Wondering how to keep off your baby from scratching his and other people’s face and hands? Well, nail care is an important part of ensuring the baby’s health. Dust, pollutants or bacteria can accumulate under the nails and affect baby’s health when they put their hands or feet in their mouth or start the habit of thumb-sucking.

Regular nail clipping ensures that basic cleanliness is maintained and the baby stays healthy.

While nails of a newborn are soft and wear down by themselves through contact with clothing; for older babies you might need to take the matter into your hands.

Here are a few tips to help you carry out the process of nail clipping safely and easily:

• First and foremost, choose a place with good lights and a time when the baby is calm, preferably, when it is asleep.
• Secondly, dip the child’s fingers and toes in lukewarm water for them to become brittle and ensure easier cutting.
• Start by talking calmly or singing a lullaby to your baby.
• Gently, pull away the finger pad from the nail to avoid cutting the skin and with a clipper clip the nails.
• Another alternate to a clipper is a filer. File your baby’s nails with an emery board, this is the safest way to do it but it takes more time. Just be careful not to file the tender skin under the nails.
• Amid the process, distract your baby with a toy or some activity. Making a game out of such things works amazing with the babies.
• If you’re still a little skeptical, ask a more experienced person to show you how to do it.
• Try the front carrier method: In this technique you’ve to secure your child in a front-facing baby carrier (you and your baby should be facing the same direction). Now, start by working on one hand as you hold down their opposite arm with your arm.
• Another is the stick ‘em in a high chair and distract ‘em method: Strap your kid into a high chair and turn on a show.
• The tag team method: Ask your partner to hold your baby’s hand as you clip the nails, or vice versa.
• If your baby’s nails seem sharp, put mittens on your baby’s hands to prevent scratching.

If you accidentally hurt the skin, don’t panic. Gently hold a piece of clean, damp cotton wool on baby’s finger tip and apply a little pressure. The bleeding will stop immediately.

Finally, remember that when your baby turns a month old, it’s nail will start to harden a little and will have a firmer free edge.

And, this will make it easier to trim them using baby nail scissors or clippers.