I’m not exaggerating when I say handling your baby’s nails is the worst. It’s terrifying to do but also painful to avoid. It seems to take about 15 minutes for my baby’s nails to go from freshly filed to talons of death. For several weeks this summer I’ve had a scab on my nose where some little dude took a chunk out. And by “several weeks” I mean it happened several times.
The only safe hands are covered hands. (How was my baby ever this little??)
What’s worse is when he does it to himself. More than once we’ve gone to the crib to find a baby whose attacked himself in the night. Haines gets over these things in a flash but it’s normally the last straw for me. I’ve put it off until all I can think about when I see Haines is his demon claws.
At this point it’s time to use my demon claw survival techniques.
- Keep nail files in every room. I have one on the end table in the living room, one in the bathroom and one in the nursery. There’s also one in his diaper bag. Haines will only tolerate a nail or two being filed at a time but I do that over the course of a day or two I can knock out a lot.
- Attack nails during nap time. When HEB was an itty bitty and he would fall asleep feeding on the Boppy I could easily get a hand done at a time. Now that he’s bigger he falls asleep in his carseat a couple times a week on the way home from daycare. This is the best time to knock out several nails at once.
- Focus on filing, not clipping. Clipping is more likely to wake them up if you’re doing during a nap and also doesn’t get rid of the dagger aspect. Filing gives your face maximum protection.
- If you have a ticklish baby, and I do, toenails are a particular struggle. The moment that clipper or my hands near his tootsies he starts to wiggle and wake up. I’ve found though that if I use a burp cloth to hold onto his foot, I can get some damage done.
- If all else fails just tape socks to his hands. Right? Nope, just me then…
Next step, teaching this bunny to stop biting me with these chompers.
Seeking Misadventure 