Hello. My 6 year old son has a terrible fear of getting his toenails cut. Every time we have to do it, this is a HUGE battle with lots of crying and screaming. He says he is afraid we are going to cut his toe off and he will die. He says it tickles. He yells we are hurting him even when we have not done any clipping yet! He jerks his feet and screams and hides from us. No matter how reassuring and calm we try to be, we cannot get logic through to him on this! Does anyone else have a child with this fear and do you have any helpful suggestions on how to make toenail cutting less of an ordeal? Thanks!
With my two year old, I always try to give him TWO choices. So with nail clipping, I ask him "Do you want MOM to do it, or do you want DAD to do it?" He knows that "Me do it" is not an option. And to not do it at all is not an option either.
But at age 6, can he not do it himself?
Foot massage. I started giving my son massages using what I have learned in massage classes. I would just hold them at first, then I would do more with them, until I could twist the toes, and work between them. I would NOT clip his toes any time near the massage.
My son has sensory processing issues and his OT says this is very common problem. Try to be aware if other sensations bother him...or if he does things to stimulate self, like lie on stomach alot, or not know when to stop eating, dislikes hats or socks, etc.
My oldest son (now 15) used to hate it. He would scream and cry. One day I decided to give his dad a pedicure. He just watched. Then the next time he wanted one too. After a while he wanted to go first. Then he would let me know it was time for a touch up. So about every 2-3 weeks my husband, and two son's (15 and 12) get pedicures. My daughter and I get to go get ours done. The next step it to show dad and kids that having someone other than mom do it can be fun too.
do it while hes sleeping
My 6 year old has the same issue only his is more about his finger nails. Lots of crying and screaming about how they're going to be too short and it's going to hurt, etc. My solution is to cut them at night when he's sleeping. He's never waken up during and it's ended a lot of drama at our house. Good luck :-)
Our oldest was like this until VERY recently. He just turned 6.
He's dramatic about other things now. I found that bribery, uh I mean "positive behavior modification rewards" were the only thing that worked.
Probably not the best lesson, but heck, I think when they act like this they really ARE afraid...unless they always get a prize for drama...but then...
Ah, it gets tough sometimes, huh? Good luck!
Maybe teach him to file instead?
can you cut them while he is asleep?
My 5 1/2 y/o has for the last 3 year. It's getting better. I usually let him tell me which ones need trimming (even though ALL of them do). Then the next night we go through the same thing, trimming a couple of more. I do distract him with TV. I do it right after bath time, so the nails are soft and it doesn't make that much of a cliipping sound. Hope that helps.
Well, this I what I did. My son had to come with me for a podiatrist appointment and I asked the dr. right in front of him if it was iportant to keep toenails clipped and the doctor played right along and said--Oh yes! Let your mom trim them straight across. This is the meanpart: I told my son that either he lets me do it with the clippers or I would take him to Dr. F. who would use a BIG LONG blade! Mean? yes. A lie? You bet. Did it work? Oh yeah.
Just file them down - he can probably do it himself even and you can purchase cute little nail files with fun pictures on them. Good luck!
my 2 yr old was like this awhile back. we bribed her with cookies. she now doesn't mind getting them cut.
get a manicure set - the type with the motorized grinder, and then there is no blade for him to worry about
