Poll for moms of boys

I do not want this to turn into a debate, I just want to see what others on this forum have done. I would like how you came to your decision. Also if you decided to have it done what was your experience like? Did they do it while you were still in the hospital or did you have to go back? Was it easy to take care of? Did it make the baby very fussy for days after?

We are having our first boy and I told DH I would let him make the decision, at first he was not sure but his mom was here when we were discussing it and seemed astonished that he would even think of not doing it. So now when I ask him he is like of course we will have it done. Most of my friends/family have had it done as well and think I'm crazy for even thinking of not doing it. And I am a little leery of not doing it because I personally know of three men who have had to have it done as adults and they said it was very painful. Like I said I did tell DH he could make the decision, I guess I'm just wondering how others decided and how it turned out for you. I will be asking the pediatrician all of these questions and about pain control during the procedure before it is done, if we go through with it.

That was one really nice thing about having all girls!

 

Our boys are circ'ed
We made the decision together (you don't have that as an option) but I probably would have deferred to dh if we disagreed.
we had it done in the hospital and it was a very easy process.
It was simple to clean, you don't do anything.
No, neither of my kids were fussy afterwards.
not a debate? =@ opcorn:

 

We had it done in the hospital. I had a c-section, so we were there for a few days anyway. My memory isn't so hot, but I'll tell you what I do remember. He was a bit fussy for about an hour after the procedure, but that is it. We had no complications and, even though I know we must have taken care of it (cleaned it, etc) I don't remember doing anything really special so it must not have been a big deal

As for who decided, I guess we both did. It honestly wasn't really a discussion. DH is circumcised and it is common practice around here. I guess we both just assumed he would get it done and never really had to think about it. ardon:

 

totally OT, are you going to change your name here after you have a boy? :laughing:

 

We kind of decided together. It was done at the hospital, early on. I do not know exactly. But they seemed un phased honestly. Now I know a friend that had her sons done at about four (due to issues) and he still remembers, it hurt for him and he had some bleeding at preschool that she had to go pick him up. Nothing to serious though.

 

We did have Jack circumsized. We both made the decision. As to why, I don't think it is medically necessary, but I do think there is medical benefit to it. And DH felt very strongly about it.

We had it done in the hospital, and there was little to no fussiness and little to no upkeep. Now, that said, we ended up with a situation in which the doctor took off too little, and Jack basically looked uncircumsized and was having a lot of adhesions, so he had a recircumsion done at 10 months. That was a little bit bigger deal - general anesthesia, some soreness for a couple days during diaper changes, but still really he seemed 100% that afternoon.

 

Connor was circumsized. We had discussed it but hadn't really made a decision about it. While he was in the NICU for so long he had recurrent UTI's and the Urologist felt that it would be the best decision to have him done to help with the UTI's too. So we said okay and had it done.

 

All 3 of my boys are circ'ed. I left the decision up to my dh who decided because he was that his boys should be.
I had the same experience with all of my boys, they were all done a week or two after being home. The procedure was done at the Peds office. The first 24 hours after are miserable! They are very sensitive and the penis is very raw and exposed. It goes on my list of worst days. But after the 24 hours they are almost back to new and no pain. I have no regrets but it is hard...
Good luck in your decision.

 

Both of my boys were done in the hospital. I guess it was a mutual decision (I checked other). It wasn't a huge discussion for us. There was not a lot of upkeep when they were so small. Just some vaseline on a gauze pad put on the penis when we changed the diaper, if I remember correctly. That wasn't for more than a week, I don't think.

My nephew just had his re-done at 15 months old(same reason, adhesions). There was pain, general anesthesia, etc. It was a bit longer healing process at that age, but he was back to his old self the same day or the next morning.

 

Three boys, all circ'd. I voted other since we both made the decision, but there was no decision. We never even thought about not circ'ing them.

It was done at the hospital. NBD. Very easy to take care of, just keep it clean. No fussiness related to it at all.

 

We had it done in the hospital. It was quick and easy to take care. DH went with him, and I made sure to request a local anesthetic. For us, it was a joint decision so I voted other in the poll.

 

Yes, we had them circ'd.
We're Jewish, so the decision was wasn't a decision. It's such a common practice though, I think I'd go for it.
The pediatrician and my obstetrician told me that the baby feels no pain, but how do they know that, really? So, I'll be honest. The babies were in pain, but not for long. It was about the same fussiness that came from being wet or hungry. A dose of Tylenol did it for them (maybe another one the next day, if they needed it. I had a C-section both times and I can't remember.)
Oldest DS was done at home, and he was a little fussy for a bit after, but not for long.
The twins were circ'd in the pediatric urologist's office, and they were fine. A little fussy, but again, not much. DS swelled up a bit, which was more alarming to DH than to him. The urologist made a housecall (!!!) and said it was nothing that wouldn't resolve itself in a few hours. DS was in no discomfort b/c of the swelling, and the swelling was gone the next day (again, vague memories. But I do have distinct memories of any bad thing that happened, and since I can't remember this clearly...)
Forgot to mention -- locals for them all before the procedure!!!
OT, but we opted to have the twins circ'd on diff. days, simply b/c we didn't know how much one-on-one time they'd need and we didn't want to have two upset babies at once. It turns out we needn't have worried!

 

my boy is circ'd also. There was never a question in my mind. DH is done so it was a given imo that our boy would be also. I don't remember ever really talking about it except for when the Pedi asked us.

 

I voted other because we both made the decision. Our son was cir'd about a month after he was born. A bit fussy during the procedure, but fine at home. Didn't seem like a big deal.

I know someone who does not have her boys circ'd and they have had infections because of it. I also know someone whose son waited until 12 years old - and then it was pretty painful...

 

Both of my boys were circ'd. However no one told us to push the skin back to prevent adhesions so both of my boys have adhesions. We are now using a steorid cream to help the adhesions break, other wise they will have to have surgery. My boys were in the NICU two weeks and they did the circs the day we took them home. They were bloody, but we just had to put vaseline gauze on them at every diaper change (should have been pushing the skin back, but didn't know) Not hard at all and even considering the trouble we are having I would circ our next boy if we have one.

 

I had no idea about pushing the skin back, I'll have to ask my ped.

Grandt was circ'd the day he came home from the NICU. Grayson has a hypospadea so he will be circ'd when they repair that.

I also picked other because it wasn't a decision for us. I put no extra thought into, just normal that they would have it done.

 

I voted "other" because in the end it was a joint decision, but from the day I met DH I knew that no son of his would ever be circumcised. His family has *never* done it; not before it became popular in the late 1800s, and not since. He regards it as medically unnecessary and a family tradition *not* to. I didn't have any strong feelings either way before I met him, but I certainly see his point now. And since my guys were preemies, we would have had to bring them back in to the hospital to get it done, so I'm doubly glad I didn't have to do this to them.

Unfortunately, Jack has hypospadias/chordee and a "natural circ" so he'll have to have reconstructive surgery and they will use what little foreskin he has to reconstruct his penis. The doctors *never* told us this when he was born and asked if we wanted him circumcised; we only learned this after taking him to the urologist when he was several months old. So if we had decided to circumcise him there wouldn't have been enough material to give him a "normal" penis. :angry:

BTW, it's only mainly in the US that circumcision is popular. Routine infant circumcision almost unheard of in Europe, and the WHO estimates the world circumcision rate is below 30%.

 

Our son is not circumcised. I never thought about it until I was actually pregnant with a boy -- DH is circumcised, so I always assumed we'd have our son done.

But when I was pregnant, I started reading about it. And what I read convinced me that I didn't want to have it done. I discussed it with DH, and he was totally fine with that -- he saw zero reason why he needed to "match" his son. (Seriously, what does it matter?)

There are many reasons why I decided this, but there's lots of anti-circ info on the internet if you're interested. The pendulum seems to be swinging the other way, and currently only about 50% of newborn boys are being circumcised.

No problems at all in taking care of the kiddo's uncirced penis. I don't have to "do" anything at all. And, very happy with my decision!

 

Both of my boys were circumcised in the hospital before we came home. Me and DH both made the decision. Him & his brothers weren't as infants and now wish they all would have been because have had issues. DH had to get Circum. when he was 21 and it was VERY painful for him.

 

DH and I both wanted our boys to be circumcised. It really was a no brainer for us, although as a new mom, I didn't want my boys to be in any pain whatsoever. Truth is, it's not something they will ever remember and in long run serves a purpose. We had no problems with their procedure and I really don't remember any problems at home reguarding the circumcision at home.

 

We didn't even make a decision. It was a given. Being an Orthodox Jew automatically means being circumcised.

 

Same here.

We had ours done at the hospital by his pediatrician the day after he was born I believe. Just some general fussiness for a short time when he returned to the room. I think all we had to do was pull any skin back and make sure it was clean and no adhesions and put some vasoline on the tip of his penis for about 2 weeks.

 

I didn't vote because two of my boys are circumcised and 2 of my boys (the twins) are not. With my second son I too didn't know to pull the skin back so it didn't reattach. Well it did, but the Dr. showed me how to work it off and it never reattached after that. We decided against getting the twins done, because the only Dr. (my OB) in town that performed them was traveling. He performed the c-section and headed out that day. So when he came back 4 weeks later, he told us he doesn't use painkillers. That sealed it for me, plus I had read alot about not doing it. The twins haven't had any problems. And I believe in Canada the rate of circumcision is declining.

We decided together.

 

I'm surprised that there aren't more no answers. I thought the rate in the US was declining too.
We will not do our son. It's not the norm here, and I don't think I'd want to do it even if we were living where it was the norm.

 

We didn't. I read everything I could find and really couldn't come up with a reason why we should. Dh read up on it to, and was strongly leaning towards not. Then on the hospital tour they were talking about how they don't use pain meds and he became totally against it. We just wash it the same as everything else and have had no problems.

Marissa

 

We did, and we both decided. DH is Jewish so he saw no other way. I never really considered NOT circ'ing, so Jake was circ'd in the hospital before we left. I am happy with our decision.

 

I let me DH lead and he said the boys need to look like him. So we circ because he was. 3 were done at the hospital but one was done in the drs office at 1 week old while I was there watching and helping to comfort, under local anethestic. It really was not that dramatic and healing was pretty easy from my prespective as the care giver. There are 2 methods to circumcise from what I learned in the conversation that day with dr. One involves more cutting, the other involves some cutting and a plastic ring that pulls back skin then falls off in about a week. my 2 older boys were done with ring, the twins done by a diff dr were only cut.

Cindy

 

Thanks for your replies and for not turning this into a debate.
I know that my son is probably going to end up having it done because that is what DH wants. After reading your replies and talking to friends/family I am pretty much okay with it as long as he is given pain relief first.
I was starting to really get worried about having it done because I did some reading online and they made it seem like some horrible thing to do and made it sound like the baby wouldn't be able to bond/BF etc. as easily after. So it freaked me out.

Alison, I will need to do that, any suggestions?

 

We both made the decision, and we had it done. We treated it with vaseline and gauze for some time, had it redone when he was a few weeks old due to adhesions, and just had it redone at 4 because it re-adhered. We didn't debate it much, but one of my aunts has 5 boys, and some are and some aren't, and she definitely was in favor of having it done. I didn't do much research, but there are increased incidences of UTIs in both the men and their future female partners/wives, and there are issues of cleanliness if not attended to regularly in bathing. One of my mom's cousins in the army, headed into Vietnam, all the men on the ship headed over were required to be circumcised before landing due to the jungle and lack of sanitary conditions.

It seems an odd practice to me, but wasn't really something that stood out as a big deal. They did the first time in the hospital when he was a day old, not in my presence, so I don't know if they used a local or not. The second time, he did use a local, but I couldn't tell that it had any effect as my son still cried a lot during the procedure. Both times recovery was swift and pain issues afterwards were non-existant. This latest, was under anesthesia, and they fixed a mild case of hypospasdias (sp??) as well that my pediatrician had neglected to investigate (we took him to a urologist on our own when his ped was consistently unconcerned with the adhesions; a boy of 4 does not need his mom pulling on his skin after every bathing!).

 

We had both boys circumcized, it was never an issue or discussion we just both knew that we would.

 

I didn't vote because we had our older son circumcised but not the younger. After having seen it once, I swore I wouldn't do that again (not thinking I would have another son anyway). But really when the twins were born, the main reason we didn't have it done was that we were just too busy & exhausted to look into it (there aren't tons of doctors here who will do it anymore, ours won't), and after awhile it just really didn't seem that important, so we didn't do it.

 

Ditto to everything (especially the smilies), except that 2 of my 3 boys had it done in the pedi's office.

 

Another vote for "other", since it was also a no brainer her since I am Jewish. Their circs. were done on my kitchen table at their bris. The moyel was a Jewish pediatrician, so he told us to give them a bit of Tylenol before he got there. He gave them each a local before the procedure. Honestly, they cried more at being exposed in the air conditioned house, and the cold alcohol wipe then they did at the actual procedure. We put Bacitracin on it. He put some gauze on it, and we did nothing until that fell off on its own.

 

I didn't vote becasue 2 of the three are done. DH told me it was up to me. I didn't want them to go through it and also didn't want them to be diffrent. BUT when the twins were born one of them couldn't have it done right away they said when you go to your two weeks the dr can make an appt to do it then. BUT then the dr said that he would have to go under and I was just so worried about something bad happening while he was under I didn't do it.

 

No - we both decided.

Like others have said, we researched the issue and couldn't find a could reason to do it. I got pregnant in Europe and my Swedish midwive was appalled that we would even consider it for non-religious reasons. That got us researching. The reality is that men in other countries don't have problems that lead to cir'ing as an adult. So why does the US have that problem? Or is it just that everyone knows someone who had it done as an adult, but in reality not that many men do it? We've had no problems whatsoever. Aaron's hasn't retracted easily, but the ped told us not to worry and that it would resolve itself. And he was right.

I would never cir my daughter for religious or quasi-medical reasons, so I would never subject a son to it (especially as an infant when they cannot consent).