For the first few days after having a circumcision you will need to regularly apply a fresh piece of gauze with Vaseline over the circumcision. This should be done with each diaper change. After about a week, the skin should be healed well enough, and this practice can be discontinued.

For a circumcised child, it is important to pull the foreskin away from the head of the penis on a regular basis to prevent a bridge of scar tissue from forming at the end of the penis. You should begin doing this two weeks after the circumcision has healed. The tip of the penis (glans) of newborn boys is generally red at first and sometimes has thin yellow crusts in spots. The skin will look more normal in two to three weeks.

In an uncircumcised child, we do not recommend pulling the foreskin back until it releases on its own when the child is four to five years of age.

Revised 3.22.09