Cutting my toddlers nails!

[InDubiousBattle]

My dd is almost 3 and can be very.....wilful. Generally she is good but when there is something she decides she won't do she will have the most almighty tantrum. At the moment she hates having her nails cut. They really need doing. I have tried doing mine and ds's, bribing her with chocolate, explaining why they need doing etc. Last time they just had to be done it was a two man job involving a towel and much crying. Dp said to her last night that if she just let us do it she could have them painted. I have no idea if ordinary nail polish is ok? I'm not particularly keen on the idea, I don't even paint my own. I think I might have some clear stuff lurking somewhere but I'm guessing won't cut it! Any ideas would be welcome!

I used to wait for my toddler to be asleep and do it then.
I also bribe mine with nail polish. I just use normal stuff and they are so active with their hands that it doesn't take long to come off. I was a bit iffy about doing it at first but it was better than her accidentally scratching the other kids at nursery.

Thanks. My two generally sleep in the pitch dark so getting enough light to do them would wake her I think. If ordinary nail polish is ok I might give that a go. I suspect I will be buying pink nail varnish tomorrow but, as you say it's better than scratching.

You can buy 'Disney princess' nail polish (Dd got some for her birthday). So far as I can tell it's just PVA glue, it certainly doesn't last past bath time but she likes getting them painted. I'd avoid the proper stuff due to the fumes.

I can't offer advice but sympathy. For our nearly 3 year old it's hair washing. We leave it until it is utterly disgusting and then use a two parent job and chocolate bribes together to get it done. Then wine for the traumatised parents.

We wait until ds is asleep then DH will shine a torch on his nails while I cut. It's the only way we can do it.

I've just convinced mine that I'm not murdering her whilst cutting them but before that I would cut whilst she was asleep whilst DP held the torch on them so I could see.

I let my DS ‘help’. I line it up and he squeezes over the top of my fingers. He constantly asks for the ‘snippers’

Good idea, to let her have some pretty polish afterwards :-) I used to do my two boys' while they were asleep. They were deep sleepers so never woke up.

GemmaB78 one of my kids came up with the idea of using swimming goggles while washing his hair in the shower. Genius! Why didn't I think of it?? Now we keep a pair in the shower and no more grumbles since from either of them :-D

Mumofboys - tried that to no avail. He's just got it in his head that it will hurt and no amount of negotiations will convince him otherwise.

I could understand it if she thought it would hurt her but she doesn't! It's mainly the nails but she can also tantrum big time about clothes, if she wants to wear sandles then it could be 4 below and snowing and she would still want to wear them! Had a go whilst she was asleep tonight and she just kept stirring. Will definitely look into Disney nail polish!

I stopped using clippers and used an emery board instead to file their nails. It was much smoother and they liked it-also you can't get it wrong and cut any skin off in a tantrum! It also feels like a mani/pedi!

Head torch when they are fast asleep, 1-2 nails every few days.

Ugh my 2 year old point blank refuses to let us cut his toenails, and often his finger nails. We manage to keep on top of fingers as they break and can be torn off but toes are at critical point now. Tried doing it when he was asleep earlier this week but he felt and started kicking his legs. Plan for tomorrow is to try special chocolate and something he likes on TV but I very much doubt that'll work, in which case it'll be a two person restraining job on the floor I think. DH says this'll traumatise him and make it worse next time but we've been trying to cut them for about 3 weeks now and they look like they're starting to get a bit ingrown so needs must.