how can I stop my newborn from scratching himself?

Question

His head is covered in bloody scratches but it's really hard to cut his nails because his fingernails are so tiny plus he wriggles so much...

I tried scratch mits, but he pulled them off and woke up with scratches on his face and head. I put long baby-socks on his hands, right up to his elbow and he even pulled them off.

I tried filing his nails with a nail file but it didn't get them short enough. I tried biting his nails with my own teeth but it woke him up and he wriggled.

I'm all out of ideas... :(

I tried cutting them when he's asleep but he just wakes up and wriggles around so I can't do it!

well DUH Love Life... you wanna hold a wriggling baby still and cut his miniscule little nails with scissors...? You stupid ****! Easy to see YOU don't have a baby...

For fecks sake... *rolls eyes...

incidentally, the ****;s made it look like I said a really rude word! I didn't, I just said a word that rhymes with Parse...

Answer 1

Dear grief!
I'm reluctant to add another answer when you already have so many to trawl through but I have a suggestion that hasn't been made so far.
This is from personal experience -- my first child was a face-scratcher -- he was actually born with clawmarks all over his face, poor lamb!
And he did just what yours does with the scratch mitts and socks.
So in desperation, I got out the one-piece sleepsuits that were a size too big (I expect you have those too; I was snowed under in gifts of baby clothes) and I stitched up the ends of the sleeves.

It didn't look great, but it bought me some time till I could cut his nails properly. Which I ended up doing one nail at a time, with the help of my OH to hold little un's arm still, over the space of about five days. I did try nibbling, but it ended with me getting my face scratched too!

Anyway, good luck. And congratulations anyway.
:)

Answer 2

Oh goodness your poor thing, I can just image you running around trying to figure out what to do. How about using a nail buffer...one of the yellow or white buffer blocks, you can get them at Sally's or local drug store...they even make a buffer shiner tooo grey, blue and white at sally's. Ok since it's sooo big and the babys hands and nails are sooo small that you could prolly get multiple nails at one time. This differs from the file b/c it's much larger and just a buffer, had a higher grit # therefore with smooth and shorten at the same time Hopefully the baby won't wiggle too much and u can do more then one nail at a time...the shinner one will make them sooo smooth and shiny...the baby won't even be able to scratch the nail will almost slide off the skin. There won't be sharpe edges...also perhaps finding out what is making the baby scratch...vaccum the floor again if the baby is often on it. There is soooo much that can upset a babys skin on american's carpets. :) and don't forget they make those special lotions that prevent itching...off the top of my head I know wal mart makes one. These sooth the skin and prevent itching. :) Good Luck hunny,
P.S. When all else fails...add some brandy and I mean a little, little bit in the milk or juice. You know how in the ole' days they rubbed in on the gums..well what did the rum do to the gums, nah, it just calmed the baby down.!

Answer 3

Having a 6 week old myself I can really identify. The baby mittens & socks were easily yanked off but they worked for a short time at least. The smaller the mitten or socks the better they will stay on. Next, try filing the nails down when the baby is sleeping - it's less invasive & won't disturb the baby as much. Good luck.

Answer 4

blimey- biting his nails?! you really have tried them all,

Have you seen a nurse at your surgeory? they can often halp with ideas as they see things like this alot.

I was goind to suggest cotten mitts but it seems you have tried this. Are his nails really whats causeins this or is he accidentally scratching with his toys or even his toenails?

I know it seems harsh but persevere with the nail cutting, children do get used to having thier nails cut- and will stop wriggling eventually after they can see you mean them no harm.

You can actually cut quite far down the nail, it may seem odd to you but you can cut any or all of the white coloured part of the nail right off. I was/am a violinist and from a very young age I have had to have very short nails (so as not to scratch or nail-engrave the violin) and this requires- for all violinists, to have nails that cannot scratch. The white part at the end of the nail is just not allowed or it will ruin the violin.
The reason I have siad all that is to prove to you that you can have your nails cut very short - so ther is no white tip at all, and that this is totally fine and no harm will come.

good luck though!

Answer 5

It could be a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Have you tested him for allergies? Maybe he's allergic to the shampoo, the detergent used in his caps or even the material of the caps. Some name brands even are high in alkilinity. It's odd he keeps scratching only his head & face. Try washing his head with something gentle like castile soap. Then put a little vaseline on your hands, rub it smooth on your palms then take your palms over his head so it leaves a thin coat. As an infant I had to wear cast on both arms to keep me from scratching until they could find out what was causing it. It turned out I was allergic to milk. Once it was removed from my diet the scratching stopped. But nails are the worse germ holders of your body. He could very well get a serious infection if you don't keep them clean & short. Let someone else hold him while you trim & clean them. Then talk to a dr. about it.

Answer 6

Play with his fingers by putting them in your mouth while he is awake. It will take a while but it will work. Once he gets used to it, you can gently bite off the nails. A plus point would be that he will allow you to hold his hand in yours without waking up, and this will allow you to snip it WITH a baby nail scissors , never with a regular scissors. Filing can leave tiny jagged edges.

Oh! by the way, forget the mits, they don't like em at all.

Answer 7

could try the scratch mitts with those baby grows that go over the hands
could you not try and cut his nails when hes in the bath,have someone help you,as there will be softer and easier to cut,i know baby nails are soft anyway
but with him being in the bath at least he'll be occupied for a few mins lol


good luck hun hope you find a way

Answer 8

had the same problem! My poor kid loved to scratch at her soft spot so there be tonnes of bloody lines. It was bad in the morning because she'd break out of her swaddles. At night, try to use one of those shirts with the mitts already sewn in.

when you file with the nail file, do you file horizontally? I had to also go the other way? file towards the finger so you don't pull the nail. This helped to get the nails as short as possible. We had to do this every day. She still wiggled, but it was easiest for us.

Answer 9

My mom had to help me cut my son's nails. I held him and his arm and she did the trimming. If you are on your own, ask a friend or call the doctor's office and ask if you can bring him and have a nurse help you and show you ideas.

You can buy onesies (spelling?) that have long sleeves and little hand mitts. You ones that have foot coverings, these have hand coverings. They have an opening that you can slip over to hold their hands and they can play but then you can slip them shut then you leave him alone and put him to bed. As the months get warmer and you put him in short sleeve tops, you can put baby's socks on his hands. I did that for my son for a few weeks until my mom came to help me trim him nails.

Answer 10

This is normal for newborns my baby did the same try putting on the mits and getting soft bobble elastic and wrap around his wrists make sure its not too tight! if that fails you will just have to go though it, its just a phase they stop scratching after a few weeks he won`t do himself a damage i promise!
hope this helps good luck!