Cutting Nails

have any sandals? you can reach the toes without tickling him too much. Also, give him something to hold onto (or let someone feed him while you clip away).

my mom taught me to use an emery board. thier nails are very soft and will file right down with just a couple of swipes. just start from top of nail and put emery on edge of nail and run board toward finger tip. worked wonderful for me, never cut a finger or cut to short. It worked on my grandchildren too. :)

Offer him something in return.....reading a book, sitting watching tv with him - or maybe a glass of chocolate milk. Usually works for mine. Also, I use a cuticle cutter for them - I find the nail clippers do more harm than good. I cut my oldest once when she was only a couple of weeks old and I never used a nail clipper again. Safety plus - no less. Anyway - good luck

I found the easiest way to cut my child's nails (now 16 months) was to cut my in front of her. Then she wanted me to cut hers. She is all about doing what I am. I hope this is helpful.

N.,

THis is a question that I've had since my son, now 17 mos., was born! I know how you feel! I trim Duncan's nails at naptime when it's light in his room. I usually give him a bottle and rock him to sleep so he is already in my lap.

I will be looking forward to seeing what the other mamas have to say and trying some if their ideas.

S.

I bought 2 pairs of the infant nail clippers. One for my son to hold and check out while I used the other to cut his nails. When he would get curious as to what I was doing with my pair we would trade! :) He's now two and has no problems when I break out "our" clippers.

Make it a game. I always give my a daughter a "turn" and then she gives the clippers back to me and says "mama's turn" and hold her fingers out for me. We switch it up and I let her make believe she is cutting her nails, my nails and her Curous George's nails, and then we make believe C.G. is cutting his own nails, then hers and then mine...She loves it and it works. Just try to make it fun.

(P.S. You wouldn't happen to be N. that went to Ketcham H.S. would you? How many N.'s could there possibly in the area??)

I, like Sarah, always bit my babies' fingernails. I actually was advised to because it is hard to tell with metal clippers just how short you could get without hurting them.
My kids always thought it was a game to stick their fingers in my mouth! :)

My daughter is 10 months old and my husband and I do it together on Sunday nights after her bath. She's nice and relaxed and he holds her on his lap and they watch TV. I can usually get through all 10 fingers without too much squirming or wiggling and I like that it's one more way my husband can be involved in taking care of her.

The girl at daycare does it for us! Ask, can't hurt.

My children were resistant to nail cutting when they were sons age. I used the baby nail clippers and told them "first cut nail then you can earn a M&M" The first couple of times I would stuggle to get just one nail cut. When I was able to cut the nail I made a huge deal of it~ loads of praise and an M&M (or a small reward that suits you and your family). After a few sessions of that I would do one hand and they earned 1 M&M. Now they ask to get their nails clipped (toe nails can be a little more challenging)and they earn 2 M& M's for the entire event. Good Luck!! :)

************************
Visit www.carmeleon.org today!

You can try the next ... at least it helped me (and still working) with my daughter who is 17 months now. The main clue is distraction. I put her in my lap in front of TV and while she's distracted by watching it, I clip her nails. But still, you have to do it fast, because the attention spam (esp. for watching TV) is very short at this age. When this doesn't help, I do it when she has her bottle (but maybe at 9 months your kid won't be able to hold the bottle with one hand, so maybe it'll help you soon, when the TV tactics won't work any more)... (Looking forward to reading the other advices as I don't know what I'll be doing after TV and milk bottle tactic don't work). Good luck!

For toenails, it's so easy to cut them while he's sitting in his high chair... can't grab what you can't reach! For fingernails, I agree with the previous advice - try to distract as much as possible. My daughter didn't get the "taking turns" thing until around 14 or so months, but now it works like a dream. Before, I used to just put in a Baby Einstein and could do it. Also, don't worry if you can't do the entire hand in one sitting, just do a few at a time. And, try not to squeeze each individual finger too hard - I didn't even notice but since I was so deseperate to keep that finger still to avoid cutting her, the squeezing was what was making her uncomfortable - not the actual clipping. Good luck!

i actually do it during bath time. Her nails are wet and they are soft from the water. I start by playing with an object get her really into and i grab a hand playfully and get the nails cut. She has done very well with this.

Hi! I keep the nail clipper next to where I give my daughter her bottle. I try to cut one or two nails each time I feed her. While I am waiting for her to burp (she takes many rests during a bottle), I just hold one hand and usually can get one or two nails clipped. I don't usually get a whole hand done, but I figure this way they are constantly being trimmed (over the course of a couple of days) and she is less resistant since it only takes a few seconds. HTH

I know some might not agree but my daughter was in daycare at the same age and the girls who worked in the infant room cut her nails for me a couple of times. The girls used to hold the babies alot and would clip some nails after fell asleep.

You should use a nail file while they are watching tv.

N.,

I found that making a game out of it worked the best when my son would throw fits. The other suggestion is to wait while he is taking a nap. This would probably be better for you so that you didn't have to use a flashlight.

Good luck.

S. D.

I used to pop in a well liked DVD or music CD, and trim away. My son was also not happy with the clipping process, but I kept at it and eventually he started to just sit and wait for it to finish.

If he's only 9 months old I would just continue to do what you're doing if it scares him (try turning on the light though, you might find the light won't bother him)...however, as he gets older, you could try making it fun. I used to call it "click - click" for my girls and I would say "CLICK!" as I cut their nails and they would laugh. And I would only do a few nails at a session.

I actually bite my daughter's nails instead of cutting them. She thinks its funny now, so she lets me do it. Good luck