To Circumcise or Not to Circumcise? - Logan,UT

Since you already have 2 circumcized boys, I would not want the 3rd to be "different". That isn't fair to him. I always heard that the son should be the "same" as the dad. Good luck!

I looked at all the information about circumcision vs. not circumcision and I was mortified and thought I didn't want to circumcise. Then I was talking with my friend and she said that her husband had to be circumcised shortly after they were married, due to medical and health reasons. He said that he wished his mom had circumcised him when he was a baby where he wouldn't remember the pain. Circumcision is much cleaner and easier to take care of. And it a lot of grown men that are not circumcised... most get it done as adults and wish their mom's had done it when they were babies. So, I got both my boys circumcised at birth.

I asked the same question when I was pregnant with my ds. What made up my mind was that the AAP now classifies it as cosmetic surgery. Also I hate the hospital and wanted to be released as soon as possible so it was nice not having to wait around for that to be done. Most of the reasons people say it needs to be done are total myth. There is also no need to pull the skin back to clean under it. When they are.babies, the skin is still attached. Most of.the problems with infection come from people forcibly pulling the skin back. It will eventually separate on its own sometime before puberty, until it does, normal baths get it clean enough. My husband was insisting that was wrong so I had to doctor explain it to him. I also read him the section in 'what to expect' where they explain how to care for it. I figured if he wants it done that bad later in life he is welcome to go for it.

I did not have my son circumcised, even though the nurses kept coming in to ask when I was going to have it done. Sheesh!

It's not necessary.

Cleaning was never an issue here either and my son, now 20, has never expressed any interest or care that I didn't have it done when he was born.

Good luck with your decision and your new baby!

:)

edited to add ~ for me it is right up there with female circumcision. Totally unnecessary, useless and hurtful to everyone involved.

S.:

This is a highly debated topic here on Mamapedia. you will get views from all sides and in-between.

I believe in circumcision. I believe it's cleaner and healthier.

I have a friend that didn't get her boys done. They had problems with yeast and such - they ended up having to get it done when they (twins) were 14 months. It was MUCH harder then.

If you have two boys and a husband circumcised? get the third one done as well. "we changed our mind" to a young child could be construed as "you didn't care as much" or "I wasn't IMPORTANT enough".

But really? Does it matter what we say? You are going to do what you are going to do. I can bet that if you and your husband don't get on the same page - there will be some serious issues down the road.

Circumcisions are done with a numbing cream, so if you are worried about pain? not really an issue.

It is a very personal decision.

We decided not to circumcise our son. My husband is, but we feel that our son is an intelligent person capable of understanding differences. (Son is blond, dad has brown hair... all siblings have some sort of differences with the exception of identical twins anyway.. I grew up in a multiracial home, and we just talked about the differences in appearance-- it wasn't a showstopper.) We felt that after working hard to give our son a gentle welcome into the world that circumcision was an antithetical choice. We've never had problems with UTIs. Around half or so of his little buddies (at least the ones I saw in diapers when they were wee little) are not circumcised either.

You will just have to do what is right for your family.

I am against circumcision. Most of your husbands reasons for doing it, are not real reasons at all. My son is not and we had no problems cleaning it. In fact, we didn't do anything to it. Just washed it like any other body part. He will not be made fun of. I think now that around 50% of boys are not (I could be wrong on that % but I know it's close to it). He will be totally normal and I'm sure boys will not be standing around in the locker room comparing themselves to each other. There is no medical needs at all to have it done. It's possible that sometimes, there is that 1% chance that he could get an infection, but I don't think that's because of it. Your son could get an infection from being circumcized as well if you don't take care of it and keep it cleaned up while it's healing. Good luck on your decision.

This is a very personal decision and one that only you and your husband can make. I feel that if one parent feels strongly (your husband) one way or the other, you should go with that parent.

I also let my husband decide for our boys.

Mom/Auntie to 6 boys...all of which are circumcised.

~IMO, this is THE hardest decision you have to make when it comes to having babies.

It's a very personal decision. Because of how personal and irrevocable it is, it should be left to the person most affected- it's owner. I have three sons with all their parts, and have not had a single problem among the three of them. From what I've read, the odds of your child needing to be circumcised are just about the same odds as needing a surgical revision of a circumcision, so you're really not reducing his odds of needing surgery by getting it done.

My viewpoint was affected by a relationship in my younger years with a man who had a "high and tight" circ done as a newborn in the late 60s when that was the fashion. Let's just say the results were less than optimal.

Hi S.,
My first trip to the pediatrician with my newly adopted, uncircumcised son was spent learning that there are many fallacies out there about circumcision. The pediatrician asked, "Is Dad circumcised?" I said that there was no Dad and she said that if there wasn't someone he would compare himself to, there were no medical reasons to circumcise your son. I saw that one responder has a boy with lots of yeast infections. My son, now 13, has never had an issue. He knows how to clean himself and it's all good.
Personally, if I had 3 other circumcised males in the house, I would have my son circumcised, but that's just me.

Good luck,
S.

My girlfriend didn't do it at birth with her son and regretted it. It became a problem during potty training and teaching her son how to take care of himself when she wasn't around. Infection set in and he was in a lot of pain. She ended up getting the circumsion anyway hence more discomfort.

I agree with the making it a non-issue and it will remain that way.

I do want to say though that it is ENTIRELY your decision. Are there some health benefits to having them circumcised ... yeah, but they are pretty minimal. However, if something happens later down the road where a circumcision becomes needed it's more traumatic than as a baby that is a few hours old. Although this kind of thing isn't common it does happen (and was the reason I had both my son's circumcised as infants ... had a friend who had to have one at the age of 20).

The fact of the matter is though that the vast majority of men who are circumcised live perfectly happy healthy lives with no issues at all. On the other side of the coin the vast majority of men who aren't circumcised also live perfectly happy healthy lives with no issues at all.

Follow your instincts and be sure to take hubby's opinion into the mix also.

It just doesn't seem like it should be a big deal either way. We are Jewish so we did it. I don't actually remember any aftercare so it couldn't have been a big deal. If your husband feels strongly, I would let him decide. It seems like people care way more about this than about piercing their baby girls' ears - which everyone can see and fits that little girl right into society's preconceived gender roles. There is no way to predict whether your infant not yet born's future sexual partners will prefer cut, uncut or not care at all.

My husband and his brother had to have theirs done at age 18 for medical reasons. They really wish their parents had made the decision to have it done when they were babies...
We had our son circ'ed when he was born. No issues.
YMMV
LBC

My boys are both circumsised, for the same reasons you mentioned. My husband is also, so that was the normal for us. I would do it, since you have done your first two. I don't feel it is really necessary, but I also don't think it will hurt.

I have a son and he is not circumcised. My husband taught him at a very early age, how to clean it and how important that it was to clean it. There has never been a problem with being made fun of or anything. I don't know if there have been studies on the link between cancer (penile) and non circumcision. I do know that the reason Americans started being circumcised was for Military Active duty. Being out in the elements during World War ll was not healthy for our troops. Really, sitting in a fox hole for weeks wouldn't be and that is why. Before that it was a religious issue. Jewish boys are circumcised on the 8th day (it could be the 7th) and all other religions did not do this. It wasn't necessary.

Since your other two boys are I would definitely do it. They compare bodies
when they get older. It will cause problems amongst them. Much easier if
they all look the same. Plus it is cleaner and better in the long run.

I personally would do it if the brothers are. Even if you explain, he will feel different, and sometimes that is not a good thing. Whatever you decide though you and yoru hubby have to come together on it!

Since your other two boys and his dad are all circumcised, I would have him circumcised, as well. I would think it might be hard for him if the other 3 in his family are; that's where I think it would be the hardest to deal with, not so much with other boys. Good luck with your decision.

I would also stick with it. I would hate for him to feel left out. LIke his brothers have a tie with dad that he doesn't. Kids are weird that way and can feel left out very easily.