Did I do the wrong thing keeping newborn’s hands covered ?

They are really weird

Completely agree.

breastfeeding.support/scratch-mittens-and-breastfeeding/#:~:text=Scratch%20mittens%20are%20designed%20to,of%20touch%20with%20his%20hands.

I've got one of those too OP. You won't win whatever you do, so pay it no mind. FWIW my baby's hands were covered similarly too as baby was a scratcher.

Mine had mitts on for about two months because she had extra fingers (one on each haha) and they weren't properly attached to her hands and she used to get them in her mouth. When the fingers were removed I took them off. She doesn't seem to have suffered in any way!

TBh I think it a bit weird when people cover babies' hands for so long. But it isn't "wrong" and I wouldn't be rude enough to comment on it when I see it. Granny sounds a bit ridiculous.

Incidentally, if anyone is scared to cut a newborn's nails (fair enough) an easier alternative is to nibble them instead.

My mum made a passive aggressive comment to my friend about the socks being too tight on her baby.
Oooh mummy my sockies are making marks on my leggies, something like that.
My friend was a first time mum.

The child is now 23 and my friend still remembers and mentions it occasionally.
These sort of comments stay.

Nothing wrong with it at all OP. I'd be tempted to do the passive aggressive talk-to-the-baby right back at her. 'Oh isn't granny being silly? Mummy just didn't want you to scratch your face off.'

I had to keep DS's hands covered as he had eczema which he scratched, when he was a bit older his favourite toys were jigsaws and Lego so it didn't affect his hands.

Ooh (baby's name) is nanny still going on about your hands how silly of her perhaps she needs a hobby yes she does! keep her busy!

I had the same criticisms off my exes family for not referring to ducks as quack quacks and cows as moo moos etc she decided I was doing dd a disservice by calling them ducks and cows dd was a very precocious speaker and when nanny said things like "look dd quack quacks" she would sigh heavily and say "nanny that's a duck" in the most adult tone ever this was an issue to them but it was their issue not mine

New grandmother here (7months)🙋‍♀️
Your MIL & SIL are batshit!
There's a reason "scratch mits" are available to buy and the handcovering thingys are on baby grows, it's to stop them scratching themselves.
Everyone loves to see babies tiny fingers and toes, they're so cute but babies scratch and I've got the scratches to prove it 😄
Stick up for yourself, they're being passive aggressive to you, set your stall out or it'll get worse.
Next time, do it back to them, talk through the baby "oh baby aren't mil and sil silly, anyone would think I don't know what I'm doing, silly nana and aunty"
Be PA right back at them!

No, you didn't do the wrong thing. I covered my newborn's hands with mittens for exactly the same reason. People have been doing it for decades (I'm surprised your MIL was shocked by it); it doesn't damage them. Your baby will be fine and you're a good mum. Don't let your MIL and SIL's bitchy comments make you doubt yourself.

MIL is a dick.

However, you need to let baby have hands free for periods to explore and use them, it’s part of their sensory experience. The nails don’t get any less sharp!

I used scratch mitts on my DC for the same reasons you did. If your MIL wanted to see her GC fingers surely she could have just taken the mitts off whilst holding them had a coo over their tiny fingers then put the mitts back on.

I think scratch mitts for the first week or so but then I was starting to cut nails. I did read they need their hands out by 4 weeks + as they need their hands to explore as part of their development.

One of mine had terrible baby eczema so he had mitts for much longer, and I did worry slightly whether it was bad for him to not be able to develop fine motor skills. But the alternative was a bloody sore baby if I turned my head for a second. That's why the integrated mitts are there! Argh. Poor you - they sound batshit and horrible.

There was something in the bumpf I was given at antenatal class about not covering their hands. Can't remember why now, something about it being better for them to get the sensory input from the hands being uncovered maybe?

Not actually a big deal in any way though. And agree with others, I doubt they're actually aware of that advice and more likely were just looking for any reason to get at you. Take no notice (like seriously, zero) and maybe be a bit wary.

Reasons such as?

I'm expecting my first baby soon and have only bought sleepsuits with integrated scratch mits.

Only thing I've seen when I've briefly Googled it just now is that it can stop a baby from self soothing with their hands.

Surely if that was a massive problem then swaddling also wouldn't be recommended?

You haven't done anything wrong.

Tiny baby hands are really very gorgeous. Maybe it wasn't a criticism but just MIL's clumsy way of saying how much she likes your daughter's hands?

Personally I wouldn't cover a baby’s hands as s/he has been used to touching her /his face etc in the womb. I preferred mine to still have that sensation.

But I wouldn’t be passive aggressive about it either if that’s what you want to do.

I used scratched mitts on my kids. They are now at school, some in secondary school, and grew up perfectly healthy and happy!

Some have better handwriting than others, nothing to do with covering their hands. You did absolutely fine.

Your in-laws are vile, and brace yourself, they're likely will stay that way for years! Learn to ignore or laugh about it, there are years left of being stuck to see them and parenting "advice".

From a developmental standpoint it’s not ideal to have the scratch mitts on all the time, or for as long as 6 weeks, as it prevents newborns from suing their hands to self-soothe/explore, but it’s not actively harmful, and I bet your MIL doesn’t even know that it’s not recommended, this is just her chosen stick to beat you with.

Instead of bitching they could have offered to trim babies nails and help a nervous first time mum out. My neighbour had 8 kids and she did my dc nails the first few times because we were petrified we'd cut a finger off.

My DS is 19 and has a scar on his cheek from when he was 4 days old and scratched his cheek. It didn’t get infected or anything so no idea why it scared.

Mittens all the way. 👏

Nothing to do with this thread but I just imagined him holding a baby mitten now. He’s 6’5” so you can imagine how big his hands are and a tiny, little, white mitten. 🥰

Don't worry about it
It makes no difference to your baby's health or wellbeing to have them covered and you are quite right the difficulty of cutting tiny nails is way more of a problem, so keeping hands coveted is perfectly sensible. I think MIL and SIL are just trying to keep you on the back foot and doubting yourself. If it weren't for this they would be finding something else harmless to criticise you for. Just ignore, you are doing fine.