOTE]

This made me laugh as I actually tried to have a look on yahoo images but had something pop up. Probably thought I was some kind of pedophile! I totally understand why you can't view them as such, but still want some reassurance that my wee boy is okay. I have noticed that the tip does sometimes seem a bit red, but he never complains of soreness or anything, no infections, and I never noticed it ballooning. Hopefully it just continues to stretch in time xx

 

[alicecooper]

My DH is 36 and his foreskin can't retract, not even a little bit. He has no problems with it though - no infections, no lack of sensation during sex, and clearly no fertility problems!

I've never seen my 5 year old or 3 year old son's foreskins retract either, but both are fine, and I'm not even remotely concerned.

 

[Dream.dream]

If a boy is intact your not supposed to retract his foreskin ! It's normal at 2 to not be retractable , it's supposed to be fused to the head of the penis until puberty an it's not something you should worry about until age 10.

If you haven't already don't retract it anymore , a foreskin is self cleaning , and by pulling it back to soon you risk introducing bacteria into it . Wash it like you would a finger .

 

[minties]

Glad you got the pics and hope I helped. Thomas is obsessed with his penis right now, so he was happy to help.

I had to laugh at the googling images bit, I can only imagine! I did the same the other day as I was worried about Sophie's labia. Wont be googling about that again in a hurry.

 

[hubblybubbly]

Hi, I know I don't have a boy but I'm a doctor in the UK, no need to worry unless the foreskin is ballooning when he pees, or the wee stream is spraying everywhere (obviously you'll only know when he can stand and wee at the toilet) or its causing him discomfort/pain or regular infections. All these things are pretty rare- I think I referred one child for circumcision for one of the above in the past year....and circumcision at birth is fairly uncommon here.

I would leave it alone!
X

 

[suzib76]

Oh god I have a ten year old boy and his penis is something I have left well alone, I have no idea about his foreskin neither do I need to. It never crossed my mind to try and retract it. Ever.

 

[hayz_baby]

I wa always advised to leave little boys penis' till to retracts itself and that this may only start from the age of 5. Like others have said they are all different one child has been able to at 3 1/2 and another not able to at 10 all normal. It must b hard when docs can b so quick to do the easy thing. Even doing both of your sons at the same time for ease! Anyway try not to worry!