Wednesday, November 18, 2009

An Impossible Task...

Is there anything more impossible that cutting a 11 month old baby's toenails? My very active little lady just cannot sit still for more than a moment and is obviously practicing for her debut as a tap dancer as I attempt, in vain, to cut those tiny, jagged toenails...maybe this means she'll be on So You Think You Can Dance one day, how exciting would that be?! I digress.

Once they started getting long and I realized it would be more appropriate to call them talons I knew I couldn't put it off any longer -- that and I was definitely done with getting scratched by said talons in the mornings while she is raking those sharp baby toenails into my stomach. It used to be so easy when she was smaller, and less..er...bouncy? All we had to do was secretly clip them in her sleep. Now she grabs, bounces and giggles if I even approach her feet with the clippers. Then once I get hold of those chubby, little feet its all over, she's kicking and laughing all over the place. I don't blame the girl, I've got terrible ticklish feet too, but, darling girl, the long toenail look doesn't work for anyone.

Is there some sort of trick to cutting a baby's toenails? We have the "special" baby clippers and I usually give her some sort of toy to distract her while I'm doing it, but obviously the toy is a lot less exciting than those shiny white and orange clippers. Any suggestions aside for going for The Guinness Book of World Records for toenail length? I tried to find a picture of whatever nutty person holds this record but strangely enough I was unsuccessful, count yourself lucky this time! Yuck!

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"
-Milton Berle

18 comments:

Bridget said...

I have to cut my son's while he is sleeping.
Although now it is getting harder since it is
winter and his feet are covered.

Tena said...

Stick her in the highchair and turn on some cartoons. 5 minutes and you're done!

Dawn said...

I use the highchair method too. However, he can't see the TV in the kitchen so I cut them while he is distracted by cheese.

Anonymous said...

I do the same thing for clipping toenails as I do for painting toenails... I put our lil' girl in her high chair with something fun after bath time, like fruit bits, frozen juice, or yogurt to finger paint with on her tray, and she's too distracted to care what's going on with her toes! We call it "spa time". Good Luck!

Lu

Miss Amelia Jane. said...

I sang. A song she likes and she's fimiliar with, where she'll watch you sing, and smile. Then, just be quick! You won't hurt her. And I find the best time to do it is after bath time, when they're soft and easier to cut. So I'll give her her lotion massage to calm her down, sing and clip. :)

Candice said...

I sing loudly to Graham while Joel clips them and that seems to work. :)

The Mama said...

I clip my one year old b/g twins' toe nails in the car when they are strapped into their carseats. I give them a toy, they can't reach their feet, and we get the job done.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

I turn on the TV when I cut her nails or toenails.

Liz said...

My husband is in charge of clipping the baby nails. He is strong enough to hold them still, entertained with food or toys, while I cannot handle the wiggly baby!

Jessica said...

i put mine in her highchair, too. it worked with my son as well, but now i cut his when he's sitting on the potty. :)

Heather said...

We use the high chair too, or I sit him in my lap facing out and I try to peek around him. He still kicks and thinks it's a game, but I just try to go fast and not cut off any piggies!

Parker and Lauren's Mom said...

i cut them while he's in the bath tub...he gets to splash around with his hands and i get to stop being scratched...win win!

Jamie @ Bungalow Bee said...

When she was a newborn I would clip her nails while she was asleep. Is Lucy a heavy sleeper? It just might work :) Now I have David hold her and entertain her while I do the dirty work.

My open roads said...

I also got the 'task' done while my son was sleeping up to recently, when he sarted waking up to the sound of nails being clipped... I don't know what I'll do now! Thanks for asking the question though, some awesome ideas here - will definitely try the destruction in the high chair method ;)

Dianne said...

You can file them so they don't get too long. They sell crystal nail files that are small enough to use on a baby! I have never tried it but my cousin swears by this!

Tara said...

I use the 2 on 1 approach. The husband holds the foot and I do the clipping. There may be tears, but it's quick and efficient.

Bridget said...

I totally didn't think of using the highchair! I will try that now!

FSD said...

Is there something more impossible than clipping a 11 month old's toe nails you ask? Why yes, in fact there is (in my home at least)...clipping an active and very alert 9 month old's finger nails! Talking about herding cats! Sheesh!

I'm totally going to try the highchair trick for toe nails. Still need a solution for finger nails though.

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