Tiny Fingernails – How to Safely Make the First Trim

You baby is here. You have hugged him, cuddled him, and avoided one of the scariest tasks for new parents – cutting his fingernails. No one wants to hurt their baby and it is important to get that first trim in before baby starts to scratch. Everyone has seen a darling little bundle of joy with scratches all over their face. Those scratches occur because their nails have not been trimmed. As soon as a baby can get their fingers free of their clothing and blankets, they instinctively put their hands by their faces.

To keep those scratching motions from marking the baby’s delicate face, parents and care givers a like need to make sure that their fingernails are trimmed and kept short. Some young mothers might think that having a daughter with long fingernails is an ideal, but it is dangerous and can cause scarring if the baby starts scratching the face.

Once parents get over the initial fear that they might harm their baby by cutting their nails, the actual task is quite simple. For the newborn, the nails are usually very delicate and can simply be filed using a baby-safe emery board. If that terrifies you, feel free to jump right to a pair of clippers.

Make sure you have a baby fingernail clipper, don’t try to cut baby’s delicate fingernails with an adult clipper. One way to make the fingernail cutting experience easier is to relax your baby in the bathtub to soften up the infant’s nails and make them easier to cut.

If your baby is just too active to allow you to cut their fingernails, wait for him/her to fall asleep. Since this is a completely painless activity, it is easy to do without disturbing a sleeping child and might actually be the easiest way for a parent to complete the task.

Whether awake or asleep, place the baby in your lap in a well-lit room. Gently press on the finger, right behind the finger tip to expose the nail. Then, simply cut the exposed nail. Don’t trim too much, just trim the white part of the nail that extends past the finger. Make sure you file down any sharp edges that occur as a result of the trimming. A baby’s fingernails should be trimmed every four to five days, so you will get plenty of practice. Toenails grow at a slower pace, but will also need to be trimmed.

If you do accidentally miss the nail and cut your baby’s fingertip, it’s not the end of the world. Simply clean the area thoroughly and apply a clean cloth to the area with some pressure to stop the bleeding. A band-aid isn’t a very good idea in this situation because it will most likely end up in your child’s mouth. Just keep pressure on the cut and the bleeding will stop in a short time. As a first time parent, it will seem like an eternity, but rest assured everything will be okay.