clipping fingernails -- help!

[cindyl]

hi --
i just clipped my little one's fingernails, and the nightmare happened. i slipped, and i cut her.

she didn't notice, but it's been bleeding a little bit on and off for a really long time (a couple of hours). her sheets are blood spattered. has this ever happened to any of you? it seems like the bleeding just keeps going on and on -- it's not a lot, but for a long time . . . .

cindy
mom to chloe (1/3/03)

[mamahill]

My dad did it to me when I was a month old and I screamed like crazy. Because of that my mom (and then me) cut the baby's fingernails by biting them off while nursing. It may sound gross, but the baby is holding still! And once I switched to clippers, Ainsleigh was used to holding still, so we're fine now.

I say if she's not crying, no worries. It will stop eventually:).

[atlbaby]

I was so terrified that this would happen too. One time, when Arielle was about 7 months old I clipped her thumb nail a bit too low and cut her. She never noticed, but it did bleed for about 1/2 hour. I thought I was going to die I was so worried. Of course we were also going over to my in laws later that afternoon, and I was sure MIL was going to notice and think me a horriblehorrible mother...but she didn't notice.

I'm sure Chloe is just fine! And now that the nightmare has happened and she didn't even cry or notice maybe it'll bring you some peace of mind. Those nail clippers are meant for tiny nails and worried parents, I don't think you can do much damage really. That being said, DH--an emergency medicine doctor for goodness sakes!--has never and will never go near Arielle with the nail clipper, LOL! He's terrified to!:)

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2EDD 10/24/03-Another Girl!:)

[kaitlinsmommy]

God, I've cut her twice and it is a horrible feeling. I'm sure baby is doing much better than you. I compressed the cut with gauze and wrapped a bandaid around it and it stopped bleeding. So sad!

There are nail clippers with a magnifying glass. I read about them here and bought one after the second incidence. You could try them if you think they might help.

[SeekerMage]

I personally hate nail clippers for that very reason! Im sorry to hear you cut your little one! I cut my three year olds finger nail too close the one time and felt sooo bad! I actually like the nail scissors much better then the clippers. I find you have more control over the cut. The best way I found to do it is kind of pinch babys fingers lightly to hold them still as you cut and its a lot easier then trying to position the clipper then clip. just my opinion though! good luck next time!

[peasprout]

My DD cut herself on her finger recently and we couldn't find any band-aids small enough for her. We tried taping gauze on it to stop the bleeding, but she kep putting it in her mouth and sucking on it. Yuck! We ended up buying Liquid Band-Aid and it worked wonders! With little babies, regular band-aids are an just an invitation to pick and pull.

[kohlbacher]

I must admit that I don't clip Ethan's nails - I bite them off! Those nails are so hard to clip and I'm scared of cutting his fingers.

[StaceyKim]

I always use a nail file.