I came across this article some 2 decades ago, and I think he is right on target. A must read!  

“Don’t Fear Brit Milah”

By: Dr. Stuart M. Berlin, Pediatrician

The Jewish Journal, August 1989 

In the Aug. 18 issue of The Jewish Journal, Ruth Mason wrote a commentary entitled “Re-evaluating Brit Milah.” It is written from a personal experience and with great concern. While acknowledging the centrality of the bris to Judaism, how Jews who don’t observe Shabbos, kashrut, Pesach, and Yom Kippur still practice brit milah, she expresses how dangerous her feelings are about the trauma of circumcision.  

       I am a board certified pediatrician, a certified mohel, and a parent. I think I have a unique ability to address Ms. Mason's concerns.  

 Yes, there is pain associated with being circumcised. Now, what does that mean? 

      The question to be asked is not “is there any pain”?, but is the pain tolerable? Regarding infant circumcision without anesthesia the answer is certainlyyes. 

Pain must be placed within a context. All babies undergoing circumcision have undergone a much more prolonged and painful experience than circumcision. That experience is not elective, we don't choose to be born, but we are. 

      Labor, the work of birthing, can last many long hours. All during this time, the uterus, a powerful muscular organ, has been contracting around the head of the baby. Very commonly the shape of the baby's head becomes deformed or molded to enable it to squeeze through the cervix. One could imagine that babies are born with a tremendous headache!

      Yet, we are all born, and the trauma of birth fades away and is forgotten. Being born has never been safer or easier than it is today. 

      Compared to being born, a circumcision is a brief procedure, with mild pain, easily tolerated, and quickly resolved. The healing process is not painful, the pain quickly subsides. Lubricating and antibacterial ointment is very soothing, but some babies are irritable that night.  
All of Ms. Mason's concerns are however appropriate, not for the baby, but for the parents! It can be a very traumatic experience for the parents. That is because our experience of pain takes place in the brain. We all know that some people are very sensitive to pain while others have a very high pain threshold. The stimulus being presented to the brain is the same; it is how the brain processes that it is different. 

      Infants routinely receive vaccinations at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. While exactly the same shot is given at 18 months and 5 years, the older children are more traumatized than the infants. That is because the older child knows what a shot is, and anticipates it with fear. The experience of fear is worse than the shot itself. Try explaining that to a child!

      An infant has no concept of self. If he touches his arm or his leg, he feels sensation but doesn't know that it is a part of him yet. The penis is not a sensitive and important part of a newborn infant. It is for older children, and it is especially important to parents. Adults, especially new parents, have a tremendous number of associations with the penis. 

These associations run through a parent's mind, both conscious and unconscious, the day before and especially the hour before the bris. They imaginewhat circumcision would be like, but cannot imagine it without their adult associations. They then project that onto the infant as if he was experiencing it the way they would, which of course is not the case. All of this does not apply to the infant who does not have a concept of self, nor knowledge of what is about to happen. Hence, no fear or trauma, and little pain.  

      This results in a complex state of mind very far from the usual equilibrium state that we normally walk around in and do business with. This complex emotional state of being is central to the parent's experience of brit milah. It is what allows a bris to become such a powerful emotional and religious experience. 

      The word bris means covenant. The covenant we Jews have with G-d is central to Judaism. Concepts such as tikum hanefesh (repair of the soul), tikun olam (repair of the world), and the link from one generation to the next can become tangible to the mind.  

For many people a bris can become a mystical experience. The responsibility for caring for a new life, the education and training of a moral being, the responsibility for transmitting Judaism to the next generation all becomes focused. 

      I have been very impressed with the use of wine as an anesthetic at a bris. Very often the baby falls asleep while he is held for the naming ceremony. It usually takes mom and dad a little bit longer to recover!