4 year old- erection?

[momofson]

My son has had the problem, primarly at bed time. He is uncircumsized, with questions from dr. in the states about whether or not to get him circumcised now. His foreskin is extremely hard to retract, i have to do it to clean it properly. My Canadian doctor sees no problem, but i have had 2 doctors who see it as a possible/ definate problem. However, recently at bed time, he goes pee before bed and then i read him a story, rub his back or belly, depends on which he prefers that night. Some nights when i try and rub his back or belly he will be fussing with his penis. i ask him whats wrong, and he delays answering. His penis gets big like an erection and then when he answers he says he needs to potty again, however, sometimes he pees, sometimes he doesn't, and even if he does the erection doesn't go away. He had to pee 3 times in less than 30 minutes tonight. I don't know if this is because his foreskin doesn't retract properly, if it's an erection and what's causing it at bed time primarly, or a UTI. Occasionally he will have the problem during the day. If out in public i have to remind him to leave it alone, but it bothers him.

[jessicasmith]

I think your son is just uncomfortable because the erection must be stretching out his foreskin. What I've done with my son is that when he takes his bath, I just gently pull his foreskin forward and backward in a sort of milking fashion, which helps the natural seperation between his foreskin and his glans. Naturally, he used to get an erection everytime I did this and soon enough he began doing it himself. After that, the only thing I would do would be to encourage him to "make the head come out all the way" without pulling on his foreskin too hard. My son is now eight years old and his foreskin freely and easily over his glans.

[mammo]

Erections at this age are very common and can be painful for them.  It was recommended that my boys be circumcized for cleanliness purposes.  It's a personal matter with the parents.  More boys are circumsized than not.  This doesn't mean it's right, or that it is any cleaner, just seems to be very common.

[aid821]

Hi, from being uncircumcised myself and some info that i've read over the years, i don't think it's neccessary to try and retract your sons penis at his age. The sensation he's feeling could possibly be the erection itself or the pain he experiences when he has an erection that is pulling on the foreskin that you've been trying to pull back. If you have been able to separate some of the foreskin from the head of his penis, the erection could be pulling on a part of it that hasn't been separated (hope that makes sense).

It took me weeks or possibly longer in the shower to be able to separate my foreskin from the head of my penis at the age of thirteen and have learnt this is usually the time to do it (usually the whole puberty/discovery thing, and also hygiene becomes most important).

I've also heard that usually infant erections are sometimes caused by needing to go to the toilet, i've seen my nephew do this, it's enough to irritate them, especially at a your sons age. Could possible be a UTI.

I wouldn't continue to try and retract his foreskin but rather make sure the tip of it is cleaned regularly instead. In addition, i'd leave circumcision as the last possible resort as i personally feel that it's an important part of a boy/man's anatomy. I've had no issues in the 28 years of having one. Good luck and hope all works out well. :)