My husband and his sister have bad cuticles. They describe how their mother (my mother-in-law) was always very vigorously cleaning them, pushing them back, etc. Now my husband and mother-in-law are pressuring me to do the same with our 2 kids (ages 2 and 4). However, I never did any grooming of my cuticles and my husband and mother-in-law agree they are perfect, and they cannot understand it.
If you ask me, I think my husband's cuticle problems came from his mother messing with them too much, aggravating the skin. I want to leave my kids cuticles alone UNLESS a problem develops. But they insist I just got lucky and my kids should have regular "cuticle care" to guard against having bad cuticles later.
Since I never bothered with this, I really don't know anything about cuticle care. I just do not want to create a problem that would not otherwise exist. Can overstimulation of the cuticles lead to aggravation and problems, or am I being paranoid?
I rarely mess with my cuticles. And, I've never messed with any of my kids cuticles. I'm guessing she caused much of the problem. I'd say leave them alone unless there's a problem.
My nail grooming consists of clipping and filing. I get compliments on my nails all the time...no cuticle picking and prodding. My opinion, leave them alone and tell hubby and MIL to do the same. I would think messing with the cuticles at an early age will cause them to develop a picking habit.
Leave them alone. Cuticles serve a protective function, and your kids' fingernails need that. Kids play and get dirty necessitating some vigorous hand washing. That is all the cuticle care they will need for years. Stick to your guns.
Good article here: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-cuticles.htm
"In human anatomy, cuticles or eponychia are the small folds of thickened skin at the base of each of the nails. Their purpose is to protect the area between the skin and the nail from infection. Some people hardly ever notice their cuticles, but others, especially those with dry skin, may suffer from small tears in the cuticles known as hangnails. If the cuticle is damaged, infection may result.
Properly caring for the cuticles involves keeping them well moisturized and trimming off any loose ends, but taking care not to over-trim. Infection at the site where skin and nail meet, called paronychia, is often caused by excessive manicuring, biting or tearing the cuticles, or frequent exposure of the hands to hard water and detergent, such as a professional dishwasher may experience. Stress and handling a lot of paperwork can also lead to dry cuticles. Using rubber gloves when the hands are in water and applying hand lotion or salve to the cuticles a few times a day or whenever they feel dry can help keep them healthy. If infection sets in, it may be bacterial or fungal in nature, and lancing and/or antibiotics may be required to treat it."
Read more here: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-cuticles.htm
Wow... Im sorry but that is one of the craziest things Ive ever heard of. Tell your husband all the grooming his mother did on him didn't seem to work and that you are doing it your way... by leaving them alone. A little lotion on the hands is enough!! If you need back up, tell your pediatrician and i am sure he/she will say the same thing! : / What an odd thing (for your motherinlaw) to worry so much about?!
Good luck.
Leave them alone if they are healthy and normal. I have never had a problem, except the occasional hang nail or little cut that healed with time and keeping clean and dry. My son is 14 now, and I taught him early on how to carefully trim his nails, but if your kids cuticles are like yours, I would insist that they leave them alone. Trust your instincts, or ask your doctor. Mommy knows best. Good luck.
I agree with you. I thik you will make really finicky and sensitive kids. They have plenty of time to fucons on hygeine like that. I also thing that it is a great way to introduce infection. On rare occasions I take my older daughter for a kids manicure and they always ask abotu the cuticles since most parents don't let them touch the cuticles, and certainly not trim them. Little kids have beautiful hands - leave them alone.
I say leave them alone. I have never messed with mine or any of my children and they are all good. If your kids cuticles are normal now why bother with them? I agree with you, maybe your MIL and hubby's cuticles are bad because MIL messed with them.
I say you ask the Dr. next time you see him, then you will be able to satisfy MIL's need for them to be normal by telling her that the Dr. said they are normal and to leave them alone.
I have never heard of this before...in fact I have only ever heard that you are NOT supposed to mess with them!
definitely not. sometimes my kids cuticles grow really long onto the nail and i will gently push them back after a long shower with a damp towel, but i can count the number of times ive done this on one hand. leave them alone, they serve a function.
Leave them alone. If you need to "defend" yourself, talk to your doctor/pediatrician about it and get the FACTS.
Cuticles serve a purpose - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(anatomy) - I think by messing with them and pushing on them, your MIL caused them to overgrow trying to serve the function they are there for.
Sorry that this might sound rude...but that is CRAZY! :-) I have NEVER heard of cuticle care for small children! I think you are probably right and that messing with the their cuticles too young probably lead to the problems youe husband and SIL have now. Maybe you could ask your Pediatrition and if he/she says you shouldn't mess with them your MIL might listen to the advice of a M.D.? That would probably be the tactic I would take with my MIL...
Do not mess with their cuticles. I'm a stylist and have learned all to well about this. Leave the cuticles alone until they become teens and want to start getting manicures and such. Unless their cuticles get very dry or start to split, put a little cuticle moisturizer on them. If they get hangnails, then very gently clip them at an angle.
Over clipping cuticles will need constant maintaining and can dry them out. Which is fine if you do it as an adult and don't mind routinely manicuring them, but this would just be a headache and pain for a child.
Plus, one clip too close, and cuticle cuts can bleed very much and be quite painful!
No. Especially not at that age. I spent a lot of time messing with my cuticles at a young age and caused a lot of infections. Your MIL is a little obsessive, no?
just wanted to chime in, while i don't fuss with my 6 yo cuticules, his get really super big/long/thick, to the point that they look unkempt and they also ... peel easily i guess, i was going ot say crack but it isn't that dry anyhow they are bad, and if i knew what to do i might try it. If your kids aren't that bad don't worry about it, but it they are long enough for MIL to comment maybe they are a little overgrown. i still probably won't mess with them, just because it sounds like a fight i don't want to have to get him to sit still.
I don't think you'r being paranoid. I heard somewhere that you are not suppouse to push cuticles back. That is how bacteria can get in the nails or in that area. Just keeping nails short and clean should be suficient.
I have cuticles that creep across my nails if I ignore them. it always bothered me that other people did not seem to have this problem, and I can attest to the fact that it had nothing to do with anyone messing with them---they just grow over the nails and look bad.
My mother told me that I should try brushing them with the nail brush every day, and that seems to help some, but doesn't solve the problem entirely.
Cuticles are just an individual thing---like the texture of hair. It's no one's fault.
My cousin played with her infant son's cuticle (looked like he had a hangnail, and she cut it off with clippers, I believe?) and it became infected to the point that the infection materialized into a huge lump under his arm. The doctors at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh (highly respected hospital) said they had never seen a lump that large from infection in a child that young. He was hospitalized and treated with hefty antibiotics that ultimately didn't work. He ended up having surgery to lance the infection, and had packing that had to be removed inch by inch each day.
He is fine now, THANK GOD, but this could have gotten really ugly really fast. There is absolutely NO REASON to touch a child's cuticles. None.
Leave them alone, lotion hands when its dry skin season, clean and dry fingernails are enough.
My kids and my stepdaughter all have horrible cuticles. They don't peel or crack, they just grow out very long. I had never seen anything like this before meeting my husband, so it kind of weirded me out. It drives me crazy, but I don't do anything. I have tried to push their cuticles back a bit with my nails or tools and they hate it. Stepdaughter says it feels like nails being driven into her fingers - ouch! I figure, it's a vanity thing, so why torture them? None of our kids have ever had real physical problems, just the regular hangnails now and then during dry seasons.
No you should just leave them alone. Keep their nails trimmed, but let their cuticles be. The point of the cuticle is to provide a seal for the nail. It keeps the nail bed clean and safe from infection. When you bother it, you run the risk of exposure to germs and fungus. I got this info from my podiatrist after my last nail issue. She told me not to let the ladies at the nail salon cut my cuticles anymore.
