GainesvilleMoms.com

the availability of soap has no bearing on how clean my son gets...

there are always multiple choices for him and he often comes out smelling no cleaner than when he entered so i can assume that those private parts that would require extra attention if not circumsized would be in trouble.

my son did not even cry during his procedure. dad was right there. and we had no trouble with bleeding or any other complication.

mary, this was only one of many decisions you will be faced with as a parent. i think you handled it very well, especially with all the "extra" you have been dealing with. just try to remember that the tougher ones will come and if you and dad do not agree, you both need to find a middle place that you can both live with.

mary gets the mom of the week award!

I second SOFTBALLMOM's motion: Let's make it the mom of the month award for Mary.

Great discussion, guys. I've learned a lot. I don't have a son but a have two brothers (I honestly don't know the score with them on the subject).

And my husband, whose dad is a pediatrician, is not circumcised.

We were not happy with the medical students doing the rounds at Shands back in 2000. As 30-something, educated parents, we had already researched circumcism EXTENSIVELY and decided we would go with it for our son. It was not an easy decision; we did NOT take it lightly.

The medical students (one female in particular) apparently didn't want us to circumcize our son. After giving us info and giving us a speech on the subject, we told them we were going ahead w/ the procedure. But two of them returned at the end of the day to try to change our minds (very unprofessional, in my opinion).

My brother-in-law was not circumcized. He had horrendous problems growing up due to not being circumcized. Everyone is different, but for him it was just terrible. So when he got in his teens, he was circumcized (by choice!). After witnessing his pain due to the problems he had as an uncircumcized male, my husband knew what we would do with our son, providing I agreed. My father was never circumcized and had no problems, so (to me) it boils down the individual who hopefully has two loving parents to decide his fate. That's the bottom line; it should be left up to the parents. And thankfully, our son didn't cry and he had no problems. He was back in my arms in minutes...sleeping.

I must say I do get p*ssy about those who complain about circumcism yet take their young babies and toddlers to get their ears pieced...or, better yet, those who support the aborting of growing babies. It makes NO sense to me whatsoever. Sorry for the tangent, but that's one of my pet peeves...

Thanks so much! He is perfectly fine now and if I could have had a procedure as a baby to prevent infections for life I would def volunteer. Doctors should ALWAYS be unbiased and give advice and swallow opinions. I know my brother as a kid used to actually go into the bathroom and run the shower, wet his hair and without getting in come out ready for bed. I don't know why he didn't want to shower but that's boys for ya! Who gets 'em?!