Why must it be SO hard to cut my baby's fingernails? Sweet Pea's nails seem impossible to keep short. They grow so fast, they are so sharp, and yet they are soft and difficult to distinguish from skin between the clipper ends.
Some tips I have heard are to just bite them off, or to wait until she is sleeping and cut them then. I have tried the biting them off, but Sweet Pea doesn't have any more patience for that than she does the clippers, and it takes longer to chew through the nails than to cut them, so that doesn't help much. I can only get one or two nails done before she completely loses it because she hates to not have control of her hands. Doing it while she is sleeping has not worked for me yet because during the day I am often holding her while she sleeps, making it difficult to get a good grip, or a good angle, let alone going to find the clippers while I'm trying to keep her asleep. Doing it at night is out of the question because there is no way I'm taking a chance of possibly waking her up when it takes so much work to get her to sleep in the first place. We have had some nights of Sleeping Through The Night (STTN) lately, and I really don't want to mess with her once she's fallen asleep. I've also tried giving her a toy for her other hand but she really wants to use both hands at once so I have to grip her hand super tight to even get the clippers to the nail tips. We have two sets of baby sized nail clippers, and one of them even has a little flip-up magnifying glass, but it doesn't seem to help much either.
Does anyone know of any other ideas for making this easier? Right now, I just buckle down and tough it out through her hand-waving and yelling at me while I inwardly cringe at the possibility of cutting her finger (I've done that twice), once or twice a week. Sometimes I go longer between clippings, and then she ends up scratching herself and often me as well, before I get enough determination. It seems like there has got to be an easier way! Do other moms have such a hard time with this? Average did it once, a long time ago, and he cut her and she cried and he was devastated and says he'll never do it again now.
LOL! I feel your pain! I, too have cute my Ethan's finger while cutting his nails. He didn't even cry but I did! I felt bad for the rest of the day. It even bleed. Ethan is happest in the morning so I get him well feed and take him where there is lots of light and maybe a fan to look at (he loves fans). I put him on the floor then I just do as many as I can. If I don't get them all I try again the next day. His grow really fast too. I think the key is to make sure they are really happy before you start!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, Melissa! Thanks for sharing! It's nice to hear that we're not alone in finding this a challenge.
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