[ddahl]

Well as you can see by my question we are considering circumcision for our son. We elected not to do it when we came home for a variety of reasons. Particularly because he is European and if he was in RU he would not have it done. Also we are one of a handful of natiions that still does it regularly. Flash forward to potty training time and we are once again speaking of it. Its difficult to aim. What can I say.

Anyone with experience with doing this on a 3,5 or older? Can you advise me? My ped says its not a big deal. I guess I am concerned about pain, anesthesia etc.
I thoought there was a previous thread but I can't find it. Thanks so much

[momraine]

We did it on our seven year old and it was pretty rough. He was in a lot of pain for a few days. It also set his attachment back. If I had to do it all over again I would have waited. He had adhesions and it was too tight and could not retract, but still it could have waited. In hindsite, I wish I had waited. Even we don't do it regularly anymore, only about half of baby boys born here are done now. The urologist told me the reasons for and against are pretty even right now. He will not do it for an older child unless there is a medical or religious reason.

[ncturtle]

We brought our son home on July 4th. He will be 3 in Nov.
We had him circumcised last week. It was done by a pediatric urologist in a same day surgi center. What actually concerned me most was anesthesia! He did fine. He was disoriented when he "came to" and was very whiney/clingy on the ride home. Ate lunch and took a nap and since then he has been fine.
We did not tell him before hand what was happening and afterwards, we just said he had a boo boo.
The dr. prescribed tylenol w/ coedine. We used it as prescribed (every 4 hours) for the first couple of days, except one dose before bed and then another when he woke up (ie:he didnt wake during the night needing more) . He was uncomfortable for the first couple of days and let us know if it hurt. Otherwise, he has been fine. Now just use the rx before bed and when he wakes up.
The first couple of days are rough because the child will be in pain or at least uncomfortable and the area is swollen and looks pretty bad!
No other issues except he wants to ride his bike and dr. said no straddle toys for 2 weeks!

[angelkisses0102]

Speak with a pediatric urologist...Dr Flack is very good. DS was only 13 months and knowing what I know now...I would not have done it. He was in pain and on codeine for about a week and was uncomfortable for a while after that and his poor penis looked horrible-much much worse than I expected. They did discover another issue so there may have been more probing...but not enough to explain all the pain.

As for aiming...ummm that is a boy thing...trust me on that... ...circumsized or not.

[GCS]

Well, not to give TMI, but our 6 year old is not circed. We had thought about it when we brought him home. After doing some research we decided we would only do it if it seemed medically necessary. He had a pretty major teeth surgery right after coming home and it tramatized all of us, so we decided to not do it. Our pediatrican was relieved we did not go that way. He felt it was completely unwarranted.

We do not have any aiming issues now. He's old enough to do things properly. From what I have seen this is more an age issue than an "equipment" issue.

Good luck with whatever you choose!
Christina

[Kasey]

Both of our boys were done due to medical issues.
Maks was 19 months when his was done. Definitely go to a pediatric urologist. We used the same one for both.
Maks did great, only needed the codeine the first night, otherwise Tylenol sufficed for 2 days. he was playing that night, they used a liquid bandage and we would just lather his diaper with vaseline to make changes easy. He cried the first night and that was it. He looked completely healed by the next week.
Alek was 11 months and healed just as quick.
We had no problems at all.

[ddahl]

Thanks everyone! Karen I was given Dr. FLacks name. I am told he is great. I am glad to hear it appears to be an age thing with aiming. At this point its just not medically necessary and I can not get over that hump. Its not warranted but?????? Better to do nothing just yet I guess.

[angelkisses0102]

Dr Flack is who we used until now...for both kids...he is who did DD's kidney/bladder surgery and DS's circ. But thanks to a change in insurance...he is not on our new plan.

Not to sidetrack this too much...but is anyone else's little guys aim directly related to where he is looking. Sometimes DS likes company when he is in the bathroom and I have to tell him to NOT look at me when he is talking.

[Kasey]

I have to respond in terms of aim, Alek at 3 1/2 has some great aim, it actually amazes me, he has better aim than his father!

On teh topic of the circ, I would get your consult with the urologist and then make your decision from there, that is what we did for both boys, we knew Alek had some problems but I was very hesitant about the surgery, the consult was a good place to discuss all aspects and then we went home and made our decision from there.

[Bcelli]

Our oldest was circed when he was about 18 months - for medical reasons. Before we brought him home at 5.5 months, we had decided to do it, but once we got him home, we didn't have the heart. Our youngest - now almost 6 and adopted at 2.5 years - is not. It has been a point of discussion between them. I asked the younger the other day if it bothered him that he and his brother had different looking penises. He said no and that he liked his best. So as far as social issues go, I think they're both fine. When we did have our oldest circed, it was practically a non-issue for him. He had almost no pain - took one shot of liquid tylenol the first night, if I recall - and was completely healed in about 2 days. But ALWAYS have a pediatric urologist do it in a non-newbown.

[Babydollkc]

Hi D,

We had Michael done at 15 months and he was fine. He didn't even need pain medicine and he even had a hernia we knew nothing about. I would definately recommend it.Especially when he gets older and will look " different" than other kids. All the men in our families were very much for it.

KC

[momraine]

My husband is, two of my sons are not and the third son is, my husbands father was not, though he and his brother were. None of them have questioned it at all. I don't think looking like someone else in a place you usually keep covered is worth the risk of surgery. Babies under 2, usually get over it faster. The older the child the greater the risk of infections and it seems like they have more pain and it takes longer to heal, but it makes sense since the area affected is bigger as the kid gets bigger.

[erickk]

Karen we have the same issue with DS (6 years old)--I always find myself saying "we'll talk about it when you are done so you don't pee on the floor"--laughing and peeing at the same time are not good either...then there is always the have to go in the middle of the night thing....getting them to actually face the toilet!

DS was 15 months old when he came home and we decided against the circumcision. He too was a horrible aim when he started to potty train around 3+--does your son use a potty chair? If so did it come with that little flip up thing--that help a lot.

Karen

[his,mine&ours]

Our 37 month old was done yesterday. No problems at all. Procedure took about an hour, we were at the hospital from 7 am until noon, though. He was ready to go to the playground last night and was disappointed that he couldn't. He is swollen and says "bolna pee-pee" when he sees it, but overall it has been easy.