Advice on Circumcision

just wash it gently with soap and water when you bathe him and put A&D ointment on it with every diaper change to prevent the raw skin from sticking to the diaper in a few days a week at the most usually it'll be all healed and great!

As a guy who is circumcised... I'd suggest: don't do it at all. When we hear about female circumcision in Africa, we think, "How barbaric!", yet for some reason, male circumcision is OK... I don't get that.

Think of how much more relaxed you'll feel if you don't have to worry about putting your son through surgery when he is only a few days old.

I was in your shoes about 14 months ago before our son was born. I had no idea what to expect and started doing a bunch of research online....BAD IDEA! I was an emotional wreck over the whole thing and my hubby had to talk me down from it all. It really isn't bad at all. I just had to dab it clean (I also squeezed some water over it) and then put a little petrolium jelly on there (they gave me a tube of it from the hospital) when I changed his diapers and he was perfectly fine. I ended up making a big, huge deal of it over nothing.

The worst thing about a baby boy is that I never did figure out how to change a poopy diaper without being peed on! Inevitably, while I was cleaning him up, he would be spraying everywhere. LOL! Congrats on your baby boy...they are so much fun (and VERY different from girls).

Oh, and just make sure you spend some one on one time with your daughter while baby is napping or something (although at the very beginning, you should rest too). Try to include her in as much of the baby care as possible. She should be able to fetch a diaper or burp cloth for you. It makes them feel helpful. Play up the "big sister" idea as much as possible. We gave our daughter a gift from her brother when she came to meet him at the hospital. She was older than your daughter when he was born, but she still remembers that it was from him when he was a baby. :-)

EDITING BASED ON OTHER POSTINGS - The postings telling you not to circumcise are the ones I was warning about in my original post. These people will have you believe that this is barbaric and cruel and will try to guilt you into making a decision that may not be right for your family or your son. You asked for advice about cleaning after the circumcision, not about making the decision to circumcise. I was so overly emotional about this issue because of posts such as these and I hope you don't allow them to get to you like I did. Do what YOU think is right for your son and just ignore those that want to call you a bad mom for having your son circumcised. Good luck!

We were told just to drizzle a little water over the area and then let it dry a minute or two during diaper changes. It was actually very easy to take care of. Our little one healed with no problems. Congrats on your bundle of boy! They are so much fun...

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My husband is not circumsized and I think it would be horrible if he was! As for the cleanliness issue, insanely easy, not rocket science at all. Just push the skin back and clean it. Girls have all kinds of places to clean, we don't alter them, just show them how to do it. Just know that babies are very aware of everything, and of course they will feel it. It is illegal in Sweden, that ought to get people thinking.

My son was circumcised. Since they coterize it, it will be very red. The Doctor and/or nurse will give you home instructions. Do no use antibiotic cream/ointment unless they tell you to. My OB only recommended vaseline. Just clean it gently, dry it and put vaseline on it at each changing, this is what we did. Baby will have frequent visits to the pediatrician, but if anything looks odd you can always call your peds office and talk to the nurse. I know my peds office staff has always been great for that!

I'm sure your daughter will adapt just fine. Of course she will do things to try your patience and try to get your attention. Just do your best to show her that she is still very important too! I'm sure you will do fine!

Y.-
I had 2 boys and both were done differently. My first son had a ring on his and there was no putting vaseline on it at all. It was awesome for a first time mom. The ring fell off just like the cord does. The second time around was different. I had to put the vaseline on it with the guase to keep it covered. You will be fine, the nurses will take care of you. Good luck and congrats!
Mel G

Piece of cake.....i was in your shoes 10 months ago. Terrified of the whole thing and how to care for it. They took the gauze off sometime while we were in the hospital so I didn't have to deal with that. All I did was glob it with vaseline every diaper change. I thought for sure my husband would be diaper changer for sure with this one (considering we had two girls), but it ended up being no big deal. Once you have him you will be so exhausted and excited you have that little boy you won't be thinking of the circumcision at all.

If you are going to breastfeed, make sure you have your daughter occupied (books, puzzles, juice, snack, etc.)before starting so she is not all over you trying to see or pulling on your arm while you are positioning the baby. You don't want to have to stop once the baby is latched.

Just wanted to add my opinion..if you have already made your choice then disregard. My son is 3 and I did not have the procedure done. He is fine i have already started teaching him to clean himself. The nurse and doctor that can around with info clapped and got excited by my choice. look into the option of not having it at all. Good luck with either choice. If you do choose to cut then it is really easy...your mom powers will help you get through it!
Good luck.

Your daughter may be confused where mommy is while in
the hospital. When she comes to the hospital, I recommend
that you not be holding the baby when she meets baby for
the first time. You can have her in your bed with you
and peer at baby from a distance until her cuddling time
with you is over. You can talk about the baby and wait
till she wants a close up and even hold the baby.
Probably best not to be holding baby when she leaves your
room either. It will be tough on her to leave your room
after seeing you and holding the baby as her last visual of
you may make it tougher. Her first meeting with her sibling should be a positive one. If you have a c-section, you can put pillows where you hurt the most to protect that area from her excitment to see you. Sometimes the day of
delivery you will be less sore than 2nd day. But, you didn't mention c-section so, just fyi. Lots of luck.

Goodness, for me it has been so long ago since I had my little boys but I just followed the nurses directions for cleaning and caring for the wound. It worked out fine for my two. It only took a few days. Keep everthing as sterile as possible is the only suggestion I can add. Best wishes. Little boys are wonderful. Love them, support them, laugh a lot and you will enjoy them until you are old and grey...smile.

B. K.

PS: I just want to say "ditto" to Karen B's response about how to help your 17 month old. Her answer is right on target. At such a young age, I believe your daughter will just accept the new baby. It is very nice though when visitors come to acknowledge her first even to bringing a little gift to her if they are bringing a gift to the baby. (That is something for us all to remember to do.) Even our 2 and 1/2 year old accepted his baby brother with no problem at all. I did read books to him at times while I was nursing. However, he was usually happy to play at my feet or was napping. It all worked our fine and it will for you, too. Dads should remember they can play an important role here, too. At least once a day, nursing time for baby can be play time for the older child and dad.

The nurses will show you how to clean and wash the circumcision. It depends on the hospital/doctor method. The funny thing is it must have been easy because I don't remember what we did...My son is now 1 and is doing great. I guess my advice is not to worry and congratulations.

My 2 cents... 1.) The doctor who does the circumcision should be experienced and comfortable with doing it; 2.) let your baby have modern pain medication when its being done.

I had one friend whose OB/GYN was opposed to circumcision and was not comfortable doing it and, for various reasons, that doctor was her only option... Suffice it to say, the surgery went wrong and they had to have a correction surgery when her son was 3.

The only thing you need to do in the first several days is put antibiotic cream on it (the cream stays better than the ointment). You don't touch it at all, just squeeze the tube of cream around it just before sealing the diaper up. That's it. Once it has healed, there isn't anything else to do for it, unlike when you don't circumcise. Urine is sterile and a newborn's poop will rarely reach up that far. There isn't really a need to worry. Plus, the nurses at the hospital will help you as well. Congrats on the new baby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pLxQcLv2ZQ

check this out it should help...

Hello-Congratulations on your new baby!
We just had a baby boy last week and got him circumcised a few days later. They have different methods of performing the circumcisions and they all require different care. The one they did to our son was tie a string around him and pulled it taut. They numbed him before hand and the whole process took a coupleminutes, then we got him back. He didnt cry and hasnt cried about it since. I havent read what any of the other moms have written, but if you read info on circumcision, there are lots of benefits of it, although you dont HAVE to. The way to clean his is by not using any oils, ointments or anything but water. Irrigation. Every time he has a BM diaper, we just take a wet towel and squeeze it on him. He doesnt cry and it doesnt seem to bother him. Then the string just falls off soon and thats it I guess. Im a first-time mom and caring for these things mde me nervous but the dr. showed us and my husband and I do it together everytime, so its a peice of cake. Hope this helps! Good luck!

All I can say is have it done, asap. Also, as for maintenance, the hospital will give u care instructions and cleaning is simple. YOu just need to keep up with it. But definitely, do it as soon as he is born and the doctor says it is appropriate. He will thank you later.

After the circumcision, it is just a matter of keeping it clean and making sure it does NOT stick to the diaper. I used a baby washcloth dampened with baby soap and water to clean. I used Vaseline and they give you medicine to bring home too. Very important to clean it and put on new medicine every time you change his diaper. I kept this up until the it was no longer red. Other than those two things it is pretty easy. Both my boys were fine after a week or so...Good luck with your new one!!!

Y.,

Do exactly what the doctor tells you. I remember neosporin applied with a Q-tip around the head until it heals. I had 3 sons, no problem.

I don't know where Doris gets her info, but we don't circumcize boys in the US to stop them from masturbating. What a TWISTED view of things!

Congrats!

C.

The nurse will give you instructions after the procedure. Wasn't difficult and non of my 3 boys ever had problems.

Just don't do it. Empower yourself and choose the best option for your son. Lots of people do things just because everyone else does them without questioning why? It is true lots of people choose not to do it and once you do start researching you will come across lots of crazy reasons why it was started, as well as religious reasons why it was started. I started the research when I was pregnant for the first time and after reading a bunch of anti and pro information we decided we weren't going to do it. I never questioned before I was actually going to have a child whether I would do it or not, I just figured I would since that's what everyone else was doing. We chose not to do it to our son. I like freedom of choice...but unfortunately we are always in a hurry or whatever and don't do the research ourselves to truly find what works for us. I hope you do and are happy with whatever decision you make for your son. You are his only advocate he cannot make a decision for himself as a newborn.