How do you cut your toddler’s nails?
Source: fabrisalvetti
But he’s no longer willing to sit still while we file his nails, so we are back to cutting them. We’re actually making progress with his fingernails – we’ve turned it into a little game. I “chop chop” my nail, and then Little Man holds out his nail for me to “chop chop” it. It’s time-consuming, but we usually get it done without any major tantrums.
His toenails are a totally different story however. We’ve generally had to resort to cutting them when he’s asleep, which is a pain, because it’s liable to wake him while we’re doing it! So tonight, we decided that we could leave it go no longer – we had to cut his toenails. One or two of them were starting to look like talons!
We cut his fingernails first, thinking to ease him into it. And then we started the same routine with his toenails. First I “chop chopped” my toenail, and then I tried one of his. Almost immediately, he had a meltdown. We calmed him down and then tried again. Meltdown. Then we decided that since he was upset already maybe we should just persevere and get his nails cut. What a mistake. He became so upset, he was actually hysterical.
And then he threw up!
I feel so guilty.
We made our Little Man so upset, he actually threw up. And just for the sake of cutting his nails. I still can’t really believe it happened – one minute he was fine and laughing while we played the “chop chop” game with his fingernails, and the next thing he was a snotty, vomiting mess – all in the space of a minute or two. I don’t really understand what happened. He’s never over-reacted like that before.
Suffice it to say, we waited until he was asleep, which took a while this evening, and then we cut his toenails. I don’t know why we didn’t just wait until he was asleep in the first place. And I won’t be in any rush to try cutting his toenails while he’s awake again.
What do you do? Do you have any tips you’d like to share on how you cut your little one’s nails without drama? I’d love to hear them.
I remember this stage all too well, neither of my kids liked having their nails cut. I used to just try and get it done as quickly as possible!
They’d never let me do both fingers and toes in one sitting so I had to wait a few days if toes needed doing. My son is 4 now & likes to count each one so he knows we are near the end!
Thanks Mammyskitchen. So just another 2 years or so to wait then… 🙂
We can continue doing his fingernails when he’s awake because he seems ok with that, but I guess we’ll have to stick with cutting his toenails when he’s asleep for now.
It was kinda funny when he woke this morning. He checked his toes and obviously realised that his nails had been cut. He was not impressed!
Once I told my son that his nails are like dinosaur’s nails and it’s very scary. Since then he is aware when his nails are to long and need a cut (he doesn’t like when he has a dinosaur’s nails!)… But very different story with his toenails, I’m very rough about it. (Did you ever read the story how to give a medicine to a cat?- so it’s about us trying to cut kids toenails, screaming, shouting, scratching, hiding, biting .. everything is included.) I found out that he is extremely ticklish when I cut his toenails! And wile he is laughing and rolling on the floor, I find a moment when he is on his tummy, I sit on top of him, bend back his leg and then I can quickly work on his toenails. Yeh, that’s the only way with us !
Hey Lisa, our youngest was very similar and still hates it. I find it best to do them when he is just out of the bath or shower. The water tends to soften the nails….anways, like the above comments, I always try and make a game out of it! Or I sing…tommy thumb, tommy thumb, where are you?…and so on….for his toe nails I usually sing…big fat toe, big fat toe, where are you??…and so on….the things we do huh??
I think learning to sign silly songs is a rite of passage for becoming a mother Liz! We’ve got a “walking up the stairs, walking up the stairs” song as well as numerous nappy songs! 🙂