Saturday, October 10, 2009

Should I wash a 4 year old under his foreskin?

My 10 year old daughter told me that our new French au pair girl/live in nanny, has been washing our 5 year old son鈥檚 willy which from her description (she helps bath him sometimes) I interpret as meaning she is retracting the foreskin and washing underneath. I didn鈥檛 think you should pull back the foreskin of little boys like that, not until they were at least 8 or 9 years or even older. After I found out that, the next time I bathed him myself, I inspected him and noticed that the skin does now seem to retract OK. I had never pulled it back before as my husband said it would hurt him. My son doesn鈥檛 seem troubled by its retraction but I wondered if it was OK to continue washing him there. I never said anything to our au pair because, as you can imagine, I was a bit embarrassed and my husband simply refused to speak with her when I told him. Shall I just leave her to wash him as she is doing or shall I stop her! Is that quite a normal thing for French boys to be washed like that?
Should I wash a 4 year old under his foreskin?
yes, you can....no problem.





WOW, the things people talk about these days.





WOW
Should I wash a 4 year old under his foreskin?
its a normal way to clean dont worry about it
Reply:I don't know anything about it. That is a question for WebMD.
Reply:Yes, but use gentle soap. You don't want bacteria to get underneath there and cause an infection.
Reply:Well it needs to be washed. You need to show him how to do it, he is old enough now to wash his own private areas. This something you should have been doing from birth. It can cause bacteria to build up and can cause an infection.


I would def. speak with his pediatrician about this.
Reply:Yes she is correct!!! From the time they are born you need to very carefully push the skin back and clean!!! They can get infections from dirt and dust particals!!! then they will get really sore!!!!
Reply:its so natural to be washed behind there and so hygienic too...you should be washing him like it all the time...well done to your enlightened nanny.





the earlier you start to pull the skin back the less chance of it becoming to tight as he gets older and the less problems he has with "smells" coming from there....i will also help with his sex life as he gets older.





keep doing it is my advice.
Reply:i started to pull back foreskin and wash on my boys at 5yrs so yes to me this is normal and as they grew taught them to do it themselves for personal hygene
Reply:ITS Not wrong he needs to be clean and needs to learn how to clean for his self when he gets older.
Reply:Yes it should be washed.
Reply:If you are going to continue washing your son under there be sure to use a mild soap and to teach him to do it himself. I have a 3 year son and his doctor told me that if that area is not cleaned that my son will be more likely to get a urinary tract infection.
Reply:It's fine to do -- ask any qualified doctor. (like me)
Reply:I have 5 nephews did it and saw it done to all of them it a hygenic thing you pediatrtioan should have told you about it dont worry its totaly normal, because if you dont when its really dirty it can cause some serious infection if go without washing it every now and then. its good that she cares
Reply:If your child is not circumcised the foreskin needs to be washed, it will get very nasty smelling if not cared for proerly.


here is some reading on it


best wishes


http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21%26amp;a...
Reply:YES YOU SHOLD WASH HIM THERE. BOY CAN GET YEAST INFECTIONS JUST LIKE GIRLS CAN. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN WASHING HIM THERE ALL A LONG
Reply:If your boy is not circumscribed the yes it is important that he is kept clean under the foreskin or he could get an infection.





Teach him to do it himself. Tell the nanny to stop. This can get interpreted in the wrong way.
Reply:somebody has to do it. you wash your stuff right? it gets bacteria in it. you gotta clean that junk out. either teach him to do it or something but it has to be done.
Reply:I assume that you trust this woman as you have employed her to raise your children, This should have been done all along but at 5 he should be doing this for himself.
Reply:yes gotta be cleaned
Reply:It should be cleaned, but at his age, he should be washing HIMSELF! Normally, I don't like the whole comparing kids thing, but my 2 yo cleans himself, so I'm sure your 4/5 yo is capable. Have the au pair teach him how if you are too busy or he seems more receptive to her teaching than yours.


Good luck and best wishes.
Reply:umm people these days are dumb you should wash it


because it is sanitary he could get infected if its not


washed all the lint from his undies gets unfer their


and it needs to be cleaned out
Reply:When I was a very little boy, my mother discovered that my foreskin did not retract easily and this resulted in my attending the doctors' surgery regularly to have this problem put right. If my mother hadn't noticed this, I would most likely have had to be circumcised as a young man. I would say it is important for mothers to retract the foreskins of their young sons, so that they know that it can be retracted. It also seems like good basic hygiene to me.


Forceps were used to stretch my foreskin at around the same age as your son is, so I don't think you have anything to worry about with simply retracting it! If anything, it will be more difficult for your son if he doesn't get used to the area being cleaned now. I think you need to manipulate it to keep it flexible, else it probably will tighten.
Reply:Your son is certainly old enough to retract his own foreskin and clean. This can be interpreted wrong. Not saying the nanny did anything inappropriate but it doesn't look right when a child is old enough to do this himself. I had a creepy mental image of this snenario and I have sons of my own.





I'm a girl but when I was 4/5 I considered that to be a private area.
Reply:The fact that your daughter knows about it shows that she wasn't trying to do anything that she didn't want you to know about. Obviously she thinks that it's a normal part of washing a young boy. I think it should be ok as long as your son isn't embarrassed or ashamed of it.
Reply:If it's retracting without issue now, then yes, you should clean under his foreskin. Be very gentle while doing it, the glans is a VERY sensitive part of the penis. It's really not that difficult, just pull his skin back and soak his penis in warm soapy water, and use a soft washcloth or anything not too rough.


Also, your husband was right, you should never retract the foreskin until he is able to do it himself, because it can hurt him if it's forced back too soon. The child should always be the first one to retract his own foreskin, because if the retraction process is causing pain, he's the only one who can feel it, and it will alert him to stop. However, since it's been done already without any harm, he should just be washed under his foreskin regularly.


I do think that you ask her to stop doing it and try to teach him to wash his penis himself, just for everyone's protection, as he is getting older. If there's no one else to bathe him but her, just ask her to hand him the washcloth to clean his own penis. It only needs to be done when bathing. He doesn't have to clean it when he goes pee.


I'm glad you chose not to snip him, and yes, in France there are very few circumcised boys, and their culture is different, so she's probably cleaned dozens of little peepers.
Reply:yes
Reply:ew thats wrong!
Reply:I THINK THAT MAYBE AS A MOTHER- YOU DROP THE NANNY AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS....THAT IS NOT A JOB THAT ANYONE BUT THE PARENTS SHOULD BE DOING...WHY HAVE CHILDREN IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THEM???
Reply:I would imagine it should be kept clean - but I don't have kids or any experience of looking after any ever so I have absolutely no idea...
Reply:Yes, but do not scrub it, it will hurt like the dick ens (u like that 1?). But seriously, rinse it lightly to keep infection out. Once a day is fine.





and on a more serious note, TX_momma0107 is right, take care of your kids yourself.


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