Cleaning a newborns foreskin?

Question

I do this stuff at work all the time, but now it is MY baby and I get all nervous. With clipping his nails and everything do at the hospital. His foreskin is starting to seperate. Today was the first time I got to roll it back a little bit. Abit of fluid came out and I cleaned all the white stuff from birth in there. But it was a little bit red as it had never been touched before because it hadn't seperated yet. I used a warm cloth and dried it. Should I put vaseline it to lubercate and aborb any moiture I missed in drying it? God, you'd think I'd never done this before.. but I haven't on a baby... just elderly men, that is a little different

Answer 1

OMG who told you to pull back his foreskin??

Answer 2

first rule of infant foreskin - never try to retract it any further than it will go easily. And preferably don't retract it at all. Only the child should be doing any retraction of his foreskin since he will know how far he can tretract without causing himself pain.

Second thing - it is fine to flush the area out with warm water - most easily accomplished when giving a bath - the immersion does the job with no intervention from you at all. But since the foreskin is adhered to the glans/head, nothing much can accululate under there to require washing out. Agan though as the child gets to playing around in the bath, he'll undoubtedly find that pulling his foreskin a little feels good and he'll look after getting warm water in as far as it needs to go without even knowing he is 'cleaning'.

The glans//head is definitely tender until it gets used to being exposed and cleaned and ... So, far better to not use a wash cloth on it. Just let the nice warm bath water penetrate as far it will and remove any pee, etc on its own.

Also, assuming there is no soap residue left under th eforeskin, there's not much to worry about drying. Again there is really no distance for anything to penetrate on a baby so a little drying of the outer skin and a minute of two of air drying should do nicely. However if there is a bit more water on the glans pat it dry rather than rubbing it at all.

I wouldn not suggest vaseline on any area unless there is a real problem that can only be treated with vaseline. However a wee drop of baby oil would not be out of line. Just apply it to the tip and let it work itself in.

Answer 3

The foreskin will retract on its own with time. But you can help it along with a cottontipped Q stick with glycerin on it. If you retract the foreskin gently and use the Q stick in a rolling fashion as you spin it slowly around the head of the penis, it will slowly unstick the foreskin from the glans. Once the foreskin is all the way retracted, the white stuff(smega) can be easily cleaned away. Smega is dead skin cells that build up and aid the separation of the foreskin naturally. Be sure to pull the foreskin all the way back out after this and after cleaning. If the foreskin is too tight and can not be slowly stretched by retracting it, it would be called a 'phimosis'. This might require a small snip of a portion of the foreskin to allow it to loosen up. With a small clamp it can be a bloodless snip. That is a very uncommon thing to have to do. With modern care available such as the above, it is not necessary to circumcise babys. The occasional phimosis can lead to serious problems that primitive societies could not handle. This may be the 'religious' reasoning behind circumcising every male baby.

Answer 4

i had my son 7 weeks ago and was told not to touch the foreskin at all ....

Only the outside of the foreskin needs to be cleaned during the first year. It should be cleaned and bathed with soap and water just like the rest of the diaper area. After his first birthday, you might want to very gently pull back on the skin of the shaft to see if the foreskin retracts. If it doesn't at all, don't worry -- and don't force it! There is certainly no rush. If urine can flow freely, the hole in the foreskin is big enough. As long as the foreskin doesn't easily retract (even in a ten year old), only the outside needs to be washed. If the foreskin retracts a little, it would be okay to gently clean the exposed part of the glans with water (but don't use soap while the foreskin is still partially attached to the glans, since this can irritate this tender area). After cleaning, always pull the foreskin forward to its usual position. This is very important -- otherwise it can get stuck and lead to serious damage.

Once the foreskin has completely separated and retracts freely, begin to teach your son to retract his own foreskin and clean underneath it when he bathes, or at least once a week. For most little boys this personal cleaning will not become a habit unless you encourage it. Mentioning it positively and frequently throughout the years can instill an important sense of responsibility, prevention, and health that will benefit him for years to come.

Answer 5

No! The foreskin is attached to the glans, don't force it back, it will hurt him and cause problems. Just wipe the outside. The foreskin will detach from the glans at some stage, for some boys it happens when they are little kids, for others it takes until well into puberty. The average age is 10. He will probably notice when this happens and you don't need to worry about it. It won't get dirty, because it is attached then there's no room for dirty to get in. Harriet

Answer 6

I have a good web site for you to read up on this it's:
http://www.drgreene.org, and you should be able to find the article on foreskin care, it's great it answered all my questions.
Basically don't pull back the foreskin forcibly, and don't get right in there and clean, it is normal for fluid to come out and just wash it in the bath. But this article will tell all, it's a good site.My son is not circumsized and that's the way they should be, I think it's just laziness not learning how to clean the penis or show the child to clean the penis. Good Luck By the way you can pull back the foreskin if it will go back.

Answer 7

If it isn't circumcised you DO NOT roll it back!!!

Just wipe it down with the wipes, and wash with warm water and baby soap in the bath!

At this age, it does NOT retract, and forcing it to do so can actually damage it!

I'm not sure if you should have him checked or not, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to call a pediatrician that KNOWS how to care for an uncircumcised baby's penis!

My son is 8 months old, uncircumcised. I've never done anything other than wipe him down. Once it did get a little red at the tip, so I gave him a bath and let him go naked for a while (just lay him on a towel) and it cleared up within a day.

Every once in awhile, there will be a little white secretion, and I just wipe it away. But I must stress, DO NOT retract it!

Answer 8

No vaseline or anything else should be applied as this can cause bacteria to grow and an infection could start. Just keep it clean with soap and water. Treat his as you do the others you have taken care of. I wouldn't pull the foreskin back either. Just keep clean and let it heal on it's own. He is circumcised?

Answer 9

Enough with the "why didn't you get him circumcised" questions!!! It was her choice to not put her son through that painful procedure. leave it at that and get to the question at hand! (we circumcised at the request of my husband--and we also learned that not all ped's actually do the procedure any longer, nor do all insurance companies cover it-- it is considered an unnecessary procedure now) They say by the time the babies born now are in highschool, "uncircumcised" will be in the majority.

ANYWAY, they say that the skin stays firmly attached to the penis until the child is about 2 years old and up until that time the skin will losen and pull back on its own just by the normal erections they get when they are babies. The 'white stuff' that's in there is actually the same material that women have in their vagina from time to time...and believe it or not, it is NOT dirty or icky...it is actually what keeps the genitals clean.

Don't try to pull the foreskin back just yet. That may be why it is red. Wash him like you would wash a girl (or yourself), with non-fragrance soap and with just a general *wash wash * in the area...don't get too detailed with where you put the soap, how you pull it back etc--and then dry it VERY well. I wouldn't put much on the area in terms of powders or Vaseline etc. Those may irritate as well.

I would also let him sit on top of a towel with out diapers from time to time (like is important with girls to 'air out' the area so the constant moisture of the urine does not irritate the sensitive skin and cause redness/soreness in the area) or use cloth diapers while at home and just change him often.
ANYWAY, they say that the skin stays firmly attached to the penis until the child is about 2 years old and up until that time the skin will losen and pull back on its own just by the normal erections they get when they are babies. The 'white stuff' that's in there is actually the same material that women have in their vagina from time to time...and believe it or not, it is NOT dirty or icky...it is actually what keeps the genitals clean.

Don't try to pull the foreskin back just yet. That may be why it is red. Wash him like you would wash a girl (or yourself), with non-fragrance soap and with just a general *wash wash* in the area...don't get too detailed with where you put the soap, how you pull it back etc--and then dry it VERY well. I wouldn't put much on the area in terms of powders or vasilines etc. Those may irritate as well.

I would also let him sit on top of a towel with out diapers from time to time (like is imporant with girls to 'air out' the area so the constant moisture of the urine does not irritate the sensitive skin and cause redness/soreness in the area) or use cloth diapers while at home and just change him often.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 10

Oh my god. Do not, do not, do not retract the foreskin! Baby boys' foreskins are not meant to be retracted! Doing so will cause adhesions which will cause pain and infection. You do *NOT* need to clean under there. Just around. PLEASE go here and ask about proper foreskin care: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=44

Answer 11

just wipe the surface, i have a little boy alos (now11 months)and i was worried about cleaning it to, however you are not supposed to pull the foreskin back even the slightest bit as it can cause infection! try sudo-cream, i use it at its works brilliantly! this helps the soreness and will go down shortly after use!