Let's talk about: baby fingernails

One of my LEAST favorite parenting duties is trimming a baby's fingernails. After the 1 year mark I don't mind it as much - honestly, I sometimes enjoy clipping my 2 year old's nails so at least for an hour there is not dirt under them - but under a year old and I cannot stand to do it.

When L was probably 4 months old, I went to clip her nails and clipped her skin on accident. It bled a little and I felt terrible but a quick snuggle soothed the pain and she seemed just fine. About 24 hours later I noticed the spot on her finger was a bit swollen and it looked like puss was starting to creep in so I panicked and took her to the Urgent Care center to see what was up.

Turns out, my little clip of her finger had caused it to get infected!!!! So of course, as a new mom, I was filled with guilt as they poked at it to drain the puss and then prescribed an antibiotic. How could I have been so careless? I must not have been paying enough attention when I was clipping her nails. I should have filed them instead - although filing down a weak/flimsy baby fingernail would be SUPER difficult and take forever. I'm a terrible mother.

I didn't have close friends with kids the same age as mine so I honestly believed all of those things written above. So, if you are like me and find yourself one of the first of your friends to have kids, know this: you will probably cut the skin of your baby's finger at some point. But the thing I've learned is we ALL do it. Maybe not every clip will cause an infection, but even if it does, you are not alone.

Also, after you clip your baby's skin and are feeling guilty (you shouldn't feel that way but I know you still will) you will never want to trim your baby's fingernails again. You will eventually get over that but in the meantime, use your own teeth to bite off a crazy long fingernail. You are much less likely to clip the skin and therefore it won't be as stressful.