*I am posting this purely as information for mommas who chose not to circumcise. I’m not starting a debate on whether or not it should be done but instead seeking to pass on information that until today was unknown to me.*

Often when you choose not to circumcise the after care instructions we receive sound a lot like this: “Make sure you pull back his foreskin and clean underneath it with every diaper change”. Most doctors encourage parents to forcibly retracts the foreskin and have often just done it themselves. Not only is this advice completely wrong it is also harmful to your baby. The practice of forcibly retracting foreskin can cause scar tissue and could result in a later circumcision due to damage. A boys foreskin will slowly retract from the glands on its own around the age of 2. Some boys will be able to fully retract their penis at age 5 but it is also normal for it to happen after puberty. As it begins to retract you may see clumps of yellow/white stuff (called smagma) don’t worry it is completely normal just wipe it away. It isn’t necessary to ever touch or pull back the foreskin to clean it until it has become retractable. Until it is retractable you only have to clean the outside of the penis.

I have an almost 2 year old boy who isn’t circumcised and due to how that decision was made I had not done any prior research and trusted my doctors and pediatricians who fed me false information. The United States is one the most uninformed countries on how to care for an intact penis which has led to many infections, scaring, and has resulted in later circumcisions that wouldn’t have been necessary. This has also led people to fear not circumcising their babies by creating all these problems that wouldn’t have existed with the proper instructions. Please please don’t be like me, do your research and save your son and yourself a lot of pain.

*IF YOUR DOCTOR FORCIBLY RETRACTS YOUR SONS FORESKIN HE NEEDS TO BE REPORTED AS IT IS HARMFUL AND COULD CAUSE YOUR CHILD LATER PROBLEMS*