Taking care of an uncircumcised boy

[Anonymous]

I'm gonna be completely honest, as a single mom this is completely uncharted territory for me and I have no idea what I'm doing. Does anyone have any advice for not only taking care of a boy with an uncircumcised penis, but also teaching him how to take care of himself? What age can the extra skin start being peeled back? How is it supposed to be washed? And how are they supposed to like pee hygienically if that makes sense?

[Anonymous]

There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

My worry is that it's already able to move freely and he just doesn't know that he's supposed to wash it

[Anonymous]

OP I would suggest reading medical websites for this information https://www.mottchildren.org/health-library/hw142263spec https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/care-uncircumcised-penis

The biggest takeaway is to not retract until he can retract himself. You, nor anyone else, should retract the foreskin.

Little boys will naturally play with their penis - completely normal- and during this discovery process they will be able to manage retracting the foreskin. Once that occurs, they would retract and clean with only warm water. Just like you dont use soap for the vagina, water is just fine. There are differing thoughts on this but if you do use soap, please dont use harsh/fragranced soap.

In the meantime, wash like a finger. If your kid is anything like mine, he is splishing and splashing in the water, which sometimes has bubbles. My 3 year old will sometimes clean himself and other times wont. Ive taken to using a cup filled with water and placing it almost in and over and then the whole cup of water rinses the pubic, penis, and scrotum area.

I have to be honest- what did you do with him as a baby? Your post makes it seem like he is older?

They pee the way they pee. No dudes pee the same, they all have to direct themselves according to how they are oriented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I would suggest reading medical websites for this information https://www.mottchildren.org/health-library/hw142263spec https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/care-uncircumcised-penis

The biggest takeaway is to not retract until he can retract himself. You, nor anyone else, should retract the foreskin.

Little boys will naturally play with their penis - completely normal- and during this discovery process they will be able to manage retracting the foreskin. Once that occurs, they would retract and clean with only warm water. Just like you dont use soap for the vagina, water is just fine. There are differing thoughts on this but if you do use soap, please dont use harsh/fragranced soap.

In the meantime, wash like a finger. If your kid is anything like mine, he is splishing and splashing in the water, which sometimes has bubbles. My 3 year old will sometimes clean himself and other times wont. Ive taken to using a cup filled with water and placing it almost in and over and then the whole cup of water rinses the pubic, penis, and scrotum area.

I have to be honest- what did you do with him as a baby? Your post makes it seem like he is older?

They pee the way they pee. No dudes pee the same, they all have to direct themselves according to how they are oriented.

I knew that you weren't supposed to mess with it when they're babies so I left it alone, but now he's 10 and I worry I left it alone for too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

My worry is that it's already able to move freely and he just doesn't know that he's supposed to wash it

That’s fine. Is he a kid who likes the shower or the bath? Is he at an age when you are with him when he is bathing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

My worry is that it's already able to move freely and he just doesn't know that he's supposed to wash it

That’s fine. Is he a kid who likes the shower or the bath? Is he at an age when you are with him when he is bathing?

He likes to shower. And he's 10, so not really, but he's still young enough that me or my teenage daughter can come into the bathroom while he's showering if we need to get something or ask him a question.

[Anonymous]

I did not do anything except when he was older, I told him to wash it carefully and pull skin back a bit. Durning annual physical the dr looks at it anyways. If there is any issue they intervene. My newphew had a minor surgical intervention with adhesion and that was that.

More important is to get the boys to take a daily shower and change underwear and clothes daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not do anything except when he was older, I told him to wash it carefully and pull skin back a bit. Durning annual physical the dr looks at it anyways. If there is any issue they intervene. My newphew had a minor surgical intervention with adhesion and that was that.

More important is to get the boys to take a daily shower and change underwear and clothes daily.

Should the dr be pulling it back and checking it at annual physicals? Starting at what age? I've heard mixed things about that on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

My worry is that it's already able to move freely and he just doesn't know that he's supposed to wash it

That’s fine. Is he a kid who likes the shower or the bath? Is he at an age when you are with him when he is bathing?

He likes to shower. And he's 10, so not really, but he's still young enough that me or my teenage daughter can come into the bathroom while he's showering if we need to get something or ask him a question.

OK, just tell him when he's in the shower to pull the foreskin back and rinse it off. That's really all he needs. If he soaping up that region then he'll get enough soap in the area that he'll be fine, but he really doesn't even need to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not do anything except when he was older, I told him to wash it carefully and pull skin back a bit. During annual physical the dr looks at it anyways. If there is any issue they intervene. My nephew had a minor surgical intervention with adhesion and that was that.

More important is to get the boys to take a daily shower and change underwear and clothes daily.

Should the dr be pulling it back and checking it at annual physicals? Starting at what age? I've heard mixed things about that on here.

Drs can weigh in on this. My Dr just inspected visually and probably gave us some instruction but I can't recall.

This is not an issue in my culture, and no one (boy or girl) gets circumcised. I am surprised that this is such a topic of conversation here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's really nothing to do.

At some point, the skin will start moving freely, it might be 4, it might be 13, it probably won't be after puberty, either before or during. Your kid will naturally discover this, you don't need to test it. Once it's moving freely then washing there the same way you wash the rest of you will work, but really boys just don't need to be explicitly told to play with themselves in the shower. Usually you're trying to get them out for the sake of your hot water bills.

And um give it a little shake after you pee. Doctor will look at it at well visits.

That's it. You're done.

My worry is that it's already able to move freely and he just doesn't know that he's supposed to wash it

That’s fine. Is he a kid who likes the shower or the bath? Is he at an age when you are with him when he is bathing?

He likes to shower. And he's 10, so not really, but he's still young enough that me or my teenage daughter can come into the bathroom while he's showering if we need to get something or ask him a question.

OK, just tell him when he's in the shower to pull the foreskin back and rinse it off. That's really all he needs. If he soaping up that region then he'll get enough soap in the area that he'll be fine, but he really doesn't even need to do that.

Is soap not needed under the skin?

[Anonymous]

Both my boys have naturally retracted the foreskin by the time they are five. They wash it like any other body part and it cleanliness has never been an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did not do anything except when he was older, I told him to wash it carefully and pull skin back a bit. Durning annual physical the dr looks at it anyways. If there is any issue they intervene. My newphew had a minor surgical intervention with adhesion and that was that.

More important is to get the boys to take a daily shower and change underwear and clothes daily.

Should the dr be pulling it back and checking it at annual physicals? Starting at what age? I've heard mixed things about that on here.

I had always read you were not supposed to then on a visit to our ped he did it. I asked why and he replied because he had seen adhesions. I still think he's was in the minority. We moved and don't see him anymore and my boys have their hands in their pants enough that they will figure it out.

[Anonymous]

As PP says don’t force it. He will tell you if there’s any issues and doctor can look at it.