4 1/2 Year Old Son Who REFUSES Toe Nails to Be Clipped!!

Sounds like he thinks you are cutting part of himself off. Maybe you could play a game with the cut toenails or let him keep them. Sounds crazy I know but he's only 4 1/2 so maybe he'll go for it. lol

Hi M., Well I have 4 children and my last is the hardest for toenails, each of them have had their own stages. I will tell you this my 3 yr. old is going through this right now. It turned out that I would try but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. Now I tend to be a more anxious person, so maybe he sensed it and I found out that my hubby was doing it in the shower, we co-shower to save on water and I finally figured it out he wanted him to do it in the shower or out, I left it be instead of trying to be overbearing, which I tend to do a little. The answer was let dad do it, or maybe some other family member see if it works. Good Luck

my daughter did the same thing she always said it will hurt. have you tried to let him see you or daddy clip your toes? when my daughter seen me do my toes and seen that it didnt hurt mommy she came around and now lets me and mammaw do her toes.
C.

M., i had a little problem with that. what i did was let him think that he was doing the clipping and i did it. i let him try and then i said here like this and we finally got threw it but he thinks that he is the one cutting them.

M.,
Maybe you can do it during bath time. That way the nails are much softer. Had you asked if it hurts? Maybe that's the reason he'd rather not have it done. Possibly a T. in the tub to occupy him while it's being done. Hope this helps
La Toya

My daughter used to be that way, but she just grew out of it. So I really don't have any advice except that u might give him a special treat afterwards, like getting to watcch a movie before bed or something that he normally gets. But I understand the issue, my 9 mth old won't let me clip his whether he's asleep or not. Just be patient with him and good luck.

Sounds like my nephew.... he's 8 and hates having it done. My sister did the same thing you did... did it in his sleep. Everyone tells new moms to do it "because it's easy". However, then they don't get used to it and suddenly one day they hate it! I did the opposite... even as newborns, my husband and I always did the nails while awake. Usually this meant 1 or 2 fingers/toes per diaper change and it was a constant thing.... by the time we finished it would be 5-7 days later and they'd be ready to trim again. When my son was 2, he didn't want us to do it anymore... he insisted on doing it himself. We showed him how a few times and let him try. He's great at it. It's pretty much impossible for kids to hurt themselves with those tiny baby nailclippers. He has clipped his skin once or twice, but never drew blood. He learned to be careful. Now he's 4.5 and I never clip his finger or toenails... when they get long, I just tell him it needs to be done and he'll go do it. Actually, I rarely have to tell him... he notices when they are getting long and goes to get the clippers himself.

I guess my advice is try to let him do it himself... most 4 year olds want to be as independent as possible and this definately something they can do. He's also old enough to be enticed... (bribery is getting something for stopping something, an incentive is getting something for doing something... like a reward). Tell him to sit quietly and let you do it and he'll get a treat like a small piece of chocolate, extra 30 minutes of TV or video game time that day, or other special thing afterwards.