How NOT to make your baby scream her head off - Mom's Fav New Tool

I think the worst day of my life as a new mommy was the day that I carelessly cut my daughter's fingernails. As we all know, baby's fingernails are always sharp and long. They scratch her face, your face, your arms, her belly. They are CONSTANTLY growing. You trim them one day, the next morning they are razor sharp and you have to do it again. When you walk through the baby store, you see lots of infant fingernail clippers. There are ones that look like adults, there are cheap ones and expensive ones. I think now they have the one with the magnifying glass and a flashlight on the end. We just had the plain Safety 1st ones that have a bigger handle. The problem with those are when you are attempting to cut their nails you really can't see "the underside" of the nail and you don't know when you hit skin. You don't know what's going on until you hear the shreeeeeeking coming from your child.

It happened to me one day when I was on vacation visiting my parents. My oldest was a few months old. I remember the night vividly. We were sitting on the couch and I had the TV in the background. I had just gotten off the phone. I started to cut little bean's nails and then I heard it. Screaming. OH MY GOD. I have never heard a child scream so loud in my life. I was thinking I was going to remove the nail clipper to find I had cut off her entire finger, but of course it was a little snip. It was bleeding a little but boy did she scream. I was crying. She was screaming. I called for my mom. I felt like a horrible mother. What the hell just happened? I caused pain to my child. Something I did hurt my child. My life was over. Okay, well if you know me, I'm a little dramatic. Anyways, I'm sure it was no big deal and that everyone has had this happen to them but wow did I feel bad. She calmed down after a little bit but I will never forget the look on her face. A happy smiling child...then a smile turned upside down, then a pink face turned red and she screamed and screamed. Cracked my heart right in half.

After I recovered from that I vowed never to cut her fingernails again. She of course was not scarred by it. I really just nicked the quick of her nail but to me it was traumatizing. I guess the moral of my story is, I know several people who have done this to their child so it made me feel better to know I was not alone.

And so, as a mom who loves gadgets and the fact that I'm in a constant search of something that's better than what I have, I wanted to see what other solution could I find to my fear of cutting my children's nails (by the way, the same thing goes with my dog..... I cut her nails once and never again - I pay the vet to do it).

This is my solution!!!! I recently found an article in a parenting magazine. It was a mom who reviewed this product and loved it. She too had cut her child's nails a little too short and caused excruciating pain to her infant. She too had been a bad mom. I ordered this product when my third daughter was born. I was a little hesitant because it's TEN DOLLARS for a nail clipper but let me tell you, I love it. I'm going to give it to every new mom I know. I'm sure there are other ones like it out there at the baby store, but I like this one. It got good reviews at Amazon.com (my favorite online store).

PIYO PIYO BABY NAIL SCISSORS (Precision made for baby's nails)

This product comes with a cute cover. Decorated with a fuzzy little duck. If you are going to be a new mom or dad, consider getting this tool. Or you could just wait until you try and cut your child's nails. Remember, the first few weeks the nails are LITERALLY PAPER THIN. My doc said don't try to cut their nails, just get some emory boards and file them down a bit. I love those shirts that have the hand covers on them. Or the little mittens. Once they are a little older you can actually cut their nails.

As a mom of three girls and a mom who has traumatized herself and her child, I highly recommend these. You can actually see the underneath when you cut and you can not only see the top of the nail but also the bottom. All from a good angle. Good precision and stability. If you don't believe me, read the reviews on amazon. You won't regret the purchase. 

That's my two cents. 

Happy Baby Thoughts

:)R