One of the unexpected challenges I had being a first-time mom was, surprisingly, cutting my baby’s nails. I know that it may sound lame but I was at my wits getting myself to swallow my fears and just trim and safely cut baby’s delicate nails.
But how do you safely cut baby’s delicate nails appropriate for their age and the nail’s structure?
There are three types of nail care items that I use to cut and trim baby’s nails.
Newborn nail care
Most of the time, mom’s would opt to cover the baby’s hands with mitten in the first few weeks or months of life. This is to keep baby’s hands warm and also prevent baby from scratching themselves. When baby’s are born, their nails are very soft and are near paper thin. And while newborns don’t actually use their hands or nails for anything, there is still the need to trim those nails short. Newborns tend to move their hands on to their faces and would accidentally scratch themselves. This is mainly the reason, apart from hygiene, that we trim their nails short.
When our baby was still a newborn I was really scared of using the nail cutter or nail clippers. The nail being so closed to the skin made it difficult for me and my confidence. I chanced upon Babymate’s Nail Trimmer (orange one on the photo). This is an electric or battery operated nail trimmer with different grinding heads that is appropriate for baby’s age. I found that this is easy to use and does not hurt the baby one bit.
I make sure to trim Koa’s nail when he is latching or a bit drowsy. I could never trim his nails when he is already asleep for the fear of waking him up. It produces sounds but not too loud to give baby discomfort.
Baby nail care
When the newborn finally grows to be an older baby, you will find the nails will get thicker. I stopped using the Babymate’s Nail Trimmer around 4 months old. Since it already would took time to trim his nails which are already thicker. So I started using a generic nail cutter I bought online and a nail file from Planes and Wagons. I would first cut the excess nails and make sure to smoothen the edges with the nail file. I would let Koa sit on the lap while his Papa sings or while he watches a video of Ms. Rachels Songs For Littles on YouTube. The video is quiet long but I would finish trimming his nails in maybe the 3rd or 4th song number.
Where you can find the baby items we use:
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