Help! Any ideas on how to cut toddlers toe nails? She makes me feel like Jack the Ripper....

[canichangemymind]

Hi MNers

It's always been a job cutting DD toe nails (she is 19 months) and we have recently mastered finger nails so feel we are on the right track.

Right now though the minute I hold her toes she wriggles. She seems to have very sensitive feet so have avoided tickling them for a while now as I dont want her to associate what I'm doing with that. It's no use waiting till she is asleep as the minute you lift her out of her cot she wakes up plus we would have to take her out of her sleeping bag too.

Last night DH and I tried again - I confess to having negelcetd them a bit over the last few weeks as it upsets her so much and I have become a bit wimpy about the whole thing. So of course I am a bit paranoid about ingrown toe nails now too! As normal the wriggling started followied by the crying and then screaming the house down - lord knows what the neighbours thought! In the end we figured that as she was already upset we may as well carry on so DH used vice like grip to hold her foot still while I went it with the scissors (those baby ones are so sharp too so I'm worried that a wriggle at the wrong tme is going to mean a missing toe!). By the end of it she was hysterical and it took us ages to calm her down. Nothing distracts her as the minutes you touch her feet she wriggles! DH and I were exhausted and just felt like crap parents.

Do you think she it could be a phase? Any other suggestions?

Thanks x

[nubbins]

my toddler is the same, it's one of those battles I am willing to have. I just clamp her down and get as many done as I can while I can hold her, I tend to do 2 on one foot and 3 on the other each time! I did the same with my 8yr old, until she got fed up with me doing it and now clips her own nails.

don't feel crap, they have to be done somehow

[canichangemymind]

Thanks Nubbins! I think your right about having the battle...the thought of ingrown nails is more awfull.

Also thought I would try and do it very regularly (every 2/3rd night) even if no cutting is required so she can get used to it.

[FromGirders]

I find clippers are easier than scissors, and my (now older kids) say they hurt less. Also less chance of poking with the pointy bits.

[aristocat]

i used to do DSs toe-nails while he was asleep because he wriggled that much.
always worked well for us

[canichangemymind]

FromGirders/aristocat - thanks!

Now I have managed to get rid of the nail bit that was curling, I will try nail clippers.

The sleep thing hasnt worked but we could ler her doze on DH after her bottle for a bit and try then

[Mummig]

My God-daughter hated having her toenails cut but I found that if I sat on the floor with her next to me and she put her foot over my leg I could cut her nails with very little contact with her foot. We would then swap so she was sitting on other side of me for other foot..We also called it " going to the nip-nip shop " and said nip-nip with every nail. After the bath is good as nails are softer.

[aristocat]

aha...... seen your LO is in a cot, my DS was in his bed so used to fold bed guard down and cut them whilst he was asleep.

this is TMI one of my friends used to bite her boys nails..........bleurgh....

[canichangemymind]

Thanks MNers! Some great ideas here! Mummig - love the idea about the nip nip shop! May try pretending to cut teddy's nails too.

aristocat - yuck biting them off! My MIL smugly suggested this but the icky factor aside, how the hell do you get such a teeny toenail in your mouth in the first place?!

Feel a bit better about the next episode in a few nights and will persevere. Sure the screams will get quieter the more I do it.

Take care all x

[Bugaboom]

Does she ever nap in the car? I find this the easiest place to cut my toddler's nails

[Minionionionion]

We try to do the nails at story time, dd also screams and hates it but we try and negotiate (just turned 3) Daddy reads her favourite story and I start on one foot, if she starts to fight then I suggest that I do her hands instead which means she can't hold her special teddy as I need to cut the nails that normally lets me get one foot done, then we have the same negotiations for the other foot. On a good day it works a bad one (more often) we save the fight for after tea telly time the next day and if she doesn't cooperate no tv.

It's a control thing for Dd though, don't know if that helps or not lol

[LovelyWeatherForDucks]

We make nail clipping a 'family event' haha - me and DH do ours first (with lots of 'nip nip' ing), so by then DS (almost 2) is suitably interested and wants a go! He now even asks for 'more?' after finishing...!

[AndThisIsTrue]

I do DSs while he is asleep, bend over cot, undo sleeping bag and cut! It's not ideal but he doesn't stay still long enough when awake!

[Andcake]

We've used the free Timmy tickle app since he was v small - so he expects it now. We don't have the clippers that go with it but it helps.

[minipie]

Television. DD fights nail clipping too but will let me do just about anything if In the Night Garden is on.

[ByTheWishingWell]

I'm a toenail biter
In my defence, DD is only 13 months old and not walking, so it's not like she's getting sweaty feet in shoes. It's the only way I could manage, she kicks so much that I wouldn't dare have scissors near her toes.

[ScrambledSmegs]

I hate to say it, but we have those Stylfile clippers invented by the apprentice winner, and they're good. DH likes them so much he bought the adult version.

[ScrambledSmegs]

Aargh, damn phone, wasn't ready

Anyway, no matter how hard they wriggle, you can't cut them. Brilliant for toddlers.

[DeWee]

I still do ds (age 7yo) when he's asleep. I get splinters out when they're asleep too.

[MiaSparrow]

DD was the same - used to scream blue murder, but thankfully once she was old enough to want some nail polish on (at about 2.5), then that became the pay-off. She HAD to have her nails cut if she wanted them pink. And so it became (and still is) a full pedi or nothing!