Foreskin on a child

[HappyFace]

Bit of a sensitive question....... my son is 4yrs 8mths. Should he be able to pull the foreskin back over his helmet at this young age? It's just that his cousin who is 2 months older went to the doctors because he had a sore willy and the doctor said he needs to be able to pull the skin back. Isn't this a bit young?

[Drusilla]

Hope this helps

http://www.drgreene.com/21_58.html

I've got daughters so am unable to give a more personal answer. Sorry.

[acorn]

Both my sons (now 12 and 15) couldnt pull back their skin. It was a funny sight when they were in the bath pretending their willies were drinking straws in order to try and wash them. My oldest got a slight infection around 4 years old and the doctor said this was due to his foreskin being tight. He advised trying to roll it back gently when in the bath but not to force it. He also advised that if its not causing any problems (ie soreness or smelly discharge) then to leave it alone.

[rampart]

Happy, I am so very glad you asked that question. My son is also 4 and the skin does not yet fully retract. And thanks for the answer, Drusilla. That is not an easy subject to research!

[suzi-q]

My son had this problem and it didnt improve. When he was about 10 ish I he had to have a circumcision but it was only when he got that bit older that the doctors recommended this. I dont know if they'd do it for a baby. Because it may resolve itself.

[nfn]

hi happyface. my son had a tight foreskin and one day he told me it was painful when he had a wee (he was 3). I took him to my gp who had a look and said that it was too tight and referred him straight away. Within 6 months he'd been circumcised and has absolutely no problems now. His best friend has the same problem and he's waiting to go to have his op. It's done in a morning and if you build him up to this hopefully your boy will find his 'fantastic new willy' as wonderful as my boy does.

[gary baldy]

I wasnt able to pull my foreskin back until i was a teenager (about 13).
My reasoning is that the foreskin is there for a reason and you will only get an infection is you start exposing behind it.
If you keep his willy clean and he doesnt get an infection i dont see any reason for (or being able to) pull back his foreskin.
All doctors are different and some have some very strange ideas about things - foreskins being one of them.

[ruthann58]

my son had this problem when he was younger the dr said it would go back on its own when it was ready and to leave it alone just to try and pull it back when he was in the bath this didnt work and now at the age of 23 he had to have it done earlier last year 15 stitches in total i am sure if they had done it when he was younger it would not have been half as painful he was off work for a fortnight couldnt wear his jeans for a week and walked like he had lost his horse

[Liza B]

My son who is now 13 had the same problem at 4 years old, I took him to the doctors and he referred him to the hospital, he went in and got the foreskin stretched, had a bit of a tricky time when he got home as I was told to pull it back in the bath a week after the op and it got stuck the foreskin would not go back, dash to the hospital they fixed it in seconds and he has been fine ever since. See your doctor it sometimes just needs streched.