Fingernail Frenzy: Step Away from the Clippers

~By Elle Davis

It used to be so difficult to trim my daughter’s fingernails when she was just a freshly baked baby. Even now, at 3 years old, she still acts like my husband and I are trying to kill her when the clippers come out.

When she was 2 months old, I nicked her thumb with the clippers. I held my breath, looked at her to see if she was OK, and then came the crying. Within seconds we were both in tears.

I raced to the bathroom to find something to stop the bleeding. I grabbed a tissue to wrap around her thumb, but her arms were flailing about, fanning a veritable bloodbath. Blood was smeared all over her clothes, her blanket, her face, our bedspread, and me. She was starting to calm down, but I was still in a panic.

I couldn’t believe that much blood was coming from such a small finger. I found some bandages, but trying to put one on her finger was impossible. Those fingers are teeny tiny. I called my husband at work to tell him what happened, and he assured me that our daughter would be OK.

She was still bleeding when I found some gauze and tape. The makeshift bandage I finally got onto her tiny, bloody thumb was bigger than her whole hand. Then she was trying to suck on her fingers and my new mom-itis got me thinking that she was going to swallow the bandage. I could just picture having to take her to the ER for choking on it. Oh, the joys of new mommyhood.

So I swaddled her until my husband got home. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he saw her bandaged finger. Just earlier, he was telling me that she would be fine and then he sees this huge bandage on her finger. I took it off for him and showed him the cut because I was afraid that he was going to start panicking.

People have suggested trying to cut her nails while she’s sleeping, but she’s asleep and she wouldn’t stay that way if I did. I just couldn’t imagine having to sneak into her room with the hubby, flashlight in one hand and nail clippers in the other.

I think they should have nail salons for babies. Out of all the things that come with motherhood, cutting fingernails is something I would pay money for someone else to do. Bring on the diaper blowouts, throw-up, teething, crankiness, screaming, whining, and tantrums. I will gladly leave those itty bitty fingernails for someone else to trim, shave and buff to baby beautiful.

Elle Davis is the mastermind behind the This Is Mommyhood blog.