Not circumsized til 1??

[SiMaMa]

FYI, I do not yank or pull at the foreskin, and have never injured it in anyway. I'm not stupid ;p. I merely have gently pulled it back (no further then it naturally goes, nor further than his dr pulls it at his checkups) whenever he gets poop inside of it. So, no, his foreskin is completely intact and his yeast infections have nothing to do with my 'tampering' with his foreskin.

[lismom2]

Yeast infections suck, no matter where they come from. I hope your son does not have more & my mama heart goes out to you for having to deal with them in the first place.

It is entirely possible that your doctor is suggesting a one year appointment for your son's circ in order to give him more effective pain relief during the procedure.
http://www.cirp.org/library/pain/

Intact boys are no more un-hygienic than intact girls. We all learned how to clean ourselves, boys can too.

For anyone curious about male/female circumcision and how the two are related
http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/mgmfgm.php

[H.Starr]

We all learned how to clean ourselves, boys can too.

There are far more girls in the world who care about being clean and tidy rather than sloppy.
There are far more boys in the world (even adult ones) who care more about being lazy slobs than clean and tidy.

Yes, they can be taught how to care for themselves properly, doesn't mean they'll ever do it.

What's the big reason for not circumcising, aside from those with the religious or cultural beliefs? Just because that's how you were born and you shouldn't change it? Look at all the earrings, piercings, tattoos, fake boobs, etc out there. We change the way we were born every day. There are more reasons to have a baby circumcised than there are not to.

[SiMaMa]

I agree with you completely, H.Star. I, for example, have a number of tattoos and piercings. I see nothing wrong with it. And let's not forget changing hair colors or even tans. . . ok, no as extreme, but still along the same lines.

As far as cleanliness. . . .as I said before, half the time I have to fight my husband to bathe(brush his teeth, flush the toilet, etc). I'm not taking the risk of possible complications due to uncleanliness.

I've done the research, and he's still getting it done. And, as stated earlier, circumcisions at birth have dropped, right? Well, maybe that's because insurance companies have stopped covering it. When my older sisters had children, 10 and 20 years ago, their insurance paid for it completely. I know a couple of uncircumcised babies, and that is only because their parents did not have the money at the time, and still plan to get it done.

[luckymama2]

I am in the minority here with lismom2. My almost 2 year old son is intact. It is illegal to do this to girls, why is it okay to do it to a boy? It seems odd to me.

But, since you are going to do it, I do think it is a little weird that they are making you wait until he is a year old. I would think the smaller he is the easier it will be on him.

Also, if you truly wanted him circumcized why did you not save the money during your pregnancy in case you had a boy? Doing it after birth before leaving the hospital would be best I would think.

Anyways, because it is a cosmetic procedure and I don't feel it necessary for a baby to have a cosmetic procedure we didn't do it. After all the research my husband who is circumcized sided with me on the issue. Anyways, it doesn't hurt to be informed.

[SiMaMa]

We had the money saved up, but I had to quit working a month before he was born, and we had many bills pilling up and had to cut into. The air conditioning/heat in our house had to be fixed, and my husband's car broke down and needed repair. . . all right before he was born. We HAD more than enough to cover it, but our surprise expenses took it all. I barely had enough food for myself in those first couple of weeks. So please don't think that I wasn't prepared and planned, it's just that sometimes sh*t comes up.

Not to mention, all the medication for me and the formula for my son at the last minute ate the rest up. I had exclusively planned on breast feeding, but I could not make enough milk for him, and had to give in and buy more formula, bottles, etc. I had a can of formula ICE, and a bottle or two. But it became evident that it wasn't going to be enough for my big boy after the first day or so.

[H.Starr]

My insurance paid for it, thank god. It paid for everything. We had to pay about $60 as a co-pay for all charges related to me and my son for labor/delivery/hospital stay/etc.

And as for the difference between doing it to boys and girls. Honestly. Research both. They're very VERY different procedures. Its not even comparable, in my opinion.

As a girl, having seen both circumcised and uncircumcised, THANK GOD my husband is circumcised. And he said, as a man who is circumcised and has known people who weren't, NO WAY he'd put our sons through that.

Its a personal choice I guess, no need to really debate it. Everyone is going to make their own decisions. If a kid grows up uncircumcised and hates it, I'm sure he can find a dr to do it for him as an adult.

[Bec caV]

I really hate to get into a hot topic debate about this, but there's a huge difference to circumcision and genital mutilation as they do to girls (and call circumcision). It has nothing to do with cleanliness and infection with girls, and everything to do with purposefully damaging the nerve endings in the clitoris so the girl will never enjoy sex.

There's also no documentation that the foreskin plays any part in sensation during sex. They conducted studies with men who had their foreskin removed as adults and they noted no difference in pleasure previously to operation than they experienced afterwards.

Okay, I just had to get that out there.... we needed both sides. What ever your personal beliefs are, I'm fine with. We had my son circumcised out of tradition and wanting to make sure we don't screw up caring for him. It is easier to keep clean, and I don't want to be cause of him suffering from an infection because I missed a spot (and he gets so wiggly cause he's ticklish in the bath, I'd have to catch the little bugger to wash him properly!)

I second the second opinion advice. Doctors think they're know it alls, it never hurts to check with someone else.

[H.Starr]

I really hate to get into a hot topic debate about this, but there's a huge difference to circumcision and genital mutilation as they do to girls (and call circumcision). It has nothing to do with cleanliness and infection with girls, and everything to do with purposefully damaging the nerve endings in the clitoris so the girl will never enjoy sex.

EXACTLY like I said. NOT even comparable. Thanks Becca.

[SiMaMa]

Well said Bec cav!