Trimming 7-Month -Old's Fingernails

Hi, at this point I started clipping outside. We'd sit out and clip away while he was visually occupied. My sons usually woke up if I messed with them while sleeping:)

My 7 month old is the same! This is the one time I let him watch a Baby Einstein video that someone gave me. This is the only way I can do it now, unless he's sleeping which works well too!

just wait till she is sleeping!!!
Works for me!!!
Love, G.. :0)
http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

My daughter was the same way. Try having Daddy read her a story while you do it. After about a month I was able to just tell her a story myself as I did it from memory. It distracted her enough that I could get it done.

R. (and all Moms out there) -

Use cuticle clippers instead of nails clippers. So much easier - I can't even tell you (those baby clippers are awful). I highly recommend spending the money on Tweezerman cuticle clippers (you can get them at your local drugstore). They're pricey, but much sharper and have a finer tip than all the others (which makes the job go by so much faster). Just be careful, they're VERY sharp - you don't want to cut her little finger, especially not with these!)

When my daughter was your daughter's age, we clipped her nails while she was asleep only (never when she was awake). Now (at 21 mos.), I just turn the TV on until the job is done. Both ways work like a charm.

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Trim them while she is asleep.

I try to do my son's when we are lying on the change table and he is not hungry and in a good mood. So after his nap, I usually change him and then he has a bottle, then we play for a while, then we eat baby food, and then before he goes down for either nap 1 or 2 I lay him down, change him, sing to him, tickle etc and then I cut his nails. What works really well for me is to hold his hands with his palm facing me. If the nail is above the skin then I know I need to trim. I just hold firmly and do it quick but try to distract him by singing, or if someone else is in the room it helps too. But the way I hold his hands to do it seems to really help. Good luck!

R.,

I use a baby nail trimmer with a magnifyer attached. I clip both my daughter's nails while they are asleep. It is easier as they move less and I am able to position their fingers. By the way, I love your daughters name.
- T.

We also do the sleep thing, but we've found that little cuticle scissors work much better for us than clippers. Easier to control exactly what you're cutting. Good luck!

I used to trim my little guys at nap tim once he was really out. He never knew the difference. Now he sits in my lap. I was trimming mine one day and he was watching and then handed me his hand. I give him a pair of clippers (big ones) to play with while I trim the other hadn and feet. He feels big and I get both feet and hands done in one shot.

Do it when's she's sleeping. Works like a charm.

Thank God for Elmo! This is one of the few times I let my son watch TV. He's so mesmerized that I can trim all of his nails quickly. We tried doing it while he was sleeping, but he would wake up.

i used baby scissors..fast and easy..then use emery board to trim edges. But you can do this only when baby is asleep.

I use to do it when my son was asleep, he hated me doing it when he was awake so I just would wait until he was in a deep sleep and do it and he never woke up to me doing it.

How about using the baby trimmer when the baby is asleep - get the job done without her even knowing about it!

I clipped my babies' nails when they were sleeping. I would make sure they were good and asleep by gently lifting their arm--if it flopped back down, they were deep enough in sleep that the clipper wouldn't disturb them.

My daughter is a heavy sleeper and I just did hers while she was asleep. Hope you figure it out, that is a tough one. It's scary to try clipping when they're moving around. Maybe a reward for each time she lets you do it? Take care, C.

When my kids were babies, I trimmed their fingernails and toenails while they were asleep. I did just a couple of fingers/toes at a time so as not to wake them. I am a life-long fingernail biter, so I would not recommend that you bite you child's nails. If you are regular in trimming one or two, pretty soon they will all be manageable, and then you just maintain without the stess for yourself or your daughter. Good luck and emjoy your beautiful little girl. 3-1/2 to 4 years is such a special age! :o)

Get baby nail files (babies r us has them) and just file them down.

Try doing it when she is asleep. My little boy doesn't usually mind me trimming his nails but sometimes he just isn't in the mood so I wait for him to fall asleep and do it then, he doesn't even know it got done. =)
Good Luck.

Hi R., I use the little safety scissors. They work really good and fast! Look for the yellow and purple butterfly ones. Good luck.

I usually clipped my son's nails when he was asleep. It cut down on the fuss. Hope this helps.

I too initially trimmed our son's nails when he was sleeping. Now at age 18 months, I distract him. He loves looking out his bedroom window. As we look and name objects, I am able to trim one hand then switch to the other. We don't watch too much TV or videos, but for a last resort, this too has worked (even for those challenging times for teethbrushing!). When his eyes are fixated and he is relaxed, the task becomes even easier. Until they fully understand the rhyme and reason of a daily task, they will indeed make a task more challenging. You will find something that works, parenting is oftentimes about trial and error. Good luck!

I always did it when my son was asleep!
: )

I will be the first to say that this is not the best way, but it's the only thing I've found that distracts and keeps my 11 month old still enough to trim the nails. I put something educational on TV only long enough to trim them and then the TV is off again.

It is easier to do it while they are sleeping.

A friend of mine with the same problem would carry the trimmers in her car. When the children would fall asleep in their seat she would then trim their nails.
Maybe that would work for you. Good luck!

Dear R.,
When my daughter was born and they brought her to me so I could unwrap her and count her fingers, etc, I could not believe how long her fingernails and toenails were. I was kind of in shock about it at first. I just wasn't expecting it. I peeled them off.
She hated the clippers, so I used the little manicure scissors when she was asleep. They don't make the snipping noise. She never knew the difference.
When she got a little older, I found some non-toxic "fingernail polish" and told her she couldn't have any until after we trimmed her nails. We pretended we were playing "beauty parlor". She is 22 now and I can't remember the brand or where I got it.....maybe it was a Barbie thing. It just dissolved and went away when I put her in the tub.
With my son, when he was a little older, I told him to close his eyes and make a wish and then I would clip a nail. "How many fingers do you have? You have 9 wishes left!" I told him that he couldn't tell me what he wished. If you can only get a couple at a time, it's better than nothing. He was just a little guy... So then it was my turn to guess what he wished. "Did you wish you could fly in the air like Superman? No? Okay...close your eyes and wish again. Did you wish you could be a turtle? Did you wish your wish your big sister would turn into a monkey?..."
I had to get pretty creative coming up with different things for him to close his eyes and wish for. And he got such a kick out of me not being able to guess. At the end, I always asked him if he wished for something I had....like a frozen juice bar or yogurt...or a dime. Money! A penny a wish!
Sometimes he would tell me what he wished for...just so I would know. 99% of the time it was something completely silly and he would giggle thinking he "joked" me.
Whatever works.
When they get too big to do it while they are sleeping, you have to employ diversive tactics.

Best of wishes!

Have you tried singing while cutting the nails? This helps me some with my 15 month old. I sing to get through much of my day with her including diaper change and cutting nails.

try cutting them when she is asleep it worked for me on my oldest.

I always trimmed my son's finger nails when he was sleeping. Also, if you trim the finger nails after a bath, the nails are softer and easier to cut.

M. *~

can you cut them while she is sleeping? or we cut my son's nails after he was in his car seat...it helped restrain him better

Hi R., I would like to offer two suggestions. Different children tolerate different approaches ofcourse. Two that I used were clippeing right after bath time so it goes quickly and the nails are SOFT. Also, I would wait for two of my babies to go asleep before I clipped their nails. Hope it helps out!Enjoy your baby!

Hi there, Have you tried clipping them while she is sleeping. I did this with my children and it worked very well.
D.

Hello

My son is almost 6 months old and I wait until he is sleeping and it is much easier. Best of luck!

Have you tried sneaking the chore in while she's sleeping? That's been the only way I've ever been able to cut my baby's nails...when she's in a good, deep sleep, I gently hold her hands and slowly trim with nail scissors (they make less noise than clippers). This is getting harder with toes though, as her feet are growing more ticklish...thus, I'd love other ideas, too!

Hi,
When my children were small(I have 5). I would wait until they were sound asleep and very gently clip their nails. I did the same for slivers to. It always worked great for me.
Good luck,hope it works for you.

I have done a lot of nail trimming with a sleeping or nursing toddler. Good luck

Try it while she is sleeping. I make sure she is occupied while I cut my daughters. She is almost 2. I either give her something to play with with her other hand or have the tv on for her to watch.

If it has'nt been suggested yet, trim them while she is sleeping.
Good luck
M.

My husband always trims my daughter's nails while she's nursing, since she's a very light sleeper. I know one frined who lets her daughter watch TV (Animal Planet or Baby Einstein) while she does it (she and I are both believers in no TV until 2, but for this it's worth it!).

I also find manicure/cuticle shears work much better than baby clippers. We can't even use the baby scissors. We use Tweezerman cuticle shears with pointy ends because they are so much thinner and more precise than baby clippers.

Good luck!

You could try clipping them when she's asleep. Never worked for me - I can't see in the dark very well. I just forced my boys to have their fingers and toes clipped. Once a week on Tuesdays after bath I grab them and clip their fingers and toes. Even if they don't need them I go through the motions. I don't with my 5 year old anymore because he will sit still, but with the 17 month old we do. He is getting better. He will put his fingers out and let me do my thing. His toes are ticklish, so we're still working on them! Just keep it consistent like everything else. Good luck.

Try having your husband do it. Sometimes my daughter will fight me to the bitter end over something Daddy can do effortlessly (and vice versa).

I also trim my son's nails when he's asleep. It's so much easier!

Cut them while she's asleep.

Try it while she is napping. Just be sure that she is really out (generally this is the case if a child has been asleep for at least 20 minutes).

Try trimming her nails when she's sleeping. I did that some with my daughter, and it worked pretty well.

Just do it while she's asleep--no fuss, quick and easy.

Wait until she is asleep!

Trim the babies nails while she is sleeping.

I whisper to my daughter when I trim her nails, be kind of slow and mellow (which is the opposite of who I am). I explain to her what each finger is called and make it sound very interesting. Before that I use to say, "wait, wait, wait" in a funny voice and really fast and it would always distract her.

I was scared to trim my daughter's fingernails because I saw how much she moved around, so I started doing it when she was asleep. As she grew, I gradually did a little at a time when she was awake. Such as letting the nail grow just enough so I could clip it easily and only doing one or two. And I did it casually, too, not making it a big deal. From there I would get another finger, then up to one hand. All of this done in stages just so she could get use to it. When I would want to clip the rest, I would do it when she was asleep. And by the time she was use to the clippers, I would sit her in my lap while she watched. I made sure to push the skin behind her nail away, too.

I used to do my boys nails when they fell asleep~ hope this helps.....Good luck!

Do it while she's sleeping. Then... (sounds mean but until they learn that it is something that has to be done, and doesnt hurt them, and that you'll do it quickly, without hurting them, and that it only hurts if they struggle and fight against it...) put your leg over them or have your husband/friend hug her so you can clip her nails quick.

Hair cutting is the same way (without the leg, haha) It is HARD at first, until they learn that oh, it's just their struggling that makes it hard, then they'll learn to sit still. Well, without throwing a fit anyway. (I still cut my 6yo son's hair... he still fidgets)

I always trim my littlest one's nails while he's sleeping, because he fights it so much. I have found it's pretty easy to go in once he's asleep, scoop him out of bed, trim his nails very gently, then lay him back down - the whole process takes about 10 minutes because I pause if he starts to fuss (to keep him from waking) but it's much much easier than trying to do it when he's awake and could get clipped.

Hi R.,

I had the same problem. What I started to do was to trim my son's nails while he is in his car seat right before we are going out. He doesn't seem to mind it as much and having him fastened in his car seat makes a big difference. Good luck!!

Do it real gently when they are sound asleep.

Hi R.,
I used little manicure scissors the ones with a bend on the blades you can get them at a drug store. I did the same thing and chewed them off and peeled my first son's fingernails till he was older then i used the baby clippers. I then used the sicssors for my newborn as their fingers are so tiny and the clippers are too big. I trimmed my older son's toe nails when he was in his high chair eating and when my husband read to him that is when i trimmed his fingernails or i would turn on tv. You can also just use a small nail file as they get older instead of cutting them.

SAHM, 39 to a 2.5yo son and 1 month old son. Love the outdoors. Married to a wonderful man for 4 years who has to travel every week for business. UGH I feel like a single mom.

Hi,

My sister in law had me use her little manicure scissors when my son was little and they work so much easier than nail clippers. I never clipped my sons skin at all with them and they seemed much quicker to trim the nails. That is all I used on my other kids. Good luck!

For now do it in her sleep. As she gets older try doing it while she sits on your lap and watches TV. Late evening when she is a bit tired may work best. My 3 year old son doesn't mind me trimming his nails, but he is usually too busy to sit still for it so we do it when he is in the mood, quietly watching TV.

Try doing it when she is sleeping. That always worked for me.

Lot's of great response. Sleeping is the best, safest and easiest way to do it.

T.