Basic CARE OF THE Intact PENIS

Ease of Care / The Basics / Bathing / Bubble Baths / Common Occurrences / Foreskin Retractability

It's so easy!

How do you care for the intact penis of a baby or child?

"If intact, do not retract. Only clean what is seen."

You may want to do a quick external wipe during diaper changes. It's certainly not a requirement, but any baby sitting in a pee-filled diaper might appreciate a gentle wipe-off. 

And dip that baby in a warm bath once or twice a week. No soap. No manipulating the foreskin. No problem. That's all.

If it's so easy why is there so much information on proper "intact care"?

Unfortunately, many, many American doctors are still using outdated medical advice, and are uneducated on normal, whole penis anatomy. Such healthcare providers may offer misinformation that actually can harm your child. Forced retraction (pulling back) of a child’s foreskin by well-meaning adults is the cause of most foreskin-related issues.

Proper care for an intact (not circumcised) child:

• Wipe gently from base to tip or rinse with warm, clean water — no soap.

• Never pull a child's foreskin back to "clean” under it for any reason, not even "a little.” This is called forced retraction.

• The foreskin is naturally fused to the head of the penis, sometimes through puberty.

• The only person who should EVER retract a child's foreskin is THE CHILD.

• Forced retraction can be painful and can cause bleeding, infection, and other complications.

• Catheters can safely be inserted without retraction in children whose foreskin is still fused to the head of the penis.

• More information available at YourWholeBaby.org/for-healthcare-providers

What’s okay and what’s not

Helpful article for parents who want to know more about what constitutes forced retraction, written by Angela Saltalamacchia, BSN RN, Your Whole Baby Advisory Board Member…

Should I worry?

Topic-by-topic guide discussing common concerns parents have about foreskin & penis care.

Videos

Using a baby doll, these two short videos demonstrate how to change an intact baby’s diaper and how to give them a bath.

A soak in a warm bath is all that is needed. 

“Soap irritates mucosal tissue and dries it out… Don’t wash your baby’s foreskin with soap… just rinse the outside of the penis gently, from body to tip, as you would wash a finger,” explains Dr. Adrienne Carmack, board-certified urologist and parent.

The Canadian Urological Association describes, “The uncircumcised penis requires no special care… It is important not to retract the foreskin forcefully for any reason. Some parents feel the need to pull the foreskin back to ‘clean under it.’ Since the young boy’s inner foreskin and the glans are initially fused, there is no space to clean.”

Doctors Opposing Circumcision details that any child, regardless of gender, “… needs only warm water gently applied to the outer, visible portions of [their] genitalia… No intrusive or interior cleaning of the genitalia . . . is ever needed or desirable, and aggressive hygiene is destructive of developing tissue and natural flora, and is harmful as well as painful.”

Once a person's foreskin has become retractable, they can simply pull back the foreskin and rinse with water, no soap, when bathing/showering. While this step can be suggested if a child is retractable before puberty, it should not be forced, as it still might cause discomfort to pull back the foreskin.

Can my intact baby ever take a bubble bath? Bubble baths are a staple of childhood!

The reality is, some people's genitals are incredibly sensitive to soaps in their bath water. Some children with vaginas cannot sit in a bubble bath without getting a UTI. Some children with penises can't either. Some children may get a little irritated or experience a burning sensation, but recover easily. And, some children can take a bubble bath and experience no issues from it. The only way to really know is to try it if you wish, and pay attention to how your child's body reacts.

Weird things happen with all human bodies. Mostly, we take these weird things for granted. "Sleep" in the eyes. Boogers in the nose. Body odor in the armpits. We could go on.

Genitals are no different. Smegma is naturally created by all genitals, regardless of sex. Yeast can overgrow in people with penises or people with vaginas. Ballooning occurs as a normal part of development for many whole penises. When you’ve learned about these naturally occurring events, you’re unlikely to become fearful over something that is really nothing.

It's unfortunate, but we have heard too many stories of an intact child going to the doctor for a simple yeast infection that ended with forced foreskin retraction, an unnecessary catheter insertion, and a recommendation for circumcision. Imagine if that happened to your child with a vagina when they had a yeast infection that could be treated with an over-the-counter remedy! (A child with a penis can be treated with the same over-the-counter remedy!) 

More than once we've heard of doctors telling parents they need to have their child circumcised because of yeast, smegma, or the foreskin being “too tight” and causing ballooning. In a country where even doctors have been culturally conditioned to fear the whole intact penis, and many are not educated in normal development and treatment of common concerns, it is crucial that parents educate themselves fully. In the U.S. especially, it is entirely possible that you will know more about the normal development of your child's genitals than their doctor will. 

The most recent research demonstrates wide variance in the onset of retractability. Some healthy children won’t have retractable foreskin until their late teens, while others will be able to retract at a younger age.

The most current research studies have found that on average, foreskin stays naturally fused to the glans (head) of a child’s penis until puberty begins.

The protective foreskin forms from the outer layer of glans (penis head) tissue early in the second trimester. The foreskin’s inner surface typically remains fused to the surface of the glans well after a baby is born. Uninformed medical professionals may mistakenly believe that a child’s naturally adhered foreskin is a problem, but as Cold and Taylor (1999) describe, “The fused mucosa of the glans penis and the inner lining of the prepuce separates gradually over years [emphasis added], as a spontaneous biological process.” The process should not be interfered with or rushed. This shared membrane (sometimes incorrectly referred to as “adhesions”) releases on its own over time with hormone production and self-exploration.

(Follow the link to the next page, “Preventing Forced Retraction,” for more information and research sources!)

Outside links on care of the intact penis *

* The links above are included because we understand it is difficult to find reliable information from respected sources. While these sources mostly include accurate advice for intact penis care, they may also contain outdated and potentially harmful suggestions, such as using soap on the genitals. Join our Facebook Community for Learning to get more info as well as suggestions from other parents and healthcare providers.