nails

Hanna - posted on 01/14/2009

Use an infant nail file to smooth out the edges. I agree with Michele Onken, he might be itchy so see if you can put some lotion on areas he scratches. Mittens & socks work well, but unfortunately, you're cutting off your son's sense of touch -- in the first 3-5 months, the most important senses are sense of touch & hearing (it's now a known fact that babies don't see that well, or rather that they see in black & white & their brain doesn't flip the image yet, so they see everything upside down). so by putting on mittens/socks, you're basically severely limiting ur baby's ability to explore the world & learn new things (that's why most hospitals stopped putting mittens on babies). just try filing the nails & making sure the scratches/irritations heal (use oatmeal lotion) and see if it'll make a difference. good luck!

Michele - posted on 01/14/2009

You may want to think about if your baby is scratching due to just movement or does he really itch, especially if he is scratching his forehead? My son would scratch his head really bad during the night until it bled, then I realized he actually itched. You may want to try putting a all natural lotion ( I love Arbonne baby products) or hydrocortizone cream on his head and see if that makes a difference. Once I started putting lotion on his head at night he never scratched again!

Melissa - posted on 01/13/2009

oh, he has discovered his hands. rarely keeps them out of his mouth. lol

Brandi - posted on 01/13/2009

I started out using the Gerber onesie with the fold over sleeves too. It helped a lot when my daughter was scratching her face as a newborn. Then I read you shouldn't cover up baby's hands as they need to "discover" them and use them, so I just started filing her nails a couple of times a week. She does still scratch herself occasionally, but hardly does now that I am filing them regularly.

There are several schools of thought on this, and everyone is different. Go with whatever works for you!

Trudy - posted on 01/13/2009

SOCKS

Kiwi - posted on 01/13/2009

They make new mittens now they can be tied @ the wrist.

Melissa - posted on 01/13/2009

thank you all. this has helped a lot.

Andrea - posted on 01/13/2009

I used the Gerber side-snap tees, they have foldover cuffs that can cover a babies' hands. helps a lot. My baby was a sucker, and always wanted to get his hands in his mouth, but didn't have the coordination yet, so I understand! I did that then put a paci (or my boob) in his mouth to comfort him. Good luck!

Ginger - posted on 01/12/2009

I used socks for my son the mittens never stayed on.. for my daughter we found sleepers that had sleeves that covered over the hands.. They were from sears I think.. I dunno where you live but Im in ontario.. I dunno if you can find something like that but it worked well same as the socks

Kristi - posted on 01/12/2009

Yes, we used socks too. It helps even more when your baby wears long sleeves and you can tuck the sock under the sleeve for extra security. I always thought people would think I was scratching him up on purpose... I hated it! LOL!

Paulette - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi, I would agree with the one mom and use socks. They stay on quite well and I would do this when they sleep too. But when they get older, just at bedtime. Otherwise it would impead their use of their hands and learning.

Kara - posted on 01/12/2009

i always bite my sons nails that i know i wont cut him with the clippers and i know i dont cut them too short. his nails grow back quickly but its no problem havin to bite them when i know he cant scratch himself

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

I used baby emery boards at Babies R Us, and smoothed the edges of the nails, it helped.

Trisha - posted on 01/12/2009

You might be able try shirts that have the sleeves that you can put over his hands that way they don't come off. That might work for a while. It worked good for are son because they don't just fall of you have to pull off there hand and roll it back so it looks like just a sleeve again:)

Kyla - posted on 01/12/2009

I tried the mittens, they don't work.  I eventually found that socks stay on very well and babies cannot get them off.  Other than that, they are just going to continuously scratch their faces and heads.

Steph - posted on 01/12/2009

it doesnt seem like there's much more you can do, lol...i had the same problem with my oldest-18 months...sometimes there isnt anything you can do...