Hair & Nails - I'm rubbish at this!

[Deliaskis]

Hi there,

Looking for words advice on how to keep my DD's hair and nails trim with the minimum of fuss and angst.

DD is 9mo and has always had lots of hair that seems to have grown quite thick. It's reaching the point where the fringe will start to get in front of her eyes and I have no idea how to get her to sit still and get her hair trimmed. I mean I just have no idea how people do this.....help!

Also nails - they seem to grow alarmingly fast and it's hard to get them clipped properly but if I don't she will just scratch herself. She will usually let us do one at a time then be too wriggly to let us near. Both DH have in the past accidentally nicked at a bit of skin around her nails so we're also now both terrified of hurting her.

I'm a bit about this whole post as I think it makes me sound incredibly inept, but equally I am sure I can't be the first person to scratch my head and think...errrr...how? ...about this kind of thing...or am I?

Thanks in advance for any help.

D

Yes it's a bit of a mystery isn't it? Are you using clippers, scissors or biting with the nails? I think most people try them all - maybe biting would do for you for a while? There's nothing wrong with doing them one at a time, either.

By the time ds needed a haircut he was old enough to sit transfixed in front of the telly which is when I did hair and nails - it was the only time I allowed telly in the mornings which made it a massive incentive (things have changed a bit now he's 7!) I doubt your dd is old enough to show much interest in telly... If I were you I would just go for hairclips to keep her fringe out of her eyes for a while?

OK, so not just me then! I did bite the nails when she was younger so maybe I will just have to keep doing that. Thanks for tips re hair slides, I thought people just liked making their DDs look twee and girly, now I realise that they are functional!

D

Try cutting nails when she is asleep, soooo much easier. I used the scissors for first few months as was like cutting paper but now use some really good baby nail clippers from boots and do three or four snips on each nail to get the curve.

Nail cutting is definitely easier when they are asleep or I do it with DD2 sitting in the bouncy chair (she is 9 months too) and just hold onto her hand until I've finished - but the buggers do grow quickly don't they and they are ruddy sharp when she decides to take a handful of my arm or cheek. I use proper adult clippers rather than baby ones as I find those too fiddly and not sharp enough to get a clean cut first time.

I've managed to trim her fringe a couple of times - she has straight hair that tends to go into her eyes. Clips won't stay in unfortunately as there isn't enough body to it. I'm not very precise, just take the whole fringe bit in my fingers and do the sort of choppy cut I've seen my hairdresser doing so that the fringe doesn't end up straight across her forehead.

I also find these things hard, and my DD is 23 months! nail cutting is not done often enough, and a battle when it is, a few at a time. Still never cut her hair - she's had a clip in every day to keep it out of her eyes for months now (definitely not jsut to look nice!). But I just can't imagine cutting her hair when cutting her nails is so bad - would be worried she'd wriggle and I'd have an eye out! Have promised myself will take her to hairdresser before she is 2, but I guess I'm running out of time there!

I cut dd2 hair whilst she is in the bath playing with toys. Rather than cut across her forehead I pull the hair up above her head and then give it a quick snip. That's only helpful if you want to keep a fringe of course. I took dd2 who has a bob to the hairdressers at 1 year old and she was so stunned by all the things going on at the hairdressers she sat mesmerised. worked a treat lol . For nails try sitting them on your lap and then get DH to sit in front and sing a nursery rhyme whilst you snip away.