Baby figernails = the bane of my existence

[P.J.]

Okay, that's an exaggeration. But I have to say that cutting DS's nails has become one of those chores of motherhood I cannot stand.

It used to be so easy, I just did it while he was nursing, snip snip snip done! But starting around 5 months, he was not having that anymore.

In general he's a real squirmy nursling, and won't even let me hold his hand -he yanks it right away if I try to. So I try to cut his nails when he's asleep, but much of the time he either wakes up or yanks his hand away as if I've cut him ~which I know I haven't.

I suppose I should wait until he's deeper asleep, but he only ever naps for 30 minutes at a time, so that would be tricky.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to make nail-cutting a more pleasant, or at least bearable, chore? BTW I have always used baby nail scissors. I tried using a file once, which seemingly worked great, I was like: I'm throwing away the scissors!...until the next day when I realized the nails grow out very quickly and were already sharp like little claws. If I wanted to file them I'd have to do it like every other day.

So, anyone else have a squirmy baby and a hard time with nail cutting, and how do you deal with that? TIA!

[McGucks]

We can really only trim our 10 m.o.'s while we are on the porch swing and he is distracted...otherwise, it is a wrestling match.  But if I don't do it, he scratches himself and me!!!  Good luck!

[SeattleRain]

I bite Daniels nails. Yep, I bite them. He thinks its a game where I suck on his fingers and giggles the whole time.

[kl5]

I have found that using adult clippers is much easier than the baby clippers. I do it when he is on the changing table, mezmerized by the stuffed animal hanging above him (holly the hula monkey!). Three snips per finger (edge, edge, middle) and it goes really fast. I haven't tried the scissors, but I stopped using the infant clippers when I got the tip of his finger twice because it's so hard to see and position it properly working with such a small cutting surface.

[Ninetales]

I have to get her distracted by something else.  Looking out the window, or the screensaver on my computer (all pictures of her).  I use the baby nail clippers but turn them upside down.  I find I can get a closer cut and don't get her skin that way.

[Terrilein]

I only ever do it when he's sleeping, but I REALLY like the biting rec.

[Knitting Mama]

I tried biting but I can never get them clean enough. So I swaddle her in a SwaddleMe, but with her hands out the bottom, and I clip them. Generally, since she is used to sleeping in the swaddle, just swaddling her gets her calm enough to let me clip.

[JuliMummy]

We do the " This little piggy went to market..." nursery rhyme while we cut fingernails, which works great for my older son, but not so great yet for my daughter. So it might not work for your little one yet, but then again, it might...

I hope you don't mind me commenting on this, but fingernails don't grow any faster if you file them rather than cut them, just like hair doesn't thicken up when you cut it - those are old wives' tales. Maybe you didn't file them down as much as you would cut them? If filing works for you, I would stick with that. Hope you find something that works for you...

[Bebe's Mom]

P.J. I just had to say, your baby is adorable!!!!

Dada cuts bebe's nails. I used to do it when she was sleeping, but that only worked until she was about ten months, then she started waking up.

[Knitting Mama]

One of my friends swears by little nail scissors rather than clippers, so that's something to maybe try too.

[chattyprincess]

I sliced dd1's finger while attempting to cut it when she was a mere few days old. I was scarred for life and now I just nibble my babies nails! Seriously, my grandmother gave me this tip. I just do it as I nurse. lol

[Beltane]

I also bite dd's nails when I nurse her - the recommendation came from my mother who worked in a birthing center.  I'm pretty lucky because I got DH to bite her nails when I change her.  :)

[sapphire_chan]

I clipped dd's fingernails right after she'd nursed to sleep but was still latched on.

I tried biting her nails once and had to immediately try to cut what was left (and had to trim again as soon as the nails grew out at all) because the horrible raggedy edges and corners were more painful than her long baby razor nails had been.

I can only clip her nails with the First Years clippers we have. http://www.amazon.com/First-Years-American-Clipper-Magnifier/dp/B000V88HJM (the magnifying glass was worse than useless, but breaks off easily) All other clippers seem to just be too dull.

I also, even now, can only cut from the same angles I cut my own nails. The one time I cut a baby finger (isn't that horribly scary?) I was trying to cut them with her fingers pointed at me instead of having her hand angled around to be where I put my own hand.

(Off topic: another great use for those tiny baby fingernail clippers is clipping hangnails on adults.)

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by JuliMummy 

We do the " This little piggy went to market..." nursery rhyme while we cut fingernails, which works great for my older son, but not so great yet for my daughter. So it might not work for your little one yet, but then again, it might...

I hope you don't mind me commenting on this, but fingernails don't grow any faster if you file them rather than cut them, just like hair doesn't thicken up when you cut it - those are old wives' tales. Maybe you didn't file them down as much as you would cut them? If filing works for you, I would stick with that. Hope you find something that works for you...

Well, it wasn't that they grew faster, but that somehow the edges were pointier. I think filing them down gives them a sharper edge when they grow out, which in this case was literally the next day. They had't fully grown out, just enough to feel those Freddy Kruger edges!

[JuliMummy]

Alright, I see. That makes sense.

I had to think of you this morning when I cut my daughter's fingernails. She did really well for once, holding still the whole time  :)

[osker]

We do "where is thumbkin" naming each finger as we go.. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...  I once clipped 100 nails in a day (four kids and myself, toes and fingers)! That was craziness!