Help with Little Boy

C.,
You've gotten some great advice... warm bath, clean real well, clean at each diaper change. I just wanted to let you know that I know exactly how you feel!

I never had to do that with my 16 yo - he was a little imp. So when I had my 3 yo, I didn't realize I had to do that. when the pediatrician told me that he may need to get re-circumcized I felt horrible. I hated popping it out, but it is SO much easier if you do it at every diaper change rather than every bath.

Go to the Dr. and get it fixed but you can slack on some stuff. It needs tyo be cleaned daily if not at every diaper changing. No you are not a bad mother but this is one thing that needs to be tended to.
C. B

I agree with the last few posts. My first son I didnt have any problems with his circ, but my second son was really little, and had lots of rolls a fat pockets, and with him I did make sure to pop it out to clean it. I fyour dr is telling you to pop it out and clean it, follow the dr advice. Dont worry about being a bad mom, we all forget, you are doing a great job by taking care of it now!

C.,

You did not mention if your son was circumsized or not. I would work harder on trying to clean his private areas. If he is not circumsized, then he may need to be.

Hi C.,
You shouldn't be embarrassed to ask that. We had the same issue with our little baby boy. The doctor did say that the skin will grow back together and that we had to pull it back periodically to keep it separated. It finally gets to a point where you won't have to do that anymore if you maintain it for awhile. You might have his doctor pull it apart this time around because it will probably bleed a little and be very sore, plus it's too difficult for a mommy to do emotionally (have the doctor be the bad guy :o)). Keep putting an antiseptic ointment on it and it will heal fast. After it heals, then you can keep working with it so it doesn't grow back (which doesn't hurt him). You'll know when you don't have to do it as much. Our baby boy is 14 months old now and he's fine. Hope this helps. You're a GREAT mom - don't be so hard on yourself. :o) Good luck!

I don't know about the skin growing back. However my sister in law was told to do the same thing and her baby didn't like it when she did, so she just stopped doing it. I am not sure how long she had stopped but he got a really bad infection. She had to give him oral and topical Antibiotics. It took over a week for it to clear up. She was very good about cleaning it after that and he had no more problems.

Candace has it right!

C., two of the three of my little boys have the "extra" skin. Yes, it can grow over, but if you've not pulled it back in a few weeks, you should still be able to force it back and start over. I know it seems hurtful; unfortunately it won't be too pleasant for him at first. But, if you don't it can get infected (we've dealt with that too) and that's worse! So, Mom, you are NOT a bad mother, but do what is needed for that little man.

If your son is circumcised, you need to clean all the skin every time by pulling it back. If you don't, he can get an infection in the skin. If the skin isn't pulling, I'd take him to the doctor again. My doctor told me never to do it if the skin was sticking.

C.-
If your baby boy was circumcised then you definately have to pull back the skin and clean it or it will reattach. It's not your fault though, the doctor REALLY should have told you that right after he did it. My doctor didn't tell me that either until like the 2 week check up and I had no idea!! But, I also kinda got a little lazy once and it had reattached on one little part and I had to pull it apart and clean it and I put some aquaphor on it and it was just fine. But for him not to tell you until 9 months?! I can't believe that!! So I would say that you really need to try to pull it back to clean it, and if you can get it back, make sure to put some vaseline in there so it doesn't reattach again.

Was your son circumcised? I'm assuming that he was... My four boys were all circumcised but they used to do the circumcisions differently than they do now. It partly depends on what type of circumcision was done, or even if they did one. I've always had to clean my youngest son's, who is now 13 months, but I never had to do that with the others because of the way they used to do them. There is more skin now that hangs over, the way that they do it now. The reason that he's red and irritated for a couple of days after you do it is probably because it makes him sore, or there is possibly infection from not cleaning it. It doesn't mean you're a bad mom! You might want to start doing it on a regular basis so that it doesn't lead to infection, though. Little boys can get yeast infections too and they're not fun for them! You haven't "ruined" him; he's perfectly fine, I'm sure. It'll come out; you just have to try to push the skin back and little. Good luck!

C.,
My 2 year old has had that same problem; but it is slowly going back to normal. I think this is pretty common. I keep his part clean but I don't try to pull it back because it might hurt him.
A.

I had the same problem with my little boy. Yes, you do need to push on the skin around his private or it will get red and sore. He is now two and a half and I don't have to do that as much anymore because he is thinning out. My doctor said that the problem was too much fat in the area. Just use two fingers to push down the fat and your other to wipe it with a wet wipe. Make sure to do the same thing when you give him a bath.

Leave it alone. He is too young. My son is 7 and we never had to do that when he was a baby. The doctor should have never pulled the skin back. For what reason did he do that? Ask your sisters for advice. They know the routine. Your a great mom and you did not ruin your son. Have a super day!!! Keep up your good works with being a fantastic wife and a superb mom!

I have a similiar problem. My 7 month old has a lot skin around his private. I thought maybe he wasn't circumsized enough. But his doctor told me he just has to grow into it. I too, had never heard of this before. I have to peel back the skin and clean all the time. When I give him a bath, I peel back the skin and clean it with a q-tip, this way I am not rubbing it raw with a wash cloth. I hope this helps and no, your not a bad mom.

I have read that with chubbier babies you have to pull it back to clean it or the skin can grow together. But, I wouldn't trust this without doing your own research! I know other people have told you that you shouldn't do it but the doctor said you should. Generally, doctors are going to know best but I would get a second or even a third medical opinion. But either way, I would take him to a doctor before you force it out.

my son has the same thing . you should take him to a urologist and fix it . now you know why it is so important to pop it out and clean it. is he circumsized? if not you may have to do this to help him look and feel normal before he can realize that there is anything wrong .

i popped it out at every diaperchange and he is circumsized. but he still has an innie. he seen a urologist and had to have a hernia fixed and help with his testicles dropping. so best thing to do is get it checked sooner than later.

My son also had this same thing when he was a baby, it is very important to pull back his skin and make sure the area is clean , if not yes the skin can attach to the head and then per my pediatrician the only way to fix it is to have the dr do a procedure in the office (painful though) to cut the scar tissue that has grown around, my son who is now 8 still has to pull back his skin and wash it, he is circumcised however it is necessary when they have that pocket and extra skin to definitely pull back skin and cleanse every day. Hope this helps , i would definitely take him for appt asap maybe the dr can just manuever it out.

You should really clean it each diaper change. It probably won't pop out because it is stuck down from not being cleaned. Not to alarm you, but my cousin did know you were suppose to pop it out to clean it and her sons got infected. I would put your son it a warm bath to loosen it up and clean it really well. If you clean it each diaper change it's not a big deal. Don't worry, you're not a bad mom. You can't be super mom all the time and everyone has things they slack on! Good luck!

Wow! Lots of responses, so I'll be short. The cleaning is different depending on if your son is circumcised. My three boys are not ... nocirc.org has great instructions. It is not necessary to force the skin back because the foreskinn naturally releases, but sometimes into the teens, and this is normal. It is hurtful and can cause infection and adhesions to force the skin back. Instead, for a non-circumcised boy, we push the skin back as far as it naturally will go, and softly wipe any of the accumulated "goo" if there is any. Hope this helps.

I don't agree with some of the advice that you have received. I have a 2 month old baby boy. He is not circumcized and when I was at the hospital I asked how to keep it clean. They showed me to just pull the skin back far enough to see the pee hole. You shouldn't be popping anything out. The skin doesn't loosen up until they are like 2 or 3. If you don't pull the skin back just a little then he'll get infections and that may be why it hurt him when the doctor did it. I haven't had a problem with my son and it's never red but you need to do this everytime you change his diaper. I hope this helps and take care!

I had this same problem with my oldest son many years ago. The easiest way to care for this is to put him in a warm bath and push the skin back. It will be very uncomfortable for your son, but trust me it would be better for you to do it than the Dr. Then put some cream on it to help with the "ouchie" Aquiphor works well. Then make sure you push it back when you change him. Make it a routine and he should be just fine.

My name is C. and I am an "experienced Mom" with four children. Ages 16, 14, 11, and 8. The first three are boys and my darling girl is at the end.

Our little boy has the same issue and we have to clean it every couple of days because the skin can grow back. If you can't separate it, try doing it in the bath tub. If it is red and irritated afterwards, keep putting vaseline on until it heals.

The skin CAN grow back together...This happened to my now 12 year old. You have not ruined him and don't beat yourself up. My son was a chubster, too. When he was 2 or 3 months I noticed the same thing, where the skin from where he had his circumcision was growing back. My pediatricion told me to pull back gentlty on the area EVERYTIME I changed his diaper. I also put neosporin on it. You could use vaseline or A&D oinment as well. Don't expect to pull ALL the skin back at once, do it slowly and over a few days it will all be where it should be and just keep doing that until he is all better.

Beleive me, this will not ruin him! My 12 year old is just fine. (I don't see his "thing", but I am sure the docs would have noticed something wrong if there was anything wrong at his check ups!

A.