Fingernails Still Sharp After Clipping

Updated on May 02, 2011
N.M. asks from Bell, CA
9 answers

My 3 month old has issues with scratching herself. I clip her fingernails as short as I possibly can but she can still give herself a doozy of a scratch. We have used the baby gloves, but unless I tape them on she is able to pull them off.

Any suggestions on resolving this issue? I file the nails too, but they are so thin that even with filed edges they are sharp enough to leave marks. Are there other gloves I can get that don't come off easily? The ones with elastic bands just aren't feasible for my scratching Houdini . I would continue using the footsie pajamas with the fold over gloves but it's getting too hot for those.

Thanks!!

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K.P.

answers from Seattle on

I used to bite my son's fingernails when he was that age. It seemed to work better and easier then trying to clip. It also for some reason makes the nails not as sharp as they are when I clipped them. I also heard that if you get the nails wet before clipping them, it will be less sharp too.

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

B.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

It sounds odd, but when my little one was that young and scratched himself all over even after I clipped his nails, I bit them off! Again, it sounds weird but it worked!

1 mom found this helpful

N.B.

answers from Minneapolis on

My daughter was horrible and even scratched her eye so she now has a permanent deep red mark way to the side in one eye (like a wider broken blood vessel)....she needs to look WAY to one side to see it now at age 16.

I had to modify the traditional mittens I could find in the stores. I tried socks, with the more snug ankle bands on them..but then her little fingers were squished together too much. So I cut the ankle part off a few pairs of socks and sewed them to the wide mittens )with just a strip of elastic to hold them on). It worked great for us and she had to wear them for a long long time to keep her face safe. She just was a scratcher.

Good luck!

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Put a little vaselins where she is scratching herself, and her nails will slip right off instead of breaking the skin. J.

M.M.

answers from Chicago on

Get a thin file (a fine one, or a buffing cube), and that should do the trick.

Otherwise, forget about it. Once she's mobile, there's 1000 more ways she's going to hurt herself than a few scratches from fingernails!

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

use a buffer and buff the nails....

cutting them too short can actually do more damage to her growing nails....

the buffer works great!!!

Updated

use a buffer and buff the nails....

cutting them too short can actually do more damage to her growing nails....

the buffer works great!!!

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L.A.

answers from New York on

At least you can take comfort in the fact that they seem to heal incredibly quickly. Maybe you can try some vaseline, or if you are on the natural end, lotion to make them soft after clipping and filing.

B.K.

answers from San Francisco on

Agree with Beth below!

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Apply cuticle oil (I use sally hansen) to the whole nail bed and the surrounding skin daily/nightly ... really helped sofen the skin and nail causing less scratches.

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