Baby Fingernails - Nutley,NJ

Hi Sam-

To be honest...when my kiddos were that young...I bit their nails FOR them!

then...at about 6 months or so, I worked up the nerve to trim them with little 'round' tipped scissors.

Best Luck!
michele/cat

baby scissors and mittens. I once used the clippers and cut my daughter's fingertip. Talk about a guilt trip! Bad mommy. It would not stop bleeding. I switched to scissors. And it is easier to do it when the baby is sleeping. Even if you can only cut a few fingers at a time. My son has really bad eczema and when he was newborn, it was horrible. We used mittens and then socks. He would still try to scratch but it was not nearly as bad. And it can be difficult ot file a baby's nails if they cannot hold still long enough. It does take a while per nail.

I used the baby nail clippers because they fit the size of her nail better and did them while she was alseep - no squirming. THe file took too long, although I would file and small spots that looked sharp. And she never kept the mittens on... maybe we would get 5 minutes...

Out of curiosity - why are they saying not to clip?

ETA: Baby Center has a nice article on new baby care: http://www.babycenter.com/0_newborn-body-care_###-###-###...

no nailclipper for awhile - the finger"nails" aren't really nails yet and cutting them will make them bleed. Not life threatening, but you just don't want to do that.

File or leave them be.

This is from two kids, one 17mo and one 3 weeks and comes per our ped.

When mine were little bitty I bit them off. Once they got older my mom would sometimes clip them but I didn't cause they squirmed too much and the one time I did clip my oldests i hurt him. So I went back to biting.

Never used the mittens, they wouldn't stay on and I gave up after the first 3 times. I just used baby clippers and was careful. It is easier when they are new born because they can't really squirm away from you. Just make sure either you or someone else holds her firmly and clip away just go slow until you get better at it.

My husband always thought I was a magician at how easily I could do it, but it really just takes a few times until you get the hang of it.

My pediatrician said NOT to use mittens...babies need to explore with their hands. We clipped our kids' nails while they slept.

I had the baby nail clippers but they aren't joking when they say be very careful. Even keeping them trimmed they still managed to claw themselves. Mittens looked so cute and pissed everyone of my kids off!!! They would scream until I took them off.

I always used clippers on my DD... as did my parents on myself and my siblings... (all 13 of them...) as did all of my cousins and practically everyone I know with kids... None of us have ever had any issues from it! My DD had really crazy nails, and I had to trim them at least once a week... usually twice.

The only person I knew who didn't use clippers, and filed her baby's nails, was because her kid was so squirmy that she couldn't get him to hold still long enough to clip.. so she filed instead to reduce the risk of getting his skin on accident.

We bit them off when ours were teeny tiny (per pediatrician, the safest method when they are tiny), and then after a few months I used baby clippers. I actually love baby clippers, and I use them myself now!
No way this kid would keep gloves on.

I filed.
With a regular adult file that was course, so a swipe or two got the job done.
(baby files are very fine, and mine would never sit still while I sawed away...)

My daughter's nails grew like crazy.

She refused to keep mittens. She learnt to undo and throw away her mittens within 3 weeks after birth. Yes. Really.

I simply used nail clippers - no special baby ones. Just used mine, and I make sure it is washed with soap and water and dried promptly, after every use. When she was a baby, I didn't have trouble holding her and doing it gently. When she grew a little older and mobile (between 11 months and 18 months), she'd squirm and make a fuss. During that time, I did try a nail file, but didn't meet with much success.
From 18 months onward, I'd take her to the bathroom, stand her in the tub, and clip my own finger nails. I'd name each finger, and show her how I clip. Then I'd ask her to show her hand. She understood the game.
Now, every 3 days, I simply announce nails time, and she'd come running to the bathroom, get into the tub and wait, holding her hands out, all ready! :)

I filed with my first because I was so paranoid about cutting him. I was more confident with my second and just used the clippers.

Clip her nails when she's sleeping. Don't bother with the file or mittens. Never, ever bite them off. Ever. It's the worst thing you could do.

I started clipping immediately. I was just careful and never had any problems. Filing seems impossible with those soft fingernails.

Baby clippers while I nursed - I used a boppy pillow so it was amazing what I could multitask! I suppose it was about the same as doing it while they slept.

Baby nail clippers are what we used. My grandmother used baby scissors on them.