Fear of nail clipping - help on how to overcome this please!

[Biccy]

My 22 month dd has developed an aversion to having her toe and finger nails trimmed - toe nails a problem because some of them grow downwards, into the toe; fingers a problem as she is scratching those of us around us. She will not stay still if we try and do them, risking hurting her, resulting in giving up. Might try when she's asleep, but am rather worried she'll wake up and this will make it even worse. Anyone had a similar experience and have any ideas on how to overcome the problem?

[dylsmum1998]

do you have an aunty or someone who could od it for you? i only ask as my nephew used to do this for his mum, yet when i had him come and stay with me, he'd happily let me sit and do it. after a couple of months of getting me to do it he slowly learnt to let his mum do it, i havent had to do it for about 2 years now

[cheesesarnie]

we used to have to paint dd and ds1 nails if we wanted tocut them.they liked nail varnish so we said trim first then varnish.was great until ds nursery teacher told us we were probably harming him after he wore pink toenail varnish in!

[dylsmum1998]

you just reminded me that my nephew used to wear nail varnish to, part of trusting his mum to come close enough to his nails they do grow out of it lol he's 5 on tuesday and will not let her near him now with nail varnish- especially pink!

[Biccy]

My mum's coming to stay tomorrow, so I'll see if she has any luck - good idea thank you. Might try the nail varnish trick too.

[Biccy]

Might also ask my childminder.

[cheesesarnie]

i think my ds1 was about 5ish too when he stopped wanting it.first he started asking for clear then none.

[Sidge]

We do them in the bath, they are softer that way.

Otherwise you could nibble them instead of using scissors.

[dylsmum1998]

eww yuck i cant bite my nails, or anyone elses since i was told there are as many germs under finger nails than licking the inside of a toilet bowl

[Meandmyjoe]

Do it in her sleep for a nap ~(if she still naps in the day). Might be a bit to hard to get her settled for the night if she does wake up from her night sleep. My ds is only 7 months old but is so fidgety I daren't go anywhere near him with scissors whilst he's awake- I'd probably take his eye out or something!!! Give it a go. If not, perhaps you could try like other people say, the nail varnish thing and try turning it into a game of nail salons or something like that!

[bobsi]

I always cut nails when dd favourite tv programme on - she'll let me do anything then - worth a try

[woppla]

I'm also having major issues. Have tried brute force, cutting them when he's asleep, distracted by a programme, getting Grandma to do it, bribing with chocolate..nothing has worked.
Quite like the idea of varnish...might give that a try.
otherwise, any more tips?

[Elibean]

Varnish here for dd1 (4) for the last year or two, though she's never been too bad with fingernails.

Toe nails really hurt if I use scissors on them (they curve in) so I use clippers, and she's ok with that. I also tended to say 'lets just do one today' when she was most freaked out about it - and she could handle one or two. Especially in front of CBeebies.

[Elibean]

Actually, when I say 'varnish', a year ago I used to go the whole hog and play manicure/beauty salon with dd - she's big on imaginative play, so it worked v well.

[Tutter]

i used plain old-fashioned bribery

1 smartie per finger/toe

we moved on to one smartie per hand/foot (he didn't seem to notice)

and now no bribes needed at all

[snowleopard]

I persuaded DS to let me do it by bribing him with stickers at about that age. If she's really scared, it could be a sticker per nail, for her to stick on her top or on a piece of paper to make a pic. Eventually she'll work out that it doesn't hurt - interestingly my DS now happily submits to it and isn't bothered about a reward (at 2.9)

Also DS loves to have the clippers and pretend to do my nails and those of his teddies etc. If you're confident she won't actually be able to operate them, and you help her hold them, try letting her have a go.

[scanner]

I have a fear of nail clipping - seriously. If dh is clipping his nails in our bedroom, three floors above me I can hear it! For some reason it's the most repellant thing in the world to me, I know it's not logical, but... it's me.

So, how do I do my dc's nails? baby nail scissors and cut them, not clip them. A lot easier for the child too, you can do it while cuddling them on your lap and the baby scissors have rounded ends, so they won't get hurt.

Maybe your baby is like me - a nail clipper phobia.

[Iklboo]

Chocolate bribery

[ThingOne]

We tried the vast majority of the things suggested above with my DS1 (now 4) and nothing really worked. Fortunately his little brother took to it so he ended up copying him. We're not out of the woods yet but he does now mostly accept it.

Once things calmed down a bit we cut to a schedule and they had a little trim once a week so knew to expect it..

[poodlepusher]

I sometimes have a bit of a trial with my 18 mth old on this. Things that work are timing it when:

1. he's well fed and mesmerised by something on TV

1. he has just witnessed the nails being cut on someone else, i.e. me or his little sister

1. Just managing to get one or two nails on one hand at a time and promising to do the rest later - and having another try, later.

[ruddynorah]

i had this with dd. just held her down and did it. slowly but surely she's fine with it now. she actually asks for it to be done when they get too long. same with hairwashing, used to hate it, now loves it to bits. riding it out i guess.

[sunandmoon]

Our DD (2.5) is extremely ticklish and we can't touch her feet so meaning we can't approach her toes... so i always wait for her to be fast asleep during her nap to cut her toe nails and usually I do the finger nails when she is asleep too.... we also asked friends and family to give it a try, but she just laugh now at the idea of someone touching her feet!!!!

[mammabelleboo]

Have been through this with my dd who is 2.5. She is fine with fingernails, but toenails were a big no-no!

We tell her that if she lets us cut her toenails, then the 'toenail fairy' will come and hide a small gift somewhere in the house for her to find - as we don't have to cut them too often, I feel a small gift up to about a fiver every now and again is worth it!!

She's still not too keen, but I think the more we do it, the more she'll get used to it - the promise of a visit from the imaginary fairy with a gift is too much for her to resist, and she does co-operate!