Today my son Prahlad, age 6 1/2, asked me how to clean his belly button. I explained that he should wash his body in warm water for some time, and then could use a cotton swab to clean inside. However, he should be careful, because the belly button is one area where it's easy to stick something inside the body, or for the intestines or bowel to come out. This is called a hernia.
I told him that when he was a baby he had a hernia through his belly button. It's actually quite common for babies. Our neighbours, here in Australia, took their son for an operation to fix it. Prahlad was born in Peru, and we followed the advice of the midwife to strap a baby sock over his belly button with a bandage wound around his mid section. I did this dutifully every day, worried all the time, and several weeks later - voila: nothing to see.
Here's the summary:
Problem: My baby's belly button is protruding (sticking out) excessively.
Solution: Gently press the belly button back into the body and put a sock on it to hold it there. Bind the sock to the body by wrapping a bandage firmly, but not too tightly, around the body. Do this every day for a few weeks to allow the baby's body to continue to develop with the intestines inside the body.
Another tip for new parents, especially single mothers of boys (Gentiles only): after a few months have passed, you need to start pulling your son's foreskin back when you bathe him. As he gets older you need to teach him to do this.
If you don't do this he'll end up in the situation of a (single mother) co-worker's son, whom she took at age 12 to be circumsized (eek!) - not because they got the old time religion, but because his foreskin could not be retracted and became painful and swollen.
It has to be retracted to wash properly, and if it isn't done from an early age it will become too tight. Circumcision is an extreme fix. It is possible to gradually stretch it, even at a late age like 13 or 14, however it is painful and will take months to years to stretch properly. However, most single mothers and young boys in this situation, with the lack of knowledge that lead them into that situation in the first place, are probably going to opt for the surgical solution.
Sorry, no picture for that one.
Mechanics of the body and practical realities of having kids...
After going through the 18 hours of Prahlad's birth (I missed the last 30 minutes) I was cured of sexual desire for a good couple of years. It's not that birth is a beautiful thing. The living entity is beautiful because the soul is beautiful. No one marvels at the beauty of a still born baby.
Holding Prahlad in my hands and looking into his eyes looking up at me the day after he was born I realized that it is the soul that is beautiful - however, the way that the soul takes birth in this world, in the material body, is actually quite embarrassing...
of foreskins and prepuces
Prabhu, all glories to Prabhupada!
I appreciate your advocating for protecting our young boys with you intactivist blog post.
if I may, very gently, point something out for you. (My qualification is having studied midwifery for 9 years, having an intact son and being a die-hard intactivist)
Prabhu, it is *never* necessary to handle the foreskin of a young boy. By age *5*, if we don't see a slight disconnection of the prepuce from the glans, gentle retraction BY THE BOY HIMSELF, should suffice. He is able to feel the pressure needed without hurting himself. Chances are good that he is doing it anyways, and not for the sake of retraction.
The glands is meant to be covered and protected by the prepuce until *at least* the boy is out of diapers, possibly even puberty.
The percentage of boys who truly, TRULY require medically indicated circumcision is nominal. I would no sooner retract my infants sons foreskin to avoid apparent phimosis than I would have my daughters given a mastectomy to prevent breast cancer.
Phimosis, or inability to retract the foreskin from the glans penis, is actually related to a fungal or candida (yeast) infection which can be easily treated. Really depends on the commitment of your caregiver to keep mens penises intact, as Krishna made them.
Hare krishna! and I hope you receive this info in the mood it was sent...
ys, kmdd
Being the transcendental
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience Karunamayi. I'm not sure that it's a "intactivist post" - it's more just me riffing on what I'm thinking about. It took me a while to figure out what intactivist meant - initially I thought you meant that the post was tactless! :-)
Back to the subject of foreskins - being the transcendental liberated personality from birth that I am, I never even noticed that I had one until very late in the picture. So I can speak from experience that there was no need for my co-worker to send her son for surgery, and also that it is beneficial to teach your son to retract it from early on. It may not be necessary in all, or even many, cases - as you point out many young boys are going to discover it for themselves. As you say, five years old is probably soon enough to make sure that he gets the picture.
As for phimosis not being caused by not retracting the foreskin - if you aren't able to clean your body properly, is it any wonder that you get some kind of infection?