Nail care for newborns

Newborn fingernails and toenails are usually soft and flexible. However, if they are ragged or too long, they can hurt the baby or others. It is important to keep your baby's nails clean and trimmed. Newborns do not yet have control of their movements. They may scratch or claw at their face. Newborn babies will usually have long fingernails (and toenails) at birth. Many parents are concerned about their baby scratching themselves with their fingernails, and may use cotton mittens to prevent this. A newborn baby's fingernails are generally quite soft and flexible, and may be able to be gently peeled off. However, as your baby grows older, their nails will usually become harder. At some point you will probably need to trim them.  

• Clean the baby's hands, feet, and nails during regular bathing.
• Use a nail file or emery board to shorten and smooth the nails. This is the safest method.
• Another option is to trim nails carefully with baby nail scissors that have blunt rounded tips or baby nail clippers. Do NOT use adult-sized nail clippers. You could clip the tip of the baby's finger or toe instead of the nail.
• Since baby's nails grow pretty quickly, you may have to cut the fingernails at least once a week. You may only need to cut the toenails a couple of times per month. You can trim your baby's fingernails with a special pair of baby scissors .Avoid using clippers, as these can be hard to manoeuvre accurately, and may injure your baby, if they move their hand unexpectedly. It is probably easier for one person to hold the baby, while the other one trims the nails, but you can place your baby in their bassinette, or bouncer, if you prefer. 

• Make sure your baby is calm and relaxed (possibly after a feed). Cut your baby's nail straight across and avoid cutting down the sides of the nails, as this can encourage ingrown nails and infections. Some parents will use a fine, soft emery board to smooth off any rough edges, although this is not absolutely necessary.

Never use your teeth to bite off fingernails, as the bacteria in your mouth can cause infections around your baby's cuticles. Occasionally a baby will develop infected cuticles from sucking their own fingers. The infection can appear as a red, swollen area on the skin around the nail and is known medically as 'paronychia' some parents will place cotton mittens on the baby's hands, to prevent further sucking. They may also possibly place a small amount of anti-infective ointment on the area, to help it heal. Take care with what you put on your baby's nails, in case they suck it off. 

Babies are born with a clear, protective film covering their eyeballs. This means that if a small piece of fluff or dust comes to rest on your baby's eyeball, it will generally not seem to irritate them. The baby will often eventually move it away themselves, by blinking and closing their eyes (as babies don't develop many tears until they are about 4 - 6 weeks of age). 

Some parents will try using sterile salt water (like that used to clean contact lenses) on a clean cotton ball, and squeezing a small amount of the fluid onto their baby's eye, to try and wash it away. Make sure your hands are clean before doing this, as you don't want to introduce any infection into your baby's eye. You should never prod and poke your baby's eyes as you may accidentally damage their cornea (or the eye lens). If your baby appears distressed by the object in their eye, then ask your local doctor to have a closer look.

NOTE: Do not try and cut your baby's toenails until they are at least 12 months old, as you can cause them to become ingrown and infected. 

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