Infants who have abnormalities of the kidney or bladder are at higher risk for urinary tract infections, so circumcision may be advised for these babies. Occasionally, problems can occur with the uncircumcised penis which require circumcision at an older age. These problems include inflammation of the foreskin or adherence of the foreskin to the tip of the penis. These problems occur in about 2 to 6 percent of uncircumcised males. Circumcision during infancy eliminates the possible need for the procedure at an older age.
Circumcision makes it easy to keep the end of the penis clean.
However, the shedding skin cells that naturally accumulate on the glans of an uncircumcised boy are not harmful. Do not try to force the foreskin back to clean the penis of an infant or young boy. Washing externally with soap and water is all that's necessary. After your son's foreskin is fully retractable, then washing under the foreskin during a bath or shower is part of good hygiene habits. The risk of penile cancer appears to be linked to personal hygiene.