Intact Care

How do I care for an Intact Boy?

Caring for an Intact Penis is as easy as wiping your baby boy just like you would your baby girl. “All you have to do is wipe the outside of the penis like a finger. “IF INTACT, DO NOT RETRACT.” The infant foreskin is perfectly designed to protect the head of the penis and keep feces and urine out. It is harder to keep circumcised baby’s penis clean because you have to carefully clean around the wound, make sure no feces got into the wound, and apply ointment. If a doctor ever tells you to retract your baby or tries to retract your baby please educate them and then find a new doctor. Many doctors are still using outdated medical advice and are uneducated on INTACT CARE. Forced retraction is the cause of almost all problems seen with intact boys.**Never pull a child’s foreskin back toward his body to “clean” under it, or for any reason. Forced retraction is painful and can cause bleeding, infection, scarring, and other complications. The foreskin is fused to the head of the penis and sometimes can stay that way through puberty. THE BOY HIMSELF should be the only one to retract their penis. Catheters can be inserted safely without retracting the boy’s penis.

Intact boys get fewer infections than girls!

Yes, I just said that. It’s a common myth that Intact boys are more at risk for infection. Urinary tract infections just aren’t that common, nor are they life threatening. Baby circumcision does seem to help prevent UTIs. Evidence has also shown that circumcision may actually cause UTI’s. E. coli needs an entry into the body. Intact boys foreskin protects them from E. coli entering the urethra. On the other hand, circumcised boys don’t have that protection and may be even more susceptible because of the dryness and inflammation of an unprotected glans. Breastfeeding now is documented to dramatically reduce the incidence of urinary tract infection.

Basic Intact Care

AAP Intact Care

Urology Health Intact Care

Educational Video on Cirumcision Vs Intact

Doctors Opposing Circumcision

Circumcision Issue for Christian Parents

How does circumcision affect breastfeeding?

There is scientific evidence that the trauma of circumcision makes it harder for a baby to learn how to suckle. 

The AAP:

• In December 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a policy on Breast Feeding and the Use of Human Milk which said “Breastfeeding should begin as soon as possible after birth, usually within the first hour. Except under special circumstances, the newborn infant should remain with the mother throughout the recovery period. Procedures that may interfere with breastfeeding or traumatize the infant should be avoided or minimized.” …but did not mention circumcision directly. This passage is missing from its 2012 policy.
• The nearest it now comes is:  …emphasis is placed on the need to revise or discontinue disruptive hospital policies that interfere with early skin-to-skin contact, … that restrict the amount of time the infant can be with the mother. In 2001, the AAP’s Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, along with the American Pain Society’s Task Force on Pain in Infants, Children, and Adolescents, issued a Policy Statement , which says…but did not mention circumcision directly.
• This passage is missing from its 2012 policy. The nearest it now comes is: Local anesthetics and strategies to soothe and minimize distress should be considered even for simple procedures, such as venipuncture. Some common painful minor procedures, such as circumcision, do not always receive the warranted attention to comfort issues. Available research indicates that newborn circumcisions are a significant source of pain during the procedure and are associated with irritability and feeding disturbances during the days afterward. Opportunities for alleviating pain exist before, during, and after the procedure, and many interventions are effective.

Circumcision Aftercare

• Change your baby’s diaper as soon as it is dirty.
• Wash your hands before and after you change babies diaper and change the gauze each diaper change. Be sure to wash hands after diaper change too. Reapply a new piece of gauze with pure petroleum. This will stop the penis from sticking to the diaper and help the healing process.
• If the circumcised area becomes soiled with stool, gently remove the gauze and clean the penis with warm water.
• If the gauze is stuck to the circumcised area, wet the gauze with warm water to loosen it and gently remove it.
• Clean the penis by gently blotting or squeezing warm water from a washcloth or cotton ball onto the penis. No soap, lotion, powder or diaper wipes to clean the penis.

Pediatric Urology