Cutting Newborns finger nails..?

Question

Im 8 months pregnant, and were having a boy next month, and My boyfriend is really going on about "your not supposed to cut the babies fingernails for one year" He says somewhere he read that you should chew off the newborns finger nails for the first year, otherwise the baby will grow up and be a criminal... has anyone ever heard of such nonsense before?

I told him the dr. will cut the fingernails once he's born because they will have already been growing, and he said he would yell at her if she does... What the hell is wrong with him?
I sure as hell am not going to chew off my baby finger nails because they will rip or tear or hurt him, but i cant get my boyfriend to let me cut the nails with nail cutters...any suggestions?...

Answer 1

I never heard that, but I would bite my sons off b/c the first time I used the clippers on him at a month or so old I cut his skin w/ the clippers...it was easier to bite them off.....then once he was around 10-11 months old I used the clippers again....just my prefrence though!

Answer 2

INTERESTING... (looks around to see if anyone else thinks her s/o is nuts) lol!

Seriously, I bit my children's nails until aroung 9 months of age. Their nails, at birth and for many months afterward, are very VERY soft, though sharp and fast growing. Also, because they are so soft, and because nature was perfectly wise in the way newborns are created, they follow a fault line along the ridge of the underlying skin.

This faulting along with the nails being so soft and bendable makes it hard to differentiate between nail and surrounding skin. Often, skin is cut accidently, or the nail just bends instead of getting cut off.

So, I bite em. The faulting line makes it so they tear right where they should, without any tearing into the surrounding skin. AND, it's not to keep them out of jail, though, simply because it is easier and less chance of getting too much/not enough.

Answer 3

Many moms chew their infants fingernails off because they find it easier. It is soooooo easy to cut the baby's fingers with nail cutters - I did once really badly and after that I didn't cut his nails for months hubby had to do it. The nails won't really rip or tear if you chew them off.

In any case you have to do what is right for you, but seriously if you can't even have a discussion about something this trivial with your baby's father you need to work on that FAST.

Answer 4

Is this "boyfriend" the father of your baby? If he doesn't have enough sense to marry you and make this child legit, I wouldn't listen to any of his moron ideas about babies.

Carefully trim your little ones fingernails in the hospital when he is asleep. They are born with long fingernails that are sharp and can scratch themselves, possibly in the eye. Use infant clippers.

The last baby I had, the nurses refused to cut them and let me do it. They are very thin and if there was a chance of cutting the finger, they wanted the mommy to be responsible. Not a big deal. But I would NOT bite them off...like you said, they could tear and then get infected!

Answer 5

Your boyfriend is either joking with you or is, forgive me, an idiot. That is NOT true, you absolutely need to trim your child's nails, and the best, most hygenic, and truly easiest way is to cut them with tiny nail clippers. Your child will not become a criminal because you cut his nails.

That said, some people do prefer to bite off their kid's nails, typically when they're soft after a bath, because it's easier for them - but I've always thought that was a bit gross.

Answer 6

YUCK! I had never heard that one. I am seriously laughing about biting them off! My 18 month old wouldn't sit still for that.

They sell baby nail files. The grit on them is super fine, and they barely feel it. They are even teeny tiny. Go buy those, and file down the nails...

I promise it is not worth this stress.

By the way, even if you did cut them with clippers... HOW WOULD HE KNOW? Is he with you all day? Just don't tell him. Be careful about the skin!

Answer 7

If your boyfriend won't listen to you, maybe the doctor can tell him that baby clipper is the only safe way to do it, or you could injure the baby. Your bf is off his rocker. If he were right 99.9% of people would now be criminals.

Tell him in the face of the baby's safety and the medical profession, the burden is on him to provide one teeny tiny scrap of evidence for his outrageous claim.

Otherwise just clip the nails when the bf isn't around. But really you shouldn't be with anyone who would put insanity before his own baby's well-being.

Answer 8

I have shaky hands and poor eyesight, so I've never even tried clippers on my 8 month old. My mom does (haha) but I just gently nibble them off, or they break off on their own. I don't think it's going to make him a criminal if you cut them, or whathaveyou... but whatever is more comfortable for YOU is probably the best idea. If I tried to use clippers, I would end up hurting my baby...

Answer 9

I have heard of biting them off insteed of using clippers but I never heard that using clippers makes them grow up to be criminals. My husband believes if you cut the babies hair before they are 1 they will never learn to talk though. I don't know where they come up with this stuff.

Answer 10

The doctor wont cut ur babies nails after birth. The hospital i went to wont even give u nail clippers to cut them. My son scratched his face up bad right after birth. My husband had to go purchase clippers and mittens after he was born. Its tricky cutting the nails after they start to move around. Also the trick is to do it while sleeping. Dont ever bite the nails tho.

Answer 11

LOL!! That's riduclous about being a criminal. I don't clip my newborns nails but I do bite them off. I feel like I have more control with my mouth. I've tried with the clippers and Ive gotten to close to the skin so I just bite them off.