When I started my daughter’s baby-nail trimming ritual, I actually became a little bit addicted to the little little touch of cuticles. But before this habit started I actually wasn’t convinced that I wanted to cut her baby nails because some of them looked especially bad. I remember getting a pedicure that lasted over five hours because every single one of my baby’s baby nails were cut really bad because someone hadn’t been giving them a call in six weeks.
In an attempt to curb my sadness (and by sad, I mean “semi-not mad at the New Baby”), I decided to experiment with some new ways of trimming her baby nails. The hardest part of the cutting, though, is finding the shape and size of the cuticles that suit your baby. This was a quick and easy way to feed my addiction, but it turns out there is a lot of wisdom in these five tips.
1. Don’t Use Olive Oil
When it comes to cutting your baby’s baby nails, using olive oil on them is just not worth it. The smell of olive oil in your baby’s mouth when you leave it on for any length of time will be a trigger to panic, and the cuticles will start to rot if you keep using it.
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Instead, I recommend using a mild of olive oil and applying a few drops to her cuticles in this way:
Apply 2 to 3 drops of olive oil to each cuticle to create a smooth finish.
Pull the nail up (gently) from its oval setting and press it.
The oil will sink in deeply, and your baby’s cuticles will start to fill with it.
2. Gently Pull Your Child’s Nails from the oval setting
Next, pull your child’s nails off the orange setting by gently pulling them from the point where the nail points out (around the pinky), and from the end of the nail, which you can do with a large pair of tweezers. If the nail is too hard to pull out with your finger, don’t worry, a tiny pin prick from the tweezers will do.
3. Keep Your Baby Nails Clean
A dirty fingernail does more than just grow thinner — it stops you from getting a more uniform and aesthetically pleasing cuticle circle. It also adds more surface tension and weight to the nail. So keep your nails clean with a cotton washcloth dipped in a mild of pure olive oil and rubbing after every 30 minutes.
4. Make It Easier on Your Baby
Instead of cutting her nails as a baby, I started to make smaller baby cuts for her in an effort to make it easier on her and not to cut the baby down to such a tiny size that it is uncomfortable. I would dry them with towels, gently rub the nail with cold water, then make a tiny cut and soften it with warm water. It was very important to dry the cuts quickly and then rub them with cold water so they don’t damage the cuticle.
5. Leave Your Baby Nails Softer Than Ever
When it comes to getting your baby ready for the next parenthood journey, I’ve found that leaving her nails shorter and softer works best for her and also reduces the risk of incontinence and dryness (like this image above, found on Reddit) that is also related to their short nail length. You can use a base and heel file to add some uniformity to the nails and some softening to keep her nails looking longer.
For now, though, it’s good to know that there is a formula for baby nail care that doesn’t make you feel bad after the lack of a pedicure.
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