baby boys

Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems. My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run. I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.

Taulmaril
EDD 03/19/04

With the email address, I sort of suspect a troll, but here goes.

Go he http://www.familydoctor.org/handouts/042.html

This site is run by the American Academy of Family Physicians, as you
can see by the copyright notice at the bottom of the page.

Their guidance on caring for an intact penis is very simple:

"How do I care for my baby's penis if I choose not to have him
circumcised?

"Simply keeping the penis clean with soap and water helps reduce the
risk of problems or infections.

"In older boys and adult men, the foreskin slides back and forth over
the penis, allowing the area underneath to be cleaned. The foreskin
doesn't retract in boys for a few years. Don't try to force the
foreskin to retract, because this can damage the penis and cause
problems. When the foreskin is ready to retract, you can teach your
son how to retract it himself and clean the skin underneath. He should
wash his foreskin everyday while bathing."

I sum this up as: Wash the penis just like you would a finger. The
first person to retract the boy's foreskin should be the boy himself.
A parent should retract the foreskin of a small boy exactly as often
as you would douche a young girl: Never.

You might also look at the AMA report on circumcision at
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/2036-2511.html


On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 20:11:55 -0600, "Taulmaril"
wrote:

Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems. My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run. I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.

Taulmaril
EDD 03/19/04


--
Neal

Note: To contact, remove the ".NS" from address

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 20:11:55 -0600, "Taulmaril"
wrote:

*-*Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one
LOL). I need
*-*opinions/facts on circumcision (sp?). I've been reading online
about it and
*-*had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband
who is
*-*circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have
reasons
*-*besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently
there
*-*were men in his unit that had problems. My mother is torn on the
issue. She
*-*is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing
with
*-*taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried
that an
*-*uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long
run. I
*-*really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have
a penis
*-*myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel
qualified
*-*to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you
experience
*-*mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.
*-*
*-*Taulmaril
*-*EDD 03/19/04
*-*

I'm not sure my reasons would be a valid point for you, but here goes.
This is a new family for my kids & I. My first son is circumcised &
while most of my family were against it my first husband was adamant
about it being done mainly because he was circumcised. My reason was
cleanliness & the fact that my little brothers are not & one of them
had severe UTI's a few times when he was little. My new husband is
not circumcised, but talked to the doctor that came to do Ki & he
signed the consent form after having the doc answer all of his
questions. He looked a bit paniced after the doc left with Ki, but
he's fine now & so is Ki. lol It might depend on the doc, but the
only care we had to give the circumcised area was a smear of vaseline
on a piece of gauze placed lightly over the area & that's that. The
vaseline is mainly so when the baby urinates it runs right off so
there is no burning & so it doesn't get stuck to the diaper while it
is healing. Ki was done on Saturday afternoon & we've already
discontinued the gauze & vaseline. It heals very quickly although it
will stay cherry red for a few months, but that's normal. Ki was only
gone from the room about ten minutes & came back quiet & swaddled &
that was that. We had the whole discussion about him looking like my
husband or my first son, but it really just came down to a cleanliness
matter for me & health reasons. Sorry if this is rambling i'm working
on not a lot of sleep right now. ) In the end it's a matter of
personal choice & how you interpret the facts you read. Even after
being firm in my choice & my reasons I still nearly burst into tears
when they took him from the room. It's not an easy thing to think
about.

Take care & good luck with your decision.

Jinxie / Brandy

Jessica (Jessie) 22-June-86
Russell (CJ) 08-Feb-89
Joseph Kieran (Ki) 06-Nov-03
also assorted kids of the four-footed variety

http://brandence.com/josephki/

"Taulmaril" wrote in message
...

[]
I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a
penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel
qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you
experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.

I've had four boys and we never had any problems with them being
uncircumcised. There is a lot more to worry about with a circumcision.
However, it would be good if your husband could be convinced of this too.
Making decisions that he disagrees with can lead to a build up of
resentment. Perhaps he could look at the information on the disadvantages
of circumcision for himself.

Jayne

Taulmaril wrote:

Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems. My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run. I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.


My boys are not circ'ed. It is easy as pie to take
care of them because there's nothing to do. You will want
a pediatrician who is supportive of not circumcising and who
is experienced with uncirc'ed boys, because pediatricians
who don't have that experience are likely to create problems
where there are none (e.g., any UTI and they'll start down
a path that will end up with them insisting circ'ing is the
only answer when frequently that's not true at all). It
is possible for there to be issues later on, but then again,
people can develop all sorts of issues later in life, but
we don't get rid of body parts in infancy Just In Case
because of that ;-)
Also, realize that circumcision rates are highly
variable from region to region. In many places, circ
rates are under 50 percent. A lot of people still assume
that if they don't circ, their sons will be "different"
from everyone else. In fact, even if others noticed in
the first place, in many parts of the US they would be
more likely to be labelled different if they *were*
circ'ed.
Personally, I always figure if they want to
be circ'ed later, that's their option--and at least if
that happens 1) I'll know that's what they want to do
with *their* bodies or that it's medically necessary,
2) the surgery will be done under sufficient anesthesia
when they're older and can tolerate it better, and 3)
they won't have to recover while in diapers.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Jinxie / Brandy

Jessica (Jessie) 22-June-86
Russell (CJ) 08-Feb-89
Joseph Kieran (Ki) 06-Nov-03
also assorted kids of the four-footed variety

http://brandence.com/josephki/

Did I miss the birth announcement? Congrats!

--

Jenn
-WAHM
-DS Feb'02
-DD Feb'97
-Jellybean due June 25/04

Taulmaril wrote:
Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems. My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run. I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.

Taulmaril
EDD 03/19/04




My son isn't circumcised - there's no problem keeping him clean. I'm
not sure why your mother thinks that would be hard - just soap him, and
rinse him off. By the time the foreskin is retractable he should be
able to do it himself.

There seems to me to be a more general issue: how do you and your
husband make decisions when you disagree?

If my husband and I disagreed about a surgery on one of our children
that was clearly medically unnecessary, the surgery wouldn't be done.
Specifics about circumcision wouldn't come into it.

Clisby

Taulmaril wrote:
Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems.

I don't know much about this, but having a certain op. done *incase*
your son decides to have a specific occupation seems strange to me.

My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery

Again I don't know about that.

but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run.

There's nothing to do. It will clean itself in the bath the same as all
other body parts and as the boy gets a little older he will probably
play with it and discover all the tricks he can do! Parents should not
fiddle with the foreskin.

Mary Ann

In article ,
"Taulmaril" wrote:

Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby.

Okay. You don't say why, but you have an opinion yourself.

My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems.

This reason doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know what problems,
but in any case it's anecdotal - some tiny fraction of people will have
problems either way. Or, if you mean something like they were hassled,
then it sounds unusual to me, and remember that there's no reason to
believe that anything like that will be the same 20 years from now.

My mother is torn on the issue. She
is afraid that I (being a first time mom) will have trouble dealing with
taking care of the area after the surgery but she is also worried that an
uncircumcised baby will be harder to clean/take care of in the long run.

These are both silly reasons. Millions of women, first time moms, have
successfully cared for both circ and uncirc babies, so how hard could it
be? The doctor/nurse will tell you what to do, either way.

I
really don't know what I'm in for either way and since I don't have a penis
myself and never been in charge of taking care of one I don't feel qualified
to make this decision without some more input. Soooooooooooo you experience
mom's with sons please send some advise my way. Thanks in advance.

Personally my son was circumcised for religious reasons. It was very
easy to take care of after the surgery, and very easy since.

- Lynn

"Taulmaril" wrote in message
...
Ok I hope this doesn't open up a huge debate (just a small one LOL). I
need
opinions/facts on circumsion (sp?). I've been reading online about it and
had pretty much decided not to have it done to my baby. My husband who is
circumcised wants the baby to be circumcised. And he does have reasons
besides the fact that he is. He was in the military and apparently there
were men in his unit that had problems.

I do realize that we in the US have a superlative military, but I'm aware
that several other first world countries are able to maintain a standing
army without routine genital mutilation.

-- Dagny