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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU or is painting children's finger & toenails....

123 replies

buxomwenchonapony · 03/06/2011 08:53

... just harmless fun?

or

Is it just the beginning of the lifelong quest for beauty, the first idea that she is 'better' when she is painted or plucked or tanned or in some way adorned.

Only I've just painted dd1's toenails (she's 4). She asked for blue toenails with pink spots and I obliged, that's ok, isn't it? Or will i be taking her for spray tans and eyelash extensions next?

I expect this topic has been done to death previously. I'm new though, humour me?!

OP posts:
katz · 03/06/2011 10:35

i've just done everyone's nails here this morning ready to go to a festival this afternoon. DD's only have toes done as they bite their finger nails and i'm not happy with nail varnish being consumed!

sausagesandmarmelade · 03/06/2011 10:36

Definitely harmless fun...and I remember when I was very young asking to have my nails painted...and looking at them all the time

JoandMax · 03/06/2011 10:39

Harmless fun! I was doing mine last weekend and DS1 asked me to do his (2.10 years) and he loved it, spent all day saying 'Mummy, look at my pretty toes!' I took it off the next day and wouldn't do it regularly but as a one off it was just a bit if fun for us all.

LadyWithNoManors · 03/06/2011 10:39

harmless fun i say though I haven't ever painted my DD's.

EmmaBemma · 03/06/2011 10:42

I bribed my 4 year old daughter to stop biting her nails by saying that if she let them grow enough to paint them, she could choose whatever colour nail polish she wanted and I would paint them for her as a treat. She chose lime green and electric blue, which I painted on alternate nails. Didn't work long-term sadly, she's back to biting them now.

allhailtheaubergine · 03/06/2011 10:44

Harmless fun.

My 5yo dd and her 3yo brother are both currently sporting bright lilac toenails.

Abcinthia · 03/06/2011 10:47

Harmless fun.

DD who is 3 sometimes gets her nails painted.

wasabipeanut · 03/06/2011 10:49

My 3 yo DS always pesters me to have toenails to match mine. His favourite is pink Grin

GetOrf · 03/06/2011 10:52

Harmless fun. NOT to be worn to school though.

SpringchickenGoldBrass · 03/06/2011 10:54

My DS likes having his nails painted when I paint mine. It's probably the most harmless of all the 'beauty-related' stuff because it's so much about decoration and having fun - blue, green, black, purple nails are not 'sexy' they are playful.

bubblecoral · 03/06/2011 10:57

Completely harmless.

Out of interest, what is it about the chemicals thatworry some people? I was quite paranoid about what went into my childrens bodies when they were little, but I'm not sure where I'd find anything to worry about with nail varnish.

I would use base coat though, incase bright pink varnish left nails a bit yellow.

thegruffalosma · 03/06/2011 11:14

Harmless fun imo. And nowhere near as bad as pierced ears whoever said that. But then again the only problem I have with pierced ears is that it causes pain not that it looks tacky or whatever. DD had a manicure at her nurserys summer fair with little gemstones stuck on her nails and she loved it. I also paint her nails if she asks when I'm doing mine. If you don't paint your kids nails do you let them wear dresses/have long hair? It's all buying into the idea of what is feminine and beautiful.

thegruffalosma · 03/06/2011 11:15

And I agree with you bubblecoral. I thought I worried about anything and everything with my kids but a millimetre of chipped nail varnish entering their digestive system wouldn't be something I would be concerned about.

alfiesmadmother · 03/06/2011 11:22

I will paint my daughters toe nails and let her experiment with make up...in fact I can't wait!! I wear it so I am the one who should teach her as she grows how to groom and be creative with her appearance, what is wrong with that???

Coralanne · 03/06/2011 11:29

My DGC all have their finger and toenails painted (in the holidays). All the colours of the rainbow.

DGS (six years old) turned up at football with his nails painted black.

lurkerspeaks · 03/06/2011 13:02

I've painted various childrens nails over the years. Mostly when I've been doing my own and they wanted to join in.

The only thing that has made me Hmm was my friend saying I shouldn't have painted her 4 year old son's nails. The only reason she could come up with was that "he's a boy, it isn't very masculine".

montmartre · 03/06/2011 13:10

I don't like it- I think it is part of the sexualisation of little children, and wrong. [cats bum face]

thegruffalosma · 03/06/2011 13:15

Yes it's extremely sexy when a 3 yo has their nails painted Hmm

apple99 · 03/06/2011 13:20

Dd is 4 and has just started asking if she can wear nail varnish, I don't mind her having her toes done (not keen on fingers for some reason, I don't do my fingers either).

She is currently sporting a different colour on each toe as she couldn't decide which colour to go for!!

tallulahxhunny · 03/06/2011 13:21

"dons armouor"

my 6 yr old likes to wear lipstick when she goes out, even to school so i bought her a little lipsyl type lipstick AND both of my daughters (8 & 6) ears are pierced....

BornToFolk · 03/06/2011 13:22

Harmless fun. I often do DS's fingernails. It's actually a good way of persuading him that his nails need to be cut, and for getting him to sit still for 5 mins while it dries!

ChristinedePizan · 03/06/2011 13:23

My DS is sporting a fetching shade of sparkly greeny-blue at the moment which he is thrilled with. I did think that I might feel a bit differently about it were he a girl. I've told him it has to come off when he goes back to pre-school next week and he's fine with that.

Sirzy · 03/06/2011 13:24

I don't know which is funnier, the implication it is comparable to ear piercing or the implication it is sexualising children.

It's harmless fun!

KittySpencer · 03/06/2011 13:28

i think it's fine. DS1 never asked me to, but DS2 likes pretty, shiny things and at 3 or 4 asked a couple of times (when he saw me doing it) if he could have his own toenails painted, so of course I did it for him. Stayed on for a day or so til his dad saw it and insisted it was taken off immediately

KittySpencer · 03/06/2011 13:28

sorry meant to add a Hmm to end of that sentence!

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