Changes

At the point of birth, the development of the external male genital organs is not completely finished. At this stage, the foreskin and glans share an epithelium (mucous layer, the balano-preputial membrane) that fuses the two together. It serves to protect the glans during infancy, and dissolves as the child develops. Premature forcible [[retraction of the foreskin]] will tear this membrane, causing great pain and injury to the boy, who suffers this abuse.The child, himself, should be the first person to retract his foreskin.<ref>{{REFjournal | last=Wright | first=JE | coauthors= | title=Further to the "Further Fate of the Foreskin" | journal=Med J Aust | date=1994 | volume=160 | issue= | pages=134-5 | url= | quote=The normal prepuce should be left alone, with no attempt to retract it until the boy is able to do it himself, at the earliest at three years of age. | pubmedID=8295581 | pubmedCID= | DOI= | accessdate=2019-10-01}}</ref> <ref name="NOCIRCpretract">[http://www.nocirc.org/publish/6pam.pdf ''Answers to Your Questions About Premature (Forcible) Retraction of Your Son's Foreskin'']. San Anselmo: NOCIRC, 2000.</ref>

The widening of the foreskin also depends on age. A child's foreskin may be too tight to be retracted all the way past the glans, even though it has already completely separated from the glans. This early foreskin tightness, frequently confused with ([[phimosis]]), is a normal stage of development and vanishes with increasing age in most boys.