I have a 15 month old who is uncircumcised. My wife and I started pulling his foreskin back when he gets his bath at night at about 8 months old. Right now it's about half way back, but more on one side than the other. You can see on one side it's still very attached and on the other it looks like it's ready to go all the way back.

Recently we noticed 3 small white bumps where the foreskin meets with the head on the side that's still very attached. We thought nothing of it at first but tonight my wife noticed 2 of them had puss coming from them.

Can someone tell me if it's something that's normal or if he needs to see a doctor?

Thanks ahead. I appreciate everyone's help.

Question: Are you cleaning his penis well every diaper change?

The little white spots are quite common.

However it is always best to talk to your pediatrician before jumping to conclusions. Nothing is worse than bad information.

How to care for an uncircumcised penis:
The care of your son's uncircumcised penis is as important as any other part of his body, yet parents are often hesitant to ask questions about this "private" area. Fortunately, when it comes to taking care of your infant's, your toddler's, or your older child's uncircumcised penis, leaving it alone is probably the most appropriate suggestion. But understanding the anatomy of the infant's uncircumcised penis will help in realizing why this is.

The penis is essentially made up of a shaft with a bulb at the end of it called the glans. The glans is covered by a layer of tissue called the foreskin or prepuce. The part of the foreskin that faces the outside is made of the skin similar to that of the rest of the body. The inner part of the foreskin (the part you usually can't see on an infant) is made of soft mucous tissue with the similar consistency to that of the cheeks inside the mouth. When the penis is first developing, the glans and this inner layer of foreskin are fused. As the cells of the inner layer of the foreskin are shed, the foreskin becomes more mobile. While the foreskin may retract somewhat during erections which normally occur during infancy, it often takes years for this cell shedding to progress to the point that the foreskin will easily retract. And, in fact, forcing the foreskin to retract can cause bleeding which may lead to more problematic attachments called adhesions.

Where do these shedding cells go? They collect into little white beads which work themselves out from under the foreskin. Note that I say this occurs on its own. In other words, it does not require special cleaning to get rid of these beads called smegma. In fact, any probing or vigorous cleaning could actually cause damage to the relatively fragile inner layer of the foreskin leading to adhesion formation. Eventually, the foreskin will completely retract. Most boys will have a foreskin which fully retracts by about age five. However, everyone is different, and it may not be until he is a teenager before the foreskin completely retracts.

Following are a few dos and don'ts:

DO:

* Wash the penis with soap and water like any other body part. No special attention is needed.
* Realize your son will reach an age of discovering his body and will try to retract the foreskin himself. This is normal, and I would encourage you to use that opportunity to teach him about his body parts and how he will eventually need to clean himself under his foreskin.
* Teach your child how to clean under the foreskin. Once fully retractable, cleaning under the foreskin with soap and water during the shower or bath is sufficient.

DON'T:

* Force the foreskin over the penis
* Use cotton swabs, special cleansers, or other maneuvers to probe under the foreskin during cleaning


P.S. Welcome to the site

Sarah

Appreciate the response mudweiser

What are you doing forcing the skin back. That is the worse thing you can do. Never ever force or pull the skin back. This is supposed to take time and on its own process.

Now that you have started this, YES SEE THE DOCTOR.

Thanks for the scolding JESUSHELPER. I'm not forcing anything back. We pull back whatever has already pulled away from the head and clean it. I'm uncircumcised myself. If I agreed with forcing it back he would be circumcised right now. On top of that I was doing what my ty doctor told me to do. Florida really sucks. It's so hard to find a good Pedi. Here.

Sarah I can't thank you enough for your help.

Ah no don't take Joe's scolding to offense, he's a nice guy from what I know, and I'm sure it was not his intention to offend you.


Isn't there a walk in clinic in Florida? I'm sure there is. Don't you have a pediatrician already- have you gone to him/her about this problem?

Sarah

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NewDad

Thanx for the scolding JESUSHELPER. I'm not forcing anything back. We pull back whatever has already pulled away from the head and clean it. I'm uncircumcised myself. If I agreed with forcing it back he would be circumcised right now. On top of that I was doing what my ty doctor told me to do. Florida really sucks. It's so hard to find a good Pedi. here.

Sarah I can't thank you enough for your help.

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You said you have been pulling it back since he was eight months old. Yes it is forcing it. You know what I am uncircumcised and so is my son. I do not know what they are telling you in Florida to do but I am telling you, you should not have been touching it at all. It should be a complete natural process. Take whatever I said whichever way you want but I am telling you that by doing what you were doing I am not surprised why its infected. As a parent of a 2 year old. I know.

Joe

Normaly a boys foreskin will detatch from his glans around the age of 6 to 8 years and as you have seen the other answers I will not go there abiut pulling the skin back at that age.

In australia we also get hot weather as you do in Florida and the penis of a uncircumcised boy will need more cleaning than a circumcised boy during hot days.

I am not a doctor and I am not circumcised and my foreskin was pulled back when it was ready to do so when it detached its self from my glans [head] so you might have caused an infection to his penis and should see a doctor to see if you have caused any scaring of the head as skin being torn off will be unsettleing for the boy in later life.

Just a gentle wash is all you need and when your son is ready to pull his foreskin back he will know when he can do it with out hurting him.

Joe.. I was told by my Pedi that at the age of 6-8months the foreskin could be pulled back... It's an extra cost for the Pedi to do it... Of course it isn't pulled back completely but enough to clean. - A parent of a 16month boy a 4yr old girl

As for the small white bumps, my son had them as well. I didn't blog about it though, I went to the pedi and he said its just pimples that naturally occur due to the glands. However, in regards to the foreskin, I and my husband were both new to an uncircumcised penis so we asked many questions and got the same answer from multiple pedis, two of which uncircumcised young men; don't touch the penis skin. Especially never pull it back or do anything to encourage separation. Cleaning is as simple as running soap and water over with a gentle rub, like you would for a girl's privates. I hope this helps. I understand this might be awkward but you should always ask your pedi (if male) if he himself is uncircumcised. Then consider his/her age. Unfortunately, the older the doctor, the less likely they are to know much about uncircumcised boys for many reasons.