Toddler circumcision recovery

c bbm

My two-and-a-half year old son was circumcised 3 days ago. He is in a lot of pain and freaks out whenever we change his nappy or try to bath him. (I'm not looking for medical advice, I've already spoken to the doctor and based on the discussion his recovery and healing seems about normal). Just wondering if anyone who has been through this has any advice on the baths and nappy changes. The doctor recommends we bath him in clear warm water at least twice a day for a week but he hates it and really struggles (he normally loves the bath and plays with toys in there etc).

cynder

its probably stinging him, the poor pet.

If you lay him down and gently poor water down from waist to knee it will clean area. or even put him in the shower and sprinkle water over him. never been through this with my boys but one did have a nasty nappy rash and the urine really stings wounds. might be a good time to introduce a potty you could tip water over it while he sits on potty. sorry im not much help.

all i can say is follow the gps advice.

best of luck i hope he heals soon.

Grawns

Poor little boy I presume you're giving him plenty of calpol and nurofen?

Cat Melodeon

My nephew was circumcised for medical reasons when he was about the same age. He took about three weeks to heal completely. My sister went straight into potty training mode with him - no nappies, a potty in every room, no reprimands if he had an accident, only encouragement for getting it right. She wasn't actually trying to potty train him, just didn't want to put nappies on him while he was sore (he wore one at night). He had a few accidents but was much more comfortable nappy-less. Even if you feel your boy isn't ready for potty training, going bare-bottomed for a week might speed up the healing process.

As for the baths, they do help so persevere. Have you any big containers you could use to make it fun instead of using the bath? You could try using a baby bath in front of the tv or a paddling pool outside, making it as much fun as possible. Or get into the bath with him, that can help.

c bbm

Thanks for the advice all. Yes we're giving him plenty of calpol and nurofen, and xylocaine and bactroban gels on the wound. Tonight's bath <day 4> was easier, initial screaming getting into it but then got distracted by toys and relaxed into it. So I suppose its just a matter of time and it will get better day by day as long as we keep treating him appropriately

MirLou

How is your dear little son getting on?? It's bound to be sore and also he doesn't even understand what has happened only it's painful and thus these experiences are something that you'll not want him to remember - try alternate things so as not to turn him against the bath or water.

Good luck to you both.

Chesty LaRue

Hi c bbm, I sympathise with you. I know exactly what you are going through. My DS was circumsised when he was 4 for medical reasons. We were told he would be sore for a few days but truth be told he was very very sore for about 2 weeks. We had to bathe him twice a day in Savlon baths which for the first week were torture for him. The wound became quite crusty and wept, we brought him to the docs but were told it was healing normally. Have to say, we were not prepared for the aftermath and all the docs/nurses were quite blase about the whole thing:mad:. His first pee after surgery was a nightmare as it stung like crazy and bled...then he was afraid to pee and held it in for hours. He spent the 2 weeks lying on the couch not wearing any underclothes.:( My DS is grand now, and yes each day will be easier and less painful for your son. Only consolation for you is that he wont remember it as he got it done so young....best of luck to you, lots of hugs n kisses along with the Calpol and Nurofen

Gandhi

I was circumcised at 7 for medical reasons. I still remember it - it was horrible for weeks. There is not much you can do except sooth him through it. My parents gave me some salt baths, but I don't remember if they really did anything. That was back in the early 80s so it might be outdated now.

I had both my sons circumcised within 24 hours of being born as there is no way I wanted them to go through that.

jeepers101

just curious, what medical reasons would warrant a toddler needing a circumcision?

cynder

jeepers101 wrote: »

just curious, what medical reasons would warrant a toddler needing a circumcision?

There are a few medical reasons. Google it.

Ayla

grindelwald wrote: »

There are a few medical reasons. Google it.

Jeez, someone asks a question & you point them to Google...why didn't you just do that to the OP? Everyone knows Google may give loads of information but not all of it is right...

I was wondering the same question but just never got around to asking it. Never heard of a toddler circumcison.

cynder

Ayla wrote: »

Jeez, someone asks a question & you point them to Google...why didn't you just do that to the OP? Everyone knows Google may give loads of information but not all of it is right...

I was wondering the same question but just never got around to asking it. Never heard of a toddler circumcison.

Off the top of my head

1. foreskin is too tight

2. foreskin is attached to full penis head

3. infection

4. foreskin wont retract

There could be more reasons and more precise, google it. I'm no medial expert.

Google has loads of info on it. Since people enjoy quoting web pages so much i dont see the harm in telling someone to google it. I dont want to talk about little boys willies all day but just for the sake of it i will google it myself and report back later.;)


from one site:


The foreskin is too tight to slide back over the whole glans including the coronal rim. (Phimosis).

Having slid back over the glans the foreskin gets trapped in the coronal groove and will not return without a lot of manipulation. (Paraphimosis).

The foreskin will uncover the glans but cannot be smoothed down the shaft because it is too tight underneath where the little cord (the frenulum) is; or in smoothing it right back the glans is distorted due to the frenulum pulling on it too much. (Frenulum Breve).

You can retract, but only rather painfully.

Your foreskin balloons out whilst urinating.

Your foreskin develops splits or tears following masturbation or sexual activity.
You should also seriously consider circumcision if:


You have difficulty keeping smegma under control.

Your foreskin and/or glans repeatedly become infected or very sore.

You suffer from annoying itching of the foreskin that is often related to herpes infection. This may be particularly noticable in the summer months, in hot climates or after playing sports. (Balanitis).

trevorku

Everyone may disagree but I think its a really cruel, traumatic and unnecessary thing to do to an innocent baby, even for religious reasons. Also a cirumcised child will be no healthier than a non circumcised child.

Monty Burnz

trevorku wrote: »

Why would anyone do that?

For medical reasons? :rolleyes:

Mr Benevolent

trevorku wrote: »

Everyone may disagree but I think its a really cruel, traumatic and unnecessary thing to do to an innocent baby, even for religious reasons. Also a cirumcised child will be no healthier than a non circumcised child.

I was circumcised as a child for medical reasons. You obviously didn't bother reading the thread or any of the replies, you just read the title and dived in with a useless opinion.

My first pee was damned painful too OP. Can't remember any more thankfully.

Frowzy

trevorku wrote: »

Everyone may disagree but I think its a really cruel, traumatic and unnecessary thing to do to an innocent baby, even for religious reasons. Also a cirumcised child will be no healthier than a non circumcised child.

My 3 year old is booked in for the procedure tomorrow. I've agonised over the decision, done all the research and talked with various doctors and parents.I take offence at your comments. While I know that you are entitled to an opinion I would appreciate if it were not at the expense of the peace of mind of a worried parent.

I would prefer not to put him through it! I was told when he was born that it was likely that it would have to be done, I chose to wait because there was a small chance that it would stretch and detach by itself, unfortunately it didn't, and after many sleepless nights, tearful days and trips to the doctor we have decided that it's for the best and are going through with it. Believe me, we didn't decide overnight, or take the decision lightly. After it had split numerous times we decided enough is enough!

I'm worried though to read that the recovery will take so long, I've only booked two days off work! We'll see how it goes.... He's out of nappies so I'll leave him loose around the house for a few days.

I'll let you all know how it goes....

jeepers101

Frowzy try not to stress about it too much. I know its easier said than done as its your child and not mine. The doctors recommended that I be circumcised as a child but my parents decided against it for whatever reason (only found this out recently). This caused me great difficulty in later life and eventually led to a circumcision at age 24.

Be confident that you're making the right decision and sparing your son future difficulties. Best of luck with the procedure, hope it all goes well.

Frowzy

c bbm wrote: »

My two-and-a-half year old son was circumcised 3 days ago. He is in a lot of pain and freaks out whenever we change his nappy or try to bath him. (I'm not looking for medical advice, I've already spoken to the doctor and based on the discussion his recovery and healing seems about normal). Just wondering if anyone who has been through this has any advice on the baths and nappy changes. The doctor recommends we bath him in clear warm water at least twice a day for a week but he hates it and really struggles (he normally loves the bath and plays with toys in there etc).

OK, so my 3 year old has it done on Monday, and he's still exceptionally sore! He's completely potty trained so we're lucky not to be trying to change nappies/pull-ups!

The consultant told us not to bath him for 2/3 days, which I was surprised at after reading your post, however you may find the reason below .....

grindelwald wrote: »

Off the top of my head

1. foreskin is too tight

2. foreskin is attached to full penis head

3. infection

4. foreskin wont retract

There could be more reasons and more precise, google it. I'm no medial expert.

The reasons my son has to have it done were 1, 2 and 4 above!! and because of reason 2 the skin had to be peeled off which of course in turn took an extra layer off leaving the top of his little penis extremely raw and sore. I guess this is why we can't bath him for a couple of days, the consultant said we should leave him bare until it dries out naturally and a new layer of skin begins to grow again. Poor thing, glad we went ahead with it while he's young! not getting much sleep at the moment though, if anything touches it he screams, so even if he turns over in bed it causes pain. Hopefully another day or two will see him right.

It was nice to read other peoples experiences beforehand! Thanks OP!

F

cynder

Hope he heals up nice and quick.

its funny how things change, when my dad had his tonsils out all he had to eat for a week was ice cream and jelly and when i had mine out i was told to eat toast the next morning no ice cream and jelly

Wimbledon12

My grandson ( age 2) got circumcised this afternoon and he had to go back in for more stitches because he was bleeding more than usual. He was in A LOT of pain when he awoke in the recovery room that they had to administer some medication to put him to sleep again. It was just horrible! What I strongly suggest is not to circumcise until you have researched doctors who are reputable. Please don't rush into it. Right now he is in a lot of pain and we have to be applying Bactrin or something like that to numb the penis and he is afraid of peeing because it burns him. I had gallbladder surgery done and I had been warned that it would be a terrible experience and that I would take a long time to recover.( A relative had just had it done a month prior and told me about it.) I researched and found a very reputable surgeon and had it done and in no time I was walking around and in no pain at all. My relative was still recovering after 6 weeks. I amazingly recovered in less than a week. Please do your homework and you will feel good about making any kind of medical decision for your child. I hope this helps somebody.

lounakin

I got a daughter but had I had a son I would have circumcised it at birth, probably not in hospital as they have little experience and I would have done it within a few days of birth. Done this way there is barely any discomfort for the child. I know there is a heated debate over this matter, all you can do is base yourself on experience. I knew both circumcised and uncircumcised children. Let's just say it's clear to me. But everyone does what they believe is best for their children. Most boys and men will not have issues with their penis, those who do very often end up having a painful circumcision at an age where it hurts so to me it would be preventive.

January

Lets not drag up two year old threads.