My son is 9 months and although I have been aware of this issue, I was wondering how common it is....The foreskin around my ds penis closes around the head. It gets pushed down and almost makes his head disappear (under the foreskin) Each time I go to the doctors he says its because of all his baby fat pushing the foreskin down (he's a big boy, 22 lbs) and he then , well, basically tears the foreskin from around the head so that it looks like a normal penis (the head of the penis)but, without fail, as time goes on, the foreskin gets, I don't know, 'stuck' around the head again....Dr says that in time when he grows taller that this shouldn't happen anymore.Does this happen to all baby boys? :confused:

My little guy was circumcised so this hasen't been an issue for me. I have heard of what you are describing though in school, I am a nursing student. I learned what your DR. said...as he grows it shouldn't be a problem.

My son was circumcised also and still has this problem>>>He is now 10 and my husband always tells him to keep it pulled back and keep it clean...I was told the only option is to have him circumsiced again.. I can't do that to him, I guess when he gets old enough he can decide....Ralinda

my ds (almost 3 months) has the same problem and this is what the doc told me about it, when they circumsize them, they tend to leave extra skin to grow into, if they take off too much, then they have problems when they get older, the last time I went to the docs, his skin was fusing back onto the head also, so she pulled it back and told me to once a day, pull the skin back and clean the area, and if it seems red or whatever to put some a&d on it, this also helps it from fusing back again, she told me they should eventually grow out out of it as their penis grows, some I guess take longer then others. I am sure glad they caught it when they did, as she said that if it fused together totally, it would have to stay that way and not only look funny, but could cause more problems. good luck, your not the only one lol

ThankGod! He was circumsized also. And that is a good way to describe how it looks..."fused". I feel so bad for him...because it is so painful.Not all the time, but when the Dr has to peel it back. I try to keep it from sticking to him..each time I change his diaper I pull it back...but, it still gets to the point where it is fused to the head.~Ralinda30, you said your son is 10 still having this problem?The poor kid. I hope I don't offend you, but, is your son over weight at all? Because my Dr says that its the fatty lower part of their abdomen that cause the foreskin to get pushed down...I am just wondering because my boy is a big boy...he doesn't have a weight problem, he is very porportionate, hes just on the big end of the scale. I hope he doesn't have to go through with this that long.~ Hugs28, You said you wre glad when they caught it or it would have fused together permanently...his very first Dr visit is when they told me about this problem...Is there still a chance he could be fused permanently?Now I'm worried if I don't keep this under control that he'll have a funny looking penis...I can't do that to him.Is there anything else I can do to keep it from being a permanent problem?

Good point MissTee...My son is overweight and that was never brought up my his ped....His never get's fused, as he takes care to keep it back and clean...I sure hope he "grows" into it poor fella,lol....We are in the process of treadmill with him to help with his weight..He was on alot of steriods due to asthma and it is like he just "blew up" one night....I hate that for him, he is so insecure around his friends..But, I always tell him what a handsome man he is..Ralinda

DS has the exact same thing! He was circumsized too. I thought it may have to do with being big, but it has been like that since he was normal, not big (19lbs, 5 1/2 months). I don't have a problem with it fusing to the skin though. DH and I call it a peek-a-boo penis! Every time DH changes him(not that often mind you), he comes out and says- is it going to stay that way, you know they are very protective of their manhood! Anyway, I'm kind of glad some of you have the same issue too!

If it is still "fusing" together when you are pulling it back with every diaper change, you have to pull it further down. I had the problem with DS and the dr said you have to pull all the foreskin back till you get the whole head out, or till you get the mushroom look. Then put A&D ointment in that groove. This is where it starts to fuse.

misstee, 2fast4u has it right, you have to get the whole thing out, even the doc said the mushroom part lol, sounds funny, but that is where it starts, when the doc pulled back my ds foreskin just under the mushroom part it was REAL red and had a ring of white gunk, because I had not know, to pull it back like that, they did not tell me that at the hospital when they told me how to take care of it, I would until it heals a bit, get some a&d ointment or neosporin, or even vasolin, but the other 2 will help healing better, and pull the skin back at each diaper change, clean it and put the ointment on it, once it heals a bit, then you can do it once a day. This is what my doc told me to do, and he was pretty healed in about a week and then now he is fine, cause we take care of it. good luck, hope all goes well for you.

Well, I know that when my borthers were little my mother just pulled it back with every diaper change so that it did not fuse. It is also a good idea to clean it and make sure you don't pull back to far. Just gently. If you don't then it will continue to do this. Contratry to what doctors say you should push it back gently and keep it clean. Baby boys usually grow out of this but if it is not pushed back and cleaned it can fuse back so tightly you can have problems. Fortunatly I don't have to worry about that with my baby girl.

shonk you are right to a point, accept the fact that right now her babies penis is sore and was fused a bit, so til it heals she needs to give it a healing agent, hence the a&d, yes I agree girls are easier, accept that they can get UTI much easier, if you are cleaning them the wrong way, wait til she gets older and wipes herself after pottying lol, every now and the my dd will tell me her you know what hurts, and I know she is not wiping right, she does much better now. good luck

I was thinking last night about putting neosporin on him to help...someone here mentioned it....what is better? neosporin or a&d? I have both. I guess I haven't been doing a great job at pulling back on it. Since his doctor visit on Wednesday however, I have been trying to really keep it from fusing again. He is VERY red and sore and screams every time I pull the foreskin back (gently mind you) and screams twice as loud when I put any ointment on. He stops immediately after the diaper goes on...but I hate seeing him in so much pain. Anyone have an idea of how long it will take for the soreness and redness to go away? Afterall, If I have to push the skin back after each change, I would like it to be as painless as possible. Its funny, my first baby (girl) was sooo easy; easy as in knowing how to care for, clean, that sort of thing. With ds, I'm lost. Who knew how much care their little penises needed...(when they are young)?! I thought they got circumsized and that was the end of that...WRONG. We still go through more (us girls...lol). I'm glad I posted...I wasn't going to...thanks for all the replies! Keep updating, any other thoughts or advice are still welcome. :D

I have a son and never heard anything about what you were describing here, so I did some research on the internet. Please do the same because the advice you are givign and getting, IN MY OPINION, BASED ON MY RESEARCH, is wrong and cause more problems than good.
The condition is called PHIMOSIS and basically means tight foreskin around boy's penis head. It is absolutely NORMAL for that skin NOT to retract in childhood. As boys mature the skin loosens adn begins to retract. Many articles that I have read say that medical doctors in UK, US and Canda (based on some last studies) incorrectly advice mom's to retract the skin. This can actually cause problems/irritations. Furthermore, the articles say that the ONLY time, the tight skin around the head of the penis is a problem is when the urine flow is affected, there is bleeding or the area is swollen. Otherwise it's normal for it not to move. For most boys the skin will begin to retract between 3-6yrs old but for few it won't until teenage years, which it is normal. Again unless their peeing ability is affected you don't do anything.

So please research the condition phimosis before you unknowingly cause your boys more pain than necassary. I'm glad you started the thread.

misstee, if you keep up on the cleaning and putting the ointment on him, you should start seeing healing in a few days and the pain gets much less. These are the things they don't tell you about in the hospital, when telling you how to care for the circumcision, go figure. you can use either the neo, or the a&d they work bout the same I think. I swear by a&d over any other diaper rash product, accept for a new spray stuff i just bought, works real well on diaper rash. Just gently clean the area and put the ointment on with each diaper change until it starts to heal, then you can do it once or twice a day. good luck, hope he heals soon for you.

The condition is called PHIMOSIS and basically means tight foreskin around boy's penis head. It is absolutely NORMAL for that skin NOT to retract in childhood. As boys mature the skin loosens adn begins to retract. Many articles that I have read say that medical doctors in UK, US and Canda (based on some last studies) incorrectly advice mom's to retract the skin. This can actually cause problems/irritations. Furthermore, the articles say that the ONLY time, the tight skin around the head of the penis is a problem is when the urine flow is affected, there is bleeding or the area is swollen. Otherwise it's normal for it not to move. For most boys the skin will begin to retract between 3-6yrs old but for few it won't until teenage years, which it is normal. Again unless their peeing ability is affected you don't do anything.
So please research the condition phimosis before you unknowingly cause your boys more pain than necassary. I'm glad you started the thread.

Thank you for researching, but I have to disagree. I did as you said and researched "phimosis". the definition clealry says that it is a medical condition in which the foreskin of an UNcircumcized male cannot be fully retracted. Phimosis actually is difficulty getting the foreskin to slip over the head of the penis (or glans) during an erection.This primarily effects adult males (who were not circumcized) Paraphimosis is the opposite problem. Circumcision is actually a treatment for this condition.In other words..circumcision is an avoidance of phimosis. Some doctors actually used this condition to justify routine neonatal circumcisions. Because circumcision is such a controversial topic. I really do appreciate you looking into this. In my situation, my ds was circumcized. His foreskin should not be slipping over his glans. The reason it is, is because there is too much extra skin weighing it down. My concern was whether this was a common happening of other male babies (who were circumcized) He just has to grow into his penis...LOL :)

Hugs28~ Thanks for the advice. I have been using a&d. He has been crying less often when I change him. Its not as red anymore but the darn thing just wants to keep fusing. I notice with every change the skin looks as if it is ready to fuse again. So I just gently push down with a wipe as I am cleaning him up. So far so good. Yeah, it would have been nice if the hospital gave us a heads up on this (no pun intended) ;) Poor kid though. At least its getting better. Hopefully I'll have this under control and when he is old enough he''ll have a perfectly normal looking penis. :) Thanks for everyones support and advice.Its always reassuring when other people are having the same issues as your own

The reason it keeps wanting to fuse, is because it is so raw from it already happening, just keep ointment on it all the time, just like in the beginning, but make sure the foreskin is pulled back before putting the ointment on or it defeats the purpose, I would also use small gauze pads or something of the like with water to clean the area instead of a wipe, there may be something in the wipe causing him the pain, since it is so raw, forgot to tell you that. You figure with my ds he was 9 wks old when this was discovered, with yours its been 9 months, so he is probably more raw and that is why it hurts more, I am glad he is doing better, just keep up with the ointment, good luck

The reason it keeps wanting to fuse, is because it is so raw from it already happening, just keep ointment on it all the time, just like in the beginning, but make sure the foreskin is pulled back before putting the ointment on or it defeats the purpose, I would also use small gauze pads or something of the like with water to clean the area instead of a wipe, there may be something in the wipe causing him the pain, since it is so raw, forgot to tell you that. You figure with my ds he was 9 wks old when this was discovered, with yours its been 9 months, so he is probably more raw and that is why it hurts more, I am glad he is doing better, just keep up with the ointment, good luck
Thats a good point hugs28...It never even occured to me that the wipe could be stinging him! It just makes too much sense :rolleyes: What was I thinking!? Well, at least I have been putting the ointment on correctly... :bouncing: Thanks!

missTee,


We are both right. The term phimosis is no longer used medically because it is so confusing, from my reading I understand that there is TRUE phimosis and PHONY phimosis, and when TRUE, it is infact a medical condition. In your case, it sounds like your son is suffering from it (it can happen to circumsized or uncircumsized boys). It just sounded like some moms were told here to do it to clean their boys penises or to prevent it from fusing where, from my reading it is not necessary, if all is well. So this is the point I wanted to get accross.
When I first read the post, I was surprised that no one at the hospital told me to do it, so that is why I quickly went on line to see if my son could have problems because I havent done it for 2 mo. But luckly it wasnt necessary. lol.
I hope your little one feels better soon.