# A poll: retraction



## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

For parents of intact boys, & intact (or formerly intact







: men)

I'm curious, with the nonsense doctors spew about things like 'all boys are retractile by 3' etc. I hear other parents of boys the age of mine (5 & 4) that aren't even close to retracting here all the time. In fact, I'd say from anecdote that we are a majority.

(Where ARE these kids that retract naturally at 9 months? Frankly, you'd have to rip my kids' foreskins off to forcibly retract them, & by this age they'd protest like hell & probably bite your hand off if you tried- with my blessing







.)

I think- I am postulating- that all this early retractile stuff is just twaddle (as MT would say in Vax







).


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## mama_at_home (Apr 27, 2004)

My son is only 9 months old and nowhere near retracting.


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## sandals (Sep 2, 2006)

Quote:

Where ARE these kids that retract naturally at 9 months?
Probably hanging out with the kids that self wean at 9 months


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Sorry gemelos, kids got me busy in the middle of setting up my poll!







You can go back & vote.

I may just keep this thing bumped like a sticky. I want to see some NUMBERS the next time some lameass Dr suggests they ought to be retractile by age x, kwim?


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## dynamohumm6 (Feb 22, 2005)

You know, I have absolutely no idea if my ds (almost 16 ms) is "retractible" (is that a word?







...he's teething, so I'm a zombie right now) or not. It's not exactly something I "test out", you know?

I figure:
1. if he's peeing fine, and there's no outward sign of something wrong, it makes no difference what his foreskin is doing

2. if, later in his life, he's NOT retracting and it was causing him discomfort or whatever, I would hope he would mention this to dh or myself.

I'm slightly curious to see what his dr's reaction will be as he gets older. When I interviewed their office (my GP), they seemed very supportive of non-circ. But then at his 4 month (I think?) appt, she tried to retract him (I did stop her before she did anything). She's never tried it since, but I'm half expecting her to start in with the circ propaganda as he gets older and "should be" retracting.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

PS If I wasn't clear, my nearly 6 yr old & 4 yr old are not even close.


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## paxye (Mar 31, 2005)

My boys are 2 and 4 and neither have retracted yet...


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## dynamohumm6 (Feb 22, 2005)

Ah, it occurred to me that I would be able to tell if he was retractible because he would be doing it himself.







: Sorry, like I said, sleepy!!

So my answer is no, he's not.
/waiting for my $tarbuck$ to kick in


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Yes, I am mid-coffee, which is one reason it took me so long to set up the poll







. (I only wish it was Starbucks).

I think this is a big scam, a myth! And I want to prove it- it may be unpublishable anecdotes, but all I want is enough reliable unpublishable anecdotes to give people PAUSE when the Dr says, "OK, he's 2 & he's not retracting, what are we gonna do about it?"

(If the kind of studies that say all these kids are retracting by 2 are publishable, I'd have to say the criteria for publishing is OFF, by word-of-mouth evidence & the common sense conclusions one can derive from what I'm hearing... What I'm _thinking_ is "Yes, they are all retracting- because we retracted them". I'm deeply suspicious of what they are calling scientific method, if their results are so far from what I see as reality.)


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## nd_deadhead (Sep 22, 2005)

I could only vote once, but both my sons could retract by age 3 or 4 (I voted 4).

They're 12 now - I can't remember that far back!


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## babygrant (Mar 10, 2005)

my son turned 3 yesterday and he can almost fully retract. there is just a tiny piece still fused (?). i know this because he always shows me when hes in the bath









my 11 m/o, obviously not but i wouldnt even know because hes never been retracted.


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## Tinijocaro (Jan 4, 2003)

Younger ds was about 3, older ds was 11. I was told he would need to be circumcised if he didn't retract by age 7.


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## Pandora114 (Apr 21, 2005)

You forgot the option of "Forcibly retracted and kept going with the retraction"

My DH was forcibly retracted at birth by the nurses, and his mother was told that he had to be retracted and cleaned at each diaper change and bath. That's the information they had in 1978 Quebec....that's what my MIL did. I consider my DH darned lucky that he didn't get infected and circed at a later age due to improper (Yet proper for the time) care instructions....

Of course when he was 16, the dingus took a bet to stick his penis in a bottle of windex...

He said it felt like burning..I'd imagine...


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## annethcz (Apr 1, 2004)

My boys, ages 6 and 5, do not retract yet.


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## LavenderMae (Sep 20, 2002)

My little guy is 5 and doesn't retract yet.


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dynamohumm6* 
You know, I have absolutely no idea if my ds (almost 16 ms) is "retractible" (is that a word?







...he's teething, so I'm a zombie right now) or not. It's not exactly something I "test out", you know?

I figure:
1. if he's peeing fine, and there's no outward sign of something wrong, it makes no difference what his foreskin is doing

2. if, later in his life, he's NOT retracting and it was causing him discomfort or whatever, I would hope he would mention this to dh or myself.


Sums up my thoughts exactly. My ds is 19 mos.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Sorry Pandy; I didn't mean to exclude your dh; I was just wondering about natural retractions. I KNOW that people do this to kids from inaccurate information (& I want it to stop







) Hence the poll.


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## **guest** (Jun 25, 2004)

Ds is almost 4 and not retracted.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

OMG it's so funny that this thread came up. Just yesterday my SIL told me how her DR retracted her 2 month old son and told her to do the same at every diaper change







I totally freaked and told her never to do that. I thought that she knew? OMG it was terrible how she described how he pushed the forskind down forcefully with his thumbs.

Of course my stupid MIL heard all this and told me that the DR knows best and he's the one who's been to medical school and she'll believe him over stuff on the interenet. Then goes on to tell me how my son was infected down there because he wasn't retracted and of course I had to tell her for the millionth time that no, he was not infected







Sometimes I can't stand my MIL







:


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

OK







, Seventy-one people have viewed this poll & there are _not_ seventy-one votes. Vote, people! (It's private; neither I nor anyone else can see who voted what.)

(Scary thought; maybe so many people it's not applicable for, even here?







)


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## Eman'smom (Mar 19, 2002)

Ds is 5.5, last time I saw which was a few months ago he was almost fully retracted, so I voted age 6.


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## Past_VNE (Dec 13, 2003)

DS is 21 months old and retracts about 5/8, I'd say. (i.e. a little more than halfway) He pulls his foreskin back regularly (diaperfree here lots!) and you can see where the synechia (sp?) is still there when he hits the stopping point.


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## hakunangovi (Feb 15, 2002)

Good idea Tigertail !!

This is a real horror story - DS was born 24 years ago, and we were instructed to retract gently at each bath (Sure wish we had known then what I know now). By 1 the meatus was visible, by 5 he was about 3/4 retractable, with the remaining bit still adhering to the glans. At 7 he got a little slit in his foreskin when he retracted it so we told him not to retract any more (new Dr's advice). At 11 he got an infection which cleared up right away with antibiotics, but it was discovered that his foreskin was now tight like a newborn's. The urologist said he must be circumcised. I countered with some info gathered through NOCIRC (no internet then), but he got mad and walked out. DW wanted this 'problem' fixed, and he was ultimately circumcised. I have apologised to him many times, and he is O.K. with it. That is why I voted "circumcised for phimosis".

All our nephews are intact, as are 3 BILs. I do know one nephew suddenly became retractile at age 12. Another one was basicaly retractile but still had a small part of his foreskin attached to the glans until 16. I have asked one BIL when he became retractile, and he does not remember.


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## Katerz2u (Jul 14, 2006)

DS1 is 3.5 and not anywhere near retractable.


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## blsilva (Jul 31, 2006)

My ds is 4.5, and I have noticed that he can partially retract it, but not fully yet. Not for lack of trying on his part though...


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## mamato2boys (Nov 22, 2002)

9yo-not fully retractable

4yo-not much different than at birth

3yo-not fully retractable, although his is just about there. He spent a lot more time diaper free than my other boys.


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## Robin926 (Jun 25, 2005)

DS just turned two, and he's not retractible yet. We're sorta halfway potty learning though so he's constantly naked, and he's giving it all he's got.







It kinda freaked me out the other day when he was playing around with his penis to the point of erection, and then yanked back on the foreskin. I wanted to wince! But it only moved back enough that the overhang sorta went up onto the shaft; it was still fused to the glans.


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## urchin_grey (Sep 26, 2006)

DS will be 17mo in 2 days and is not retractable. I don't know anyone else that is intact so I don't have any other experiences or stories .


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## Lila (Dec 5, 2001)

DS has not yet been born. I didn't vote, but looked b/c I'm curious. Thanks for sharing.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lila* 
DS has not yet been born. I didn't vote, but looked b/c I'm curious.

Well, it's a poll with no close date, & I am going to keep bumping, so just get back to us in a few years to a decade or more.









Seriously, though. I think this is going to be a valuable resource (I've seen polls before, but limited in time & scope- I really want some numbers for people to reference and reassure themselves, their doctors, their sons, THEMSELVES- that this is *normal*).


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

BTW, it's more accurate if (because of the limitations in poll setup) you clear your cookies & vote more than once if you need to (two boys in one category, etc). I don't want to skew the data at all.

Now I need to figure out how to do this (I will be lazy & just use a different browser







).


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## Plaid Leopard (Sep 26, 2003)

I have 2 sons. One will be 8 in a few days and the other will be 3 in December and neither retract, as far as I know.

Dh is French and intact. When ds1 was 4 we took him to the pediatrician in France and she tried to retract him! I certainly was not prepared for that. I told my MIL (a pediatric nurse) how shocked I was, and she said "Of course they have to check"! She didn't say exactly what they had to check for. And I saw an article in a French parenting magazine that the French equivalent of the AAP has JUST RECENTLY issued a statement that boys should not be forcibly retracted for cleaning or whatnot. SO, just goes to show that even in "intact countries" there is a lot of misinformation about care of the foreskin.


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## l_olive (Jan 18, 2005)

3.5 and I can see no difference from the day he was born.

--Olive


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## bandgeek (Sep 12, 2006)

My DS is 20 months and no where near retractible as far as I know. He yanked it back kind of hard one day and I think I saw the very tip of his glans, and afterward the opening looked much looser than before, but then it got red and irritated and now it looks like it did before, which is as tight as it was the day he was born.


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## aisraeltax (Jul 2, 2005)

not yet. babe is only 9 mo.


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## ella*enchanted (Jun 3, 2006)

My youngest son is 2 and is not retractable yet.

Unfortunately, my oldest son was circ'd.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

When you know better,...







. Children are wonderfully forgiving.


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## wendy1221 (Feb 9, 2004)

I voted by age 3 and not yet. Ds2 started retracting on his own shortly after he turned 2. Ds3 is not (as far as I know) retractile yet. He is 12 mos old. Ds1 was forcibly retracted by a stupid doc, but the last of his adhesions have been going just this past year, so I would guess that he'd only be recently retractile if he hadn't been forcibly retracted. He is 7, btw.


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## Mackenzie (Sep 26, 2004)

DS1 by age 4.
DS2 not yetat 2yrs 9 mos.

DH not sure. Guessing around 6-8


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

ds is 23mo no sign of being retractable. Meaning I havnt seen him do so. dh is circed.


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## Revamp (May 12, 2006)

Whoops!

I voted for "16" while I probably should have voted for "Retracted non-surgically post puberty (age please!)"...


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

And here I left that option specifically for you!









(Really, I did want to let people know there ARE options. You can always vote again properly post-cookie-removal & we will mentally discount one '16' vote, since we have the record of it here, if you choose.)


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## nicole lisa (Oct 27, 2004)

I checked 'not yet' but the truth is DS is 6 and I really have no idea if his foreskin has retracted yet or not. I don't know how I'd know other than trying to retract it and that wouldn't slide as it's his penis







.

My guess is the foreskin hasn't retracted yet. Nobody, including DS, has ever tried to retract it, though.


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## Leiahs (Jul 29, 2005)

Voted not yet - DS is just over a year and I'm not checking, but assume this is the case.


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## Revamp (May 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
And here I left that option specifically for you!

















Well how is that for gratitude?

Quote:

(Really, I did want to let people know there ARE options. You can always vote again properly post-cookie-removal & we will mentally discount one '16' vote, since we have the record of it here, if you choose.)
Ooh, that sounds wise. How long until that happens?


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

I voted "not yet" for both boys. Griff is nearly 4 and while he appears to be looser than he was as an infant, I don't believe he's fully retractable yet. I only know what I've seen him do while going to the bathroom, but I think if he *could* do it, he *would*, you know?

Reese is 15 mos old and still pretty much the way he was when he was born.

I'm surprised at the number of people voting age 3/4 - do they mean that their sons can roll it back a little bit, or that they know for sure that it's totally retractable? 3/4 seems young to me.


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

He is 1 and not yet


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## coloradoalice (Oct 12, 2005)

Not yet for us!!

Of course Ian is only 9 months old!! I expect it will be quite awhile!


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## cristina63303 (Apr 3, 2006)

DS1 is 6 and almost fully retracted (I voted by 8); DS2 is almost 4 and exactly as when he was born - am I worried? NO!!!!!! DS1 was just like that.
DH some time before 33 (which was his age when we met







)


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

My eldest isn't completely retractable yet- he's almost 9. My youngest is 5 and he's completely unretractable. As for my SO, I dunno. Sometime in childhood, but I don't think he remembers exactly.


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## sadkitty (Jun 24, 2004)

Not yet @ 20 months. he yanks on it pretty fiercely, but nope.


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## mesa (Aug 19, 2006)

DS will be four in Jan and he is nowhere near retractible.


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## Haydee (Jan 10, 2006)

DS is 4 years, 2 months and not currently retracting.


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## TinyBabyBean (Oct 18, 2003)

i voted not yet. it is not yet at all. my son turned two august 12th this year.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

We have a LOT of 'not yet's that are not tiny toddlers anymore here. I wonder if I could've set that up diffferently. Hmmn.


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## colaga (Nov 7, 2003)

My eldest just turned 4, my youngest is 2 1/2, neither can retract their foreskin.

My husband was about 7 or 8 when he first noticed that his foreskin retracted a little bit; 13 or 14 when he was able to do retract it fully.


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## KMK_Mama (Jan 29, 2006)

Wow, this is informative! My DS is only 6 months so I don't expect it any time soon. It's good to know that even older children are not retractable.

I think it is interesting though, as our ped just told me a week ago that 80% of 3 year olds and 100% of 5 year olds are retractable. I KNOW this is NOT true.


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## MommytoB (Jan 18, 2006)

Just turned 2 here and 'not retraction yet either . Last night boy he had some itchies' around his thigh, balls' that i used some hydrocortisone on it and no more itches .

We got 'rid of a 'bad moocher' so now my ds can be 'restarted into the potty training thing ' meaning 'diaper free for him ' and that will be great. maybe his potty train will be a early xmas present for me







Imagine to be 'saved on Rent Money & diapers that will save a bundle


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## Jillie (May 24, 2005)

Ds is 11 months old, I've never checked, so I assume not. He's not to hands on it yet (tho when he is, wow does it strech







) so I expect it to be a long while. Glad to read this tho and see what others have experienced.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rfribbs* 
Wow, this is informative! My DS is only 6 months so I don't expect it any time soon. It's good to know that even older children are not retractable.

I think it is interesting though, as our ped just told me a week ago that 80% of 3 year olds and 100% of 5 year olds are retractable. I KNOW this is NOT true.

YES. That is the reason I wanted to have this in an easily accessible place as an ongoing poll. The next time a Dr says that, you can ask how many he has treated & compare the numbers with our data set (yeah, yeah, it's a plurality of anecdotes, but it's apparently STILL better data than what they are working with







).


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## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

Not yet, but he's only 3.5 months old.









He did need to be cath'd at 10 days and the nurse had never cath'd an intact boy, but we told her it could be done without retracting, so she went out to the nurses' station, looked up how to do it right, and didn't give us any argument. She thanked us for the chance to learn something new. It sucks that he needed to be cath'd at all, but I was grateful we got an open-minded nurse.


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

My youngest could by 2 yo. I think maybe when he was 1 1/2. I don't remember exactly. My 8 yo, however, still cannot. He's very private about it though so sometimes I worry that it could become an issue. Is this pretty normal? He says it won't retract at all. Period.


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## Lara vanAEsir (May 24, 2006)




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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Well now!







This is informative!

I can see my younger son has a less tight schincter, so will probably retract sooner, too. (They run around naked & stretching their penises enough, I'll likely see it if it happens anytime soon.)

I did want to find out. Everyone's different! (But you can see he's not in the MAJORITY, as American Dr's would have us believe!)


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## gethane (Dec 30, 2003)

almost 3 no retractionability at all yet


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## NGOTB50 (Sep 22, 2006)

I was able to retract around age 10.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Gosh, I wonder if I should've had more options (or another poll!) for how what ages the nonretractile kids are, to help keep track of it. I suppose if couldn't hurt... more data, more data...


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NGOTB50* 
I was able to retract around age 10.

Before age 10 was it pretty retractable? Now I'm getting concerned about my ds. I talked to my Aunt who is a total intactivist and her two ds are not circed. I told her about my 8 yo not being about to retract at all and she said I better get on that & try to retract it. She felt that was not normal and likely already an issue. So now I'm all freaked out. Especially because he's so private about it now he won't even let *me* see. Definitely won't let a doctor get anywhere near it I'm sure.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Look at the poll numbers, Mama! See? It's cool.

If after puberty he couldn't, I'd make sure he was well-armed with information, possibly steroid cream, & LOTS of privacy.









(I may be looking at this- ds 1 is very tight around the preputial schincter, & likely has a lot of stretching ahead of him one day, if he thinks it is important. Some men live happy non-retracting lives. I'd love to hear from them.)


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
Some men live happy non-retracting lives. I'd love to hear from them.)

This I want to hear more about. The poll is hard to interepret though because so many of the mothers here have babies who "have not yet," kwim? And those who didn't retract til ten or so may have had some retraction before that. Now I'm going to have my aunt all concerned about it and asking me about it. Of all people I thought I'd have to worry about.
















Oh wait, my sisters step son is intact. I'll ask her to ask his dad if he remembers when he was able to retract fully. He's 12 I think...


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

I voted not yet and my boys are 3 and 1. Dh is also intact so I'll have to ask him if he remembers when he could retract.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaAllNatural* 
This I want to hear more about. The poll is hard to interepret though because so many of the mothers here have babies who "have not yet," kwim?

Exactly why I did a spinoff poll.








Let's crunch some numbers here! Encourage your intactivist friends (and/or just plain guys in normal non-cutting countries) to come here, register & vote, too- I want a serious data pool to work with!


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## ombra*luna (May 1, 2003)

DS2 at about age 2, did it himself in the bath (I think, unless his dad did it w/o my knowledge, but I'm pretty sure that didn't happen).

DS1, as far as I know not yet, he is 13 and I have stopped looking/asking. I think I dropped the subject a year or two ago, it's none of my business.

When I got married about 6 years ago, my (now ex)husband (who was circumcised as a baby) was very concerned about DS1's not retracting yet, and insisted that I take him to the pediatrician to see if something was "wrong". Fortunately, our pediatrician assured us that nothing was wrong at all, and that DS should be left alone. (One of many reasons I love our pediatrician.)


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## Synchro246 (Aug 8, 2005)

My son can't yet and he is 19 months. There is more movement now than 6 months ago though.


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## paxye (Mar 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pandora114* 
You forgot the option of "Forcibly retracted and kept going with the retraction"

My DH was forcibly retracted at birth by the nurses, and his mother was told that he had to be retracted and cleaned at each diaper change and bath. That's the information they had in 1978 Quebec....that's what my MIL did. I consider my DH darned lucky that he didn't get infected and circed at a later age due to improper (Yet proper for the time) care instructions....

yeah... that is the "care" that my DH had too (1975)...
however, my DH had multiple infections because of it...


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## Velvet005 (Aug 9, 2004)

Ds is 17 mos and not retracting.


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## box_of_rain (Mar 16, 2006)

I voted "not yet". My little guy is 14 months. He sure pulls on it, though, and I can tell he's not even close to being able to retract it.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

You know, there's another poll for all us 'not yet' folks.


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

DS is 23 months and his has not naturally retracted yet.


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## Getz (May 22, 2005)

DS is 8 mos and I am assuming he can't retract. How will I know anyway?


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## smeep (May 12, 2006)

Not yet. He's only 9 months old, though.


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## desertpenguin (Apr 15, 2005)

not yet. ds is 22 mo.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=531836

To the Spinoff Poll with you both! Mwa ha ha!


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## +stella+ (Apr 17, 2005)

my son is 2 and not retracting at all. my ex boyfriend retracted around 16 years old he says. its possible he could before then, but no one really told him anything about it so he figured it out by himself. he is from scotland.


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## DesireeH (Mar 22, 2003)

DS just turned 4 and does not retract.


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## trmpetplaya (May 30, 2005)

Dh retracted at age 5 so I voted 6









love and peace.


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## mother_star (Aug 11, 2006)

My youngest son (4) has been retractable since the age of 2. He did it himself, I never touched it. Only to wash and thats it. My oldest son (7) is not retractable yet.


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## kimkabob5 (Oct 25, 2002)

My son's are 6 and almost 2. I'm pretty sure my 6 year old retracts, he says he pulls it back when he pees (and the bathroom floor is alot cleaner for it), but I've never tried to retract my younger son so I have no idea.


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## DocsNemesis (Dec 10, 2005)

DS is 6 and is not retractable yet. I have no clue when my BIL's became retractable, but I will be sure to ask next time I see them


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## mntnmom (Sep 21, 2006)

I would vote, but my 2 yr old isn't anywhere near retracting. And I think my DH was forcibly retracted as child...I should ask for sure though.


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## njeb (Sep 10, 2002)

My sons are now 27 and 19 years old, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.







I do remember that they were both retractable by age 5, so I chose by age 6.


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## gothmommy (Jul 2, 2004)

6-yr old son was forcibly retracted as an infant and has been able to retract almost 100% since before he was a year old.

2-yr old son only able to retract a tiny tiny bit (he does that himself--no forcible retraction by anyone...if he wants to yank it back, thats his business).


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

bump


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## jessjgh1 (Nov 4, 2004)

Not yet. 2 1/2


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

So far, we only have about FIFTEEN PERCENT that have retracted by three. Not exactly in line with what American doctors have been feeding us, eh?


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## blsilva (Jul 31, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kimkabob5* 
he says he pulls it back when he pees (and the bathroom floor is alot cleaner for it

Oh, I am _so_ waiting for this moment! Right now aiming is, um, problematic for us. Or, for me, I mean. He just pees all over and walks away







. I'm the one who nearly breaks my neck when I walk in and slip on it...








Btw- I already voted about my 4yo, but my 2yo is as non-retractible as he was the day he was born.


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## Stevie (Jun 20, 2004)

he's in the majority







non retractable so far, but he's not yet 3...


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## kxsiven (Nov 2, 2004)

I'm actually surprised that our son is already retracting, it happened only couple of weeks ago(he turned 4 in the end of July). He had quite long&tight foreskin. About 1,5 months ago he started to ooze white pearl-ish stuff under his foreskin, foreskin also turned quite red.
This continues couple of days and then the colouring turned normal and foreskin started ballooning when he was peeing - this caused tremendous delight, I think he spent a week in bathroom admiring his new superpower







.
And then couple of weeks ago he ran to the livingroom, his eyes big and yelling ; iso, iso(big,big). He pulled his pants down & said bicka boo and showed his new retracting foreskin. Oh the joy!


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## stever_45723 (Feb 21, 2006)

Many years ago I remember hearing that about 85% of boys will be able to retract by age 6 and about 95% by age 9. That seems to be about the percentage this poll is revealing. I have no idea what the source of that statistic was, but it is interesting to see it being confirmed here.


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## glongley (Jun 30, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
So far, we only have about FIFTEEN PERCENT that have retracted by three. Not exactly in line with what American doctors have been feeding us, eh?

Other ways to look at these numbers.

If you eliminate the votes for those who are not retractable yet and the small percentage who were circumcised for phimosis, and only figure percentages for those who are actually retractable, you get about 45% retractable by age three. Still a lot lower than the 90% usually touted (from Gairdner). If you add in the ones that are retractable by age 4, the percentage is 74%. These are higher numbers than those found in the Japanese and Scandinavian studies, who set the average age of full retractabiliy at about age 10 (i.e. 50% at age 10). Maybe in those countries, they are subject to less manipulation or "checking", or maybe the definition of "fully retractable" is not the same for these studies vs. our survey. Also, since parents of more than one intact boy, where the boys retracted at different ages, may have voted the earlier age, our results may be skewed down.

There is another survery on another "parents of intact boys" board elsewhere, that shows 63% fully retractable by age 5.

Gillian


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

I can only personally confirm that we are 100% not retractable by ages 4 & 5 here







. (I think this has to be looked at in conjunction with the other poll, since a significant number of boys over 3 are hiding out there with the infantry, including mine.)


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## glongley (Jun 30, 2004)

You know I don't know why I didn't get this before, but here's another factor that would skew a poll like this. (Not being snarky. Hey, I actually really like this poll. I started one on another board, myself.)

Here's the thing. MDC is bound to be skewed towards people with younger kids. The percentage of those of us (like me) who actually have kids over 18 is probably pretty small. Therefore you will get a prepondance of moms with retractable 1,2,3,5,7, etc. year olds voting, but fewer and fewer voting as you go up through the age ranges of this poll. Thus the numbers of votes of retractable kids in those early ages may well overestimate the likelihood of retracting at an early age, compared to the total number of votes.

If everyone had kids over 18, or only the people with kids over 18 voted, or if everyone waited to vote till their kids were over 18 (you get the idea...), then we'd really see the true distribution.

Sorry, if I've got my math/research neurons mixed up. I was just musing about this...

Gillian


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## kldliam (Jan 7, 2006)

what a great poll! Thanks for posting this!!


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## orangebird (Jun 30, 2002)

By two he was a happy retracting fool. Oh and a happy shoving crayons in his foreskin fool.


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## orangebird (Jun 30, 2002)

But I don't know if he's _fully_ retractable.


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## ~Nikki~ (Aug 4, 2004)

My son is 16 months, and is not retractable. 

I just turned to DH and asked him out of the blue "Do you remember how old you were when you started to be able to retract your foreskin?" and he looked at me like I had 8 heads.









I'm pretty sure he was retractable from infancy, though. Not naturally, of course. I remember my MIL telling me that she was instructed to retract him and clean him, from birth.


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## lisaloo (May 24, 2004)

my 16mo ds isn't retracting yet


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## Sepia (Oct 7, 2003)

I worried about this sooo much with ds1. he was 7 yrs old when he announced he could pull back his foreskin. we all cheered for him









ds2's foreskin was obviously retractible at birth. very loose. it got kind of tighter and painful for him to pull back though around age 6 (so he stopped), and now at 8 is is fully retractible again.

dh is intact, and i'm pretty sure his mom forced his back during his infancy. she told me to do that with my boys. uh no.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
For parents of intact boys, & intact (or formerly intact







: men)

I'm curious, with the nonsense doctors spew about things like 'all boys are retractile by 3' etc. I hear other parents of boys the age of mine (5 & 4) that aren't even close to retracting here all the time. In fact, I'd say from anecdote that we are a majority.

(Where ARE these kids that retract naturally at 9 months? Frankly, you'd have to rip my kids' foreskins off to forcibly retract them, & by this age they'd protest like hell & probably bite your hand off if you tried- with my blessing







.)

I think- I am postulating- that all this early retractile stuff is just twaddle (as MT would say in Vax







).


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## Godiva (Sep 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *~Nikki~* 
I just turned to DH and asked him out of the blue "Do you remember how old you were when you started to be able to retract your foreskin?" and he looked at me like I had 8 heads.









HAHAHA I just asked my dh the same way (no intro, just when did you retract?) and he just answered the question like I was asking him if he ate lunch today. Gotta love 'em. Or is it that I'm really that weird and me asking that IS normal?....

Oh his answer, 15-16 waaaayy past that magical 3 year old mark.


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## CarolynnMarilynn (Jun 3, 2004)

Mine is 8 and not yet fully retractable. Doesn't cause him pain or anything, and erections and urination is totally fine, no infections. I figure when he starts to masturbate more, it will all take care of itself.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *glongley* 
MDC is bound to be skewed towards people with younger kids. The percentage of those of us (like me) who actually have kids over 18 is probably pretty small. Therefore you will get a prepondance of moms with retractable 1,2,3,5,7, etc. year olds voting, but fewer and fewer voting as you go up through the age ranges of this poll. Thus the numbers of votes of retractable kids in those early ages may well overestimate the likelihood of retracting at an early age, compared to the total number of votes.

If everyone had kids over 18, or only the people with kids over 18 voted, or if everyone waited to vote till their kids were over 18 (you get the idea...), then we'd really see the true distribution.

Sorry, if I've got my math/research neurons mixed up. I was just musing about this...

Gillian

No, I was thinking about this too, which is why I've been asking for intact adults, sib info, people in 'normal' countries, people on other intactivism boards (maybe not geared to such littles) to respond.

It's definitely skewed, but it's a start, for anybody who thinks, "OH, but NOBODY else has a five (eight, thirteen) year old that doesn't retract yet." People can see with their own eyes a still substantial number of people having no problems with non-retracting, normal, non-phimotic ('true' phimosis) penises.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Bumping poll for newbies to vote and/or compare results- More Data, please!


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

Pardon me, for I have not read all of the pages, so someone may have already stated this:

But, what lots of doctors don't realize is that retraction of the foreskin has a lot to do with hormones and puberty rather than age. It "can" happen when a child is younger (like 3), but if it doesn't, that's fine. Once the boy reaches young manhood, and all those hormones start floating around in his body, I think it is someting about these hormones that causes a breakdown in something (sorry for being so vague, I can't remember everything) in the foreskin and penis that causes the foreskin to release and become retractible.

They recognize the hormonal factor involved in helping to release labial adhesions in girls (estrogen, I think.) Doctors often prescribe a hormonal cream for young girls/babies with labial adhesions. A lot of moms with girls with labial adhesions just wait to see if they release on their own when the girl reaches puberty and her body starts to up the production of hormones naturally....

Hormones play a key role in the natural retraction of intact boys as well.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Yes, if it wasn't stated so succinctly before, thank you for reiterating it.


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

My 4 yo still has a VERY tight foreskin, but balloons when peeing with no discomfort. I'll be very interested to know if he is retractable later in life.
My 2 3/4 yo plays with himself A LOT and has been retractable for a while.
My 2 month old's foreskin is very loose and appears to be retractable but I'll let him answer that question when he is able!

- Krista


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## AlbertaJes (May 11, 2006)

Don't have a DS. DH doesn't remember not being able to retract, but I kind of suspect his parents were given the cleaning instructions so many others were at that time.


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kimkabob5* 
My son's are 6 and almost 2. I'm pretty sure my 6 year old retracts, he says he pulls it back when he pees (and the bathroom floor is alot cleaner for it), but I've never tried to retract my younger son so I have no idea.

This doesn't necessarily solve the problem. My circ'd husband is WAY messier peeing than my tight foreskinned 4 yo. My 2 year old WANTS to pee standing up, but is too short to reach over the bowl!


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
Yes, if it wasn't stated so succinctly before, thank you for reiterating it.









Oh! sorry,

so many pages, so little internet time, what with crazy 16 month old running amuck around the public computer room and all, fiddling with all the gadgets in here....


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

No, no 'sorry' necessary, when I said 'if' I meant 'if'; I have no idea if it was said at all before either.







. Long thread; I read fast & well, but I'm not backtracking that far either!


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## finn'smama (Jan 11, 2006)

ds is 18 months and not retracted...


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## MPJJJ (Oct 24, 2003)

My 3 year old can retract his penis, but my 5 year old cannot. Sometimes I am concerned about him, but he has no problems peeing, nor does he complain when he experiences the occasional 'morning wood', so I am hoping that this is a normal delay.


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## MPJJJ (Oct 24, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mara* 
By two he was a happy retracting fool. Oh and a happy shoving crayons in his foreskin fool.

LOL, this made me laugh. My 3 year old love to retract his foreskin, then poke his penis back in with one finger. DH and I cringe, thinking it must be painful, but he just laughs.


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## minkajane (Jun 5, 2005)

DS is almost 22 months and is not yet retractable. His foreskin is beginning to separate from the glans because he has a large smegma pearl on each side of the glans. He doesn't pull back on his foreskin that I've seen - he just likes to twiddle it and stretch it out. I'm guessing it won't be too long.


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## CRosewhisper (Aug 26, 2004)

2 years, 6 months and non-retractable, no worries...


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

Bump!


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## Lula's Mom (Oct 29, 2003)

Huh, I can't believe I haven't posted in this thread. Weird.









Ds is 22 months, no signs of retractability yet. He sure does like to push it, pull it and twist it though. I swear one day he's going to walk up to me, looking like he has a balloon animal on his crotch! "Wanna see me make a horsey, Mama?"


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

bump!


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## aira (Jun 16, 2004)

OK, I voted not retractible.

However, in the early half of age 2, DS did retract himself a few times and was half fascinated and half scared, I think. (mostly fascinated...







)

He even asked me to help him retract a couple of times to see the glans, but I told him that that was for him to do. Then once, he got a little stuck and that scared him. He asked for my help to get the foreskin back over the glans and I certainly helped then!

He plays constantly, but there has been no more retracting to my knowledge for about 9ish months... It seems to still be adhered again, but I don't really check enough to know.


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## Christy1980 (Jul 7, 2002)

i say when puberty is finished, which is like mid-20's for a man, right?

and even if he isn't fully retractable, he can do stretching excercises and use stroid creams, (if he has true phimosis) to correct the problem w/ out surgery.

so there...









Tiger, are you going to bump in TAo again??








:


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

I thought I was bumping this one, accidentally did that one, & then thought, "Well! There it is!" Why, what happened?! I'm afraid to look- Lord, _that's_ not controversial, is it? Ack!

Actually I asked in Questions & Suggestions for this & Graphic Video to be stickied (and had suggestions for consolidating others so they don't get too unwieldy) but nil response.


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## Christy1980 (Jul 7, 2002)

nothing happened, sorry, I just thought your bumps over there were so funny...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
You know you wanna BUMP it

http://tinyurl.com/q8kpx


Quote:


Originally Posted by *TigerTail* 
I feel all bumpy today, Dr, what can it be?

they just had me cracking up ,lol.


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## dnr3301 (Jul 4, 2003)

I said not yet, because if he is, I don't know about it. He's 2y8m old. I have seen some of the head, but only right after he's peed.

I kinda feel like I did when the doc asked me how many times per day the kids nursed. Ummmm, all the time? I don't know, am I supposed to know that?


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

My boy is only 3 months, so he isn't rretractible, and I don;t expect him to be for a long time.


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## Doodlebugsmom (Aug 1, 2002)

Ds is almost 2.5. He isn't retracting fully yet, but he's retracting a teeny, tiny bit. I noticed when he stood up to pee in the bathtub and he pulled his foreskin back a little. Also, there isn't any ballooning when he pees now. I'm so proud of my little intact guy!







:


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## krisw (Jun 8, 2006)

My son is 7 months old. Not retracted. I just wipe it down during poopy changes and any other change that I am wiping anything else down, wash it in the bath, and call it good.


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## Ambyrkatt (May 27, 2005)

DS is 12 months old and I assume him to not be retractable yet. He pulls his penis away from his body, but I have never seen him retract at all.

DH is circ'd, so nothing to add there.


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## SJane01 (Feb 24, 2006)

DH coudl retract as far as he can remember.

DS could not retract at all until he was 10, he was getting a bit of help when he was 12, but now at 13 is fully retractable.

His old pediatrician every year when he went in for his checkup kept telling us that he should be circed, because the foreskin was still completely fused.. We kept saying no way... heh


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## fromscatteredtribe (Mar 27, 2003)

none of my four retract yet (ages 8.5, 6.5, 4, and almost 2)


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## falcon (Jul 8, 2004)

ds is 3 plus a few months, not yet.


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

bump


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

My dh did not retract until he became sexually active at age 23. He did not fully retract until last year (age 34) when he started to work on that with exercises. It obviously did not affect his fertility.


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## lizzie (Dec 5, 2001)

My dh is circ'ed.









My ds, is gleefully intact,







and gleefully not retracting yet at 4.25 years.

The balloon animal comment is something we can identify with around here!!


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

bump


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## TigerTail (Dec 22, 2002)

boomp


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## My2Matthews (Aug 9, 2004)

my son self-retracted around when he turned 2.


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## UnskulinMama (Nov 1, 2005)

Umm... I have no idea! DS is 5 and frankly, I've never looked... It just never crossed my mind that it would matter?


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## emmsmama (Aug 12, 2003)

My ds is 4 yrs. old and not retractable at all as far as I know (I don't try to do it and I have never seen him do it so I'm guessing he's not yet).


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## Cinder (Feb 4, 2003)

my son is 2 1/2 and as far as I know is not yet retractable. Our ped said it was normal for some boys to not be retractable till puberty...it was just part of their general non-circumcised speech when they came to the hospital.


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## bugmenot (May 29, 2005)

Don't erections and urination help in this regard?


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## MysteryMama (Aug 11, 2006)

ds1 was fully retractable by age 3. ds2 still is not at all retractable, but he's only 6mo. i have a feeling ds2's retraction will be a lot longer in coming because the opening to his foreskin is so tiny. with ds1 you could pull it back enough to see the meatus just about from birth.


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## AugustLia23 (Mar 18, 2004)

my older son retracted early, before 6 months, my 2nd son is 17 months and is still not retracting...


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## kate~mom (Jul 21, 2003)

can't vote - ds is 21 months and i would assume not retractable.


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## hummingbear (Apr 17, 2003)

DS is 5 and from what I have observed I do not think he is retractile yet.


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## Mommiska (Jan 3, 2002)

I voted by age 16 for my dh, as that is around the age he was fully retractable.

My ds is just over 3 years old and not retractable at all (as far as I know - I don't ever have cause to do anything with his penis any longer as he can wipe when he goes to the bathroom and clean himself in the bath).


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## witchbaby (Apr 17, 2003)

m is one and had recently discovered his penis. as per normal for his age, he pulls his foreskin forward like taffy rather than do anything else.







i don't think he's retractable yet.


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## Cherries10700 (Aug 9, 2006)

I voted Not Yet! My son is only 10 months old.


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## jessiker (May 1, 2002)

My son is 6 and has not retracted yet, to my knowledge. When my husband (his dad) talked to him about it he got very aggitated, though and said he didn't want to pull the skin back because he was afraid that it *might* hurt. Then we started asking him if it did hurt now, and he insisted that it did not.

I haven't been getting into his business for a couple of years now because he's been asking for privacy, and I feel like we should respect that. But I have to admit I was a little worried. That's how I found this forum, actually! Looking for answers!

When I asked him if he could just please try to see if he could pull the skin back, he looked at me with puppy dog eyes and said, "Can I watch you do it to yours first, mom?". How. Cute. Is. That. ?







:

Hope I didn't get in on the poll too late!


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## WaturMama (Oct 6, 2006)

ds is 22 months and not retracted yet.


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## mamakay (Apr 8, 2005)

Ds just turned three, and I don't _think_ he's retracting.
But the "ballooning" thing has came and passed, so it's probably partially retractable?
Isn't ballooning a sign of separation?


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## PumpkinSeeds (Dec 19, 2001)

My 5.5 yo cannot retract at all.

The other retractible members of this family are in the poll.


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## Paddington (Aug 25, 2003)

Um, we are 3 1/2 (will be 4 in April) and still not retracted at all.

And (obviously) neither is the 7 month old...


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## Cassandra M. (Aug 3, 2003)

My son will be 4 in March and is not retracting.


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## elaine (Oct 1, 2002)

my nearly 4 yo doesn't retract much. I've explained to him how to do it in the bath and that someday he'll get to pull it down a bunch and the head will pop out. I must say he's quite amazed. "Just keep playing with it," I said.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

for a new member.


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## Yulia_R (Jan 7, 2006)

my ds is 25 months and he isn't even close to being retractable.


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## txgal (Jul 16, 2003)

Ds is 3 and as far as I can tell, by looking, still fully attached.


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## Monkeygrrl (Oct 9, 2005)

Pman is 4.5yo - does not naturally retract on a regular basis...
Trout is 13mo - does not naturally retract on a regular basis...

i have not tried to see how far either one can retract...i know that Pman has retracted himself before, but he has since stated that he is "never going to do that again"...i will remind him of that when he is 15, of course...









peace...


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## KA29 (Jan 8, 2006)

My son is 23 months and doesn't retract yet.


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## incorrigible (Jun 3, 2007)

.


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## titania8 (Feb 15, 2007)

my boys are 20 months and not retracting yet. they spend a LOT of time nakey though, and pull and twist the heck out of those things!!


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## Isaac'sMa (Mar 13, 2006)

DS is twenty months and no retraction yet. He stretches it out like there's no tomorrow, though! And he "balloons" when he pees, so I wonder if he might retract on the earlier end b/c that would lead me to believe that it is partially seperated (?)... Hmmm.


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## Jenivere (Aug 4, 2003)

Not yet; my son is 5 1/2. DH is circ'd.


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## glorified_rice (Jun 5, 2005)

ds is 2 1/2 and not even close.


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## sarathan (Jun 28, 2005)

My ds is over 2 and doesn't seem anywhere near retracting.


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## mamasophy (Mar 15, 2007)

Older 2 DS's retracted around 5-6, maybe 7 completely for DS #2 (partly adhered for a bit, it let go in stages). DS #3 surprised me by retracting in the bath at 4 completely and now washes himself independently (I remind my older ones to RINSE their bits in clear water - DD too.).


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## fruitful womb (Nov 20, 2004)

My newest ds, 10wks now, is of course not retractable. Son #2 retracted at age 4 but its not all the way retracted. Some of the skin still adheres to the glans. I let him do it. I don't try retracting it my self. When he does pull it back as far as it goes, his glans bend because of the frenulum. Maybe he has a tight frenulum. I'm not worried but should I be? My first was circed at the hospital. I became suicidal because of this tragic event. I came to my senses and knew that my son needs his mother. It crushes me every time I think about it. This is why I won't deliver another baby in the hospital ever EVER again!!! I did try to restore the foreskin when he was little thinking he was too young to remember (same goes for the argument about circ). That memory is embedded in the sub-conscience mind. Trying to restore his foreskin was short lived because I felt that he has already gone through so much even tho I was never hard on him. Maybe when he is grown and wants to do this for himself then it will be his choice to do so. In doing so he will heal emotionally, I hope. Maybe he won't care. My Dh did this and told me that it was healing for him.


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