Scratching Face

Hi sweetie. Honestly, I don't remember when my son stopped doing it, but I'd say they grow out of it fast. You might already do this, but I'd just keep his nails real short and have many clean mittens w/ you & keep changing them. Dont worry, he'll grow out of it soon.

I cannot tell you an age but I used my son's socks on his hands. It is a lot easier and I had a lot more of them the the little hand things.

You've just got to cut and file them. When he is sleeping is the best time to do it. Both my boys scratched themselves and my 10 month old still does if I don't keep up with it. (yesterday as a matter of fact) I use a cuticle nipper because his hands are still pretty small and a nail file to round off the edges. Those silly mitts never worked for me, they would last nearly 5 seconds. If you are afraid of cutting the nails, just use a file to keep them as short as possible.
Good luck
J.

H.,
I found that if you keep his nails clipped, you don't need the mitts. I agree that they are a nuisance. He will still scratch himself every once in a while, but it isn't often enough to justify the mitts. I used the mitts with my first baby, but quickly gave up on them and never used them with any of my other four children.
Congratulations on your new baby! Enjoy him, and take good care of his mother!
C.

I never used mitts on my son now 17 mos, and am not planning on using them on my daughter who will be here soon. I clipped nails almost every night. It's a lot easier if you attack those sharp claws while he's sleeping. I would either have my husband hold a flashlight over his hands or I would just make sure we were in good lighting. There are a lot of baby nail clippers with a "safety" on the end so that it pushes back the pads and skin while you are clipping. I still do it only when my son is sleeping though we are using adult clippers now, and he's never woken up because of it. Just go really slowly at first because it can be really hard to stop shaking out of nervousness. good luck!

They make infant hand covers and you can get them in any store that carried infant supplies....Buy several pair so you always have 2 clean pair a day....its not that big of a deal. I would rather my child suck on dried formula then scratch himself up and cry in pain from it. It will stop in about a month or so.

Do you swaddle him? It takes a long time for them to figure out what to do with their arms and legs....they are a little out of control for a while. I always found that my babies loved to be swaddled for several months. I think they felt a little more restricted like in the womb. Good luck.

I ended up ditching the mitts, and broke out the finger nail clipper. During a nap or feeding carefully clip them. In the beginning I had to do it every few days, but gradually less and less. It just did the trick immediately!
Congratulations on being a new mom!
It's the greatest thing we women have the ability to do, birth & creatively problem solve(parenting) everyday! God bless you and your family!!

If you trim his nails and then file them a little so they aren't sharp, that should do the trick. My little one did that but refused mitts. so i trimmed her nails very often and she still has the occasional scratch. She is 9 months old.

His hands are the closest thing to "home" for him, he sucked on his fingers in-utero (we saw our daughter sucking her thumb at our 19-week ultrasound!) So he's been doing that for a long time. Perhaps is getting mad he cannot do the same thing because they are being covered up. Definitely trim them when he is sleeping.

I had the same problem. Keep his nails short. They also sell baby nail files, they work well to keep the nails smooth.

Hi H.!
I have a 14-month-old son, and when he was a newborn, he liked to scratch his face as well. Poor little guy had red marks all over his cheeks in the hospital until we put the mits on. The mits annoyed me too...kept falling off, etc. What worked for us was trying to keep his nails trimmed so that when his fingers got to his face, his nails wouldn't scratch the skin. We used baby nail clippers (and still do), and would carefully clip while he was sleeping. I was nervous to use them at first, but I got more confident with each clipping. When they are that little, sometimes you can just peel the nails off too. Hope this helps!

Let me just say - with 4 babies, I never used those mitts... I hated them - never stayed on.

Have you tried a pacifier to keep him from sucking his fingers? Some babies need to suck more than others, and I have recently read (in a lot of places) that they believe pacifier use is a factor in preventing SIDS. Does he like being swaddled? the only one of my 4 babies that didn't like swaddling was my son - HATED it. but if your son enjoys it, it will keep his hands off his face. You can try newborn onesies with the foldover cuff too - my new daughter (3 weeks) has those and it helps keep her fingers warm too! Lastly... when he's napping soundly, try clipping his fingernails very carefully... even if his mitts come off, he shouldn't scratch himself.

Good Luck!

Hi H.,
Unfortunetely, they keep scratching thier face for a while. I have 3 kids, and they all did it for various amounts of time. But after a while, it does decrease. I agree, I totally hate those mitts for the same reasons. My daughter who is 4 months, really scratches her head and face when she is tired. So to keep the scratches at bay, I file her nails about every other 2 or 3 days. I hate trimming them when they are so little. I never have cut the skin, but I'm a little paranoid that I will. I just use a fine file to file the length of the nail first and then I file the sharp edge down so it is soft. Totally eliminates the need for those mitts. Good luck! :)

Unfortunately, this is totally normal. I kept my girls' fingernails cut short and kept their faces moisturized w/ baby lotion. I cut their nails when they were awake, just because I could get a good grip on their tiny hands. He will outgrow this. Hang in there!

He'll inevitably scratch his face once in a while, the poor things! But just try to keep his nails trimmed down. You may even find you trim them once a week or as you see one jagged or getting long. Make sure the corners round nicely so they don't have sharp points. He should stop doing this once he starts to gain control of his arms/legs. Right now they're just sort of flailing about most of the time without much of his input.

Hi H.,

Unfortuantly that is one of those things thats just gonna happen. They best you can go is keep his nails short enough and file down any edges that may feel sharp and hope for the best. And you are right about the mitts! They look like a great idea when you are standing in Target but you get them home to actually use them and they end up on the floor half the time. So just keep them short and clean and if you swaddle him he cant get his arms up to his face so that works too!

Well don't know if I'll be much help. I never used the mitts w/ my boys. I was always trimming their nails (asleep is the best time to get them). They would get an occasional scratch on the face but not much too often. Have you tried just being really diligent about keeping his nails trimmed if the mitts are that much of a problem?

your son probably just wants to feel the security of his hands near his face. That was probably what comforted him in the womb...remember he has had those nails for a long time (I don't remember the exact week a fetus develops nails but I know it is quite early)those little scratches are harmless and heal very quickly, I think it is more traumatic to cover up something that comforted him for so long...

H.,

I never used mitts with either of my sons as babies. I got a bunch as gifts, but (like you said) they were more trouble than anything. I tried once. I was (am still) just very diligent with keeping the nails short. Do it when he's sleeping and it will make it 10000 times easier. You can also use a file on them after they are clipped to soften the edges. I do it for my 6 month old and I've never woken him up from a sleep while doing it.

Good luck and congrats on your little one!

T.

My daughter is 2 months, and she still occasionally scratches her face. Basically, try to keep the nails short (trim when sleeping), buy some onesies or outfits that have the turnover sleeves (many newborn outfits have these), and put socks with the tight stretchie cuff (regular socks don't stay on)on his hands. If you just happen to stretch the sock cuff, spray some water on it and throw it in the dryer for a couple of minutes to shrink the cuff. Congrats on your new baby!

Have you tried filing or cutting his fingernails? I've never used those mitts for either of my girls ~ they were more trouble than they were worth it seemed. So I just kept their nails really short. If he won't let you trim them while he's awake do it gently while he's sleeping.

im wondering if it is to dry in your home since its a cold winter, could that be, how about a humidifier, just a sugestion, im sure it will pass,

H.,
They stop once they have more control over their arm/hand movements but even then, they will still scratch themselves on occasion. Try to keep his nails trimmed (what worked for me is trimming them when he was eating -- and I couldn't use the baby nail clippers at all so I vedy carefully used regular clippers and tried to trim his nails every couple of days). If you don't feel comfortable clipping them, you can always bite them off. The onesies that have the fold over flaps for their hands are the BEST -- you just have to look around for them as they aren't always the easiest to find. Also, instead of mitts, which would not stay on my son at all, I used socks. They worked a lot better and I seemed to have tons that I didn't need (he had big feet right from the beginning and needed bigger socks). Hope that helps!

babies ALWAYS scratch themselves... don't feel bad, it happens. You can trim his nails (be careful though), and hope for the best... but trust me, he's still going to scratch himself... use those sleepers with role over sleeves that work like the mittens... then find something to pacify him, so that he doesn't put his hands in his mouth... a pacifier maybe... some babies just need to suckle more than others... good luck with your little angel... hugs, L.

My son (who is now 9 months old) scratched his face a lot in the beginning too. I just let him do it because it is more important that they learn about their hands. If their hands are covered all the time, it may delay how soon they start to grab for things, etc. A few scratches won't hurt them. Just try to keep his nails filed down - I think I filed my sons every single day to keep them from being too sharp.

Your son might have eczema if he's scratching his face rather regularly. My son had it since he was one month old and is now 3. He still has it, but it's a million times better than when he was a baby b/c he's being treated by a homeopathic Dr. Has your pediatrician said anything re your DS having eczema?
If so, here's a link to a great newsletter that our homeopathic Dr. in Naperville wrote. If you're interested to learn more, feel free to email me offlist!
http://dupagehomeopathic.com/newsletters/eczema.pdf

Keep his nails short and gently use a nail file to keep them dull.

I had to trim both my kids nails VERY early --like a few days after being home and again whenever they grew to scratching length. Buy a baby nail clipper (in baby aisle at drugstore or Target or any similar place) and baby nail files. I actually messed up a bit and cut a little too short on one child (it bled a little--and healed quickly)---they grew accustomed to having their nails trimmed and kept them from scrathcing their faces. Another benefit one nurse told me is when they are school age trimmed nails trap fewer germs and it is easier to keep them healthy. Congratulations on your new baby!!

hi,

when my girls were tiny I had the onesies that had the mitten attached. These were great, would keep their tiny fingers warm and protect their faces from scratching.

J.

www.noahbyjodi.com

I would suggest cutting his nails more often. That is the only reason we used mitts for the first week or two b/c we couldn't cut her nails.

H.,
How about getting some gowns and sleepers with the cuffs? You can fold them over to act like mittens and it keeps their little hands warm in the winter.