Key takeaways: Baby nails grow quickly and can scratch the face. Filing is easiest for newborns; small baby clippers or scissors work as nails harden. Trim when your baby is asleep or relaxed, press the finger pad away from the nail, and follow the curve. Small nicks are common and heal fast.
Newborn fingernails are paper-thin but surprisingly sharp, and they grow fast. Many babies scratch their faces in the first weeks. Here’s how to keep those nails short without stress.
How Often?
Fingernails may need attention once or twice a week in the first months. Toenails grow more slowly, often needing a trim once or twice a month.
Choose Your Tool
- Nail file or emery board: often the safest choice for newborns, whose nails are soft and closely attached to the skin. A fine-grit file or an electric baby nail file with soft pads works well.
- Baby nail clippers: small clippers designed for babies. Some have a magnifier or light.
- Baby scissors: small, round-tipped scissors.
Avoid biting your baby’s nails, which can cause infection, and avoid adult clippers, which are too large.
When to Do It
- While your baby is asleep or very drowsy. Many parents trim during a deep sleep or right after a feed.
- After a bath, when nails are softer.
- With good light.
- With a helper at first, if you can: one person holds and soothes while the other trims.
How to File
- Hold your baby’s hand firmly but gently.
- File in one direction, following the natural curve of the nail.
- Smooth any sharp edges.
How to Clip or Trim
- Hold your baby’s finger and press the fingertip pad down and away from the nail.
- For fingernails, follow the curve of the fingertip.
- For toenails, cut straight across to help prevent ingrown nails.
- Don’t cut too short.
- File away any sharp edges afterward.
What If You Nick the Skin?
It happens to almost every parent. Rinse the finger with water, then apply gentle pressure with a clean, soft cloth or gauze until the bleeding stops. Avoid bandages on babies’ fingers because they’re a choking hazard if they come off. The cut usually heals quickly.
Scratch Prevention
- Keep nails short and smooth.
- Mittens or sleeves with fold-over cuffs can help in the first weeks, though they limit your baby’s ability to explore and bring hands to the mouth. Use them as needed, not all the time, and make sure they don’t have loose threads.
- Most scratches heal quickly without scarring.
Ingrown Toenails and Infections
Babies’ toenails often look like they’re growing into the skin because they’re so soft. This usually isn’t a problem.
Call your baby’s doctor if: the skin around a nail is red, swollen, warm, or has pus (a paronychia infection); redness spreads up the finger or toe; or your baby has a fever. Also check for hair tourniquets (a hair wrapped tightly around a finger or toe) if your baby is suddenly inconsolable and a digit looks red or swollen.
The Bottom Line
Filing is easiest for newborn nails. As they harden, small baby clippers or scissors work well. Trim during sleep or after a bath, press the skin away from the nail, and don’t worry about the occasional small nick.
For more newborn care basics, see my book, From First Breath to First Birthday.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics. Bathing your baby: nail care. HealthyChildren.org. https://www.healthychildren.org
- Altmann TR, Hill DL, eds. Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. 7th ed. American Academy of Pediatrics; 2019.
- Rigby R, Eckman D. Hair tourniquet syndrome. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; updated regularly.
- American Academy of Dermatology. How to care for your baby’s nails. https://www.aad.org
This article is for general education and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice. Always talk with your baby’s health care provider or your own provider about your specific situation. If you think your baby or you may have a medical emergency, call 911.
