My 17 month old son has an irritation at the base of his penis that looks like a whitish crust.

Hello ma'am,

It is possible for a child to have a fungal infection on the penis. This is often due to the wetter area.

That said, a fungal infection will often manifest itself as redness, itching and sometimes whitish discharge.

Assuming this problem is not present elsewhere on the body and your son has no other symptoms (e.g. fever) it is a problem that can easily be treated with an antifungal cream such as Canesten (clotrimazole) - available over the counter - applied twice a day for one week.

The drier the area is kept the better (dry well after baths). Normally you should see improvement within a few days but it is important to treat for 7 days to avoid a recurrence.

If your son also has other symptoms it would be better to consult a doctor but normally it's treated very well :)

I hope this answers your question. Have a nice day!