Many of us enjoy getting a manicure every so often, but should babies have them done? A Reddit user posted a photo of a baby’s manicure in the forum Trashy that sparked a lengthy discussion on the dangers of babies having long fingernails. (1)
Baby’s Manicure Causes Lengthy Online Discussion
The online Reddit forum Trashy describes the thread as a place for “Trashy stories, trashy glamour, all things fake, plastic, and downright trashy, low-class, no-class, white trash, bimbos, and damn proud.”. (1)
About a month ago, a user posted a caption-less photo of a teeny-tiny baby’s manicure. Since then, other users flooded the comment section about the dangers of babies having long fingernails, and how they hoped that this wasn’t actually real. (1)
“Baby nails are sharp enough as it is, those things would tear your face right up.” (1) commented one user, to which another replied:
“More importantly, THE BABY’S face. An itchy eye could result in permanent blindness.” (1)
Baby Gloves
Other parents agree, explaining how thin and sharp their own children’s nails are. Despite the fact that they cut their children’s nails regularly, they are still so sharp that they make their children wear baby gloves. (1)
“Our daughter got my husband in the eye once and it [explative] him up pretty good. Had to wear an eye patch for a week and use drops. We would always be clipping them with the baby clippers but they were still always very thin and sharp, like little razors. After that incident she wore her baby mittens more often (the cloth kind).” (1)
A dad chimed into the discussion to explain that his baby wears little baby gloves, too, for this very reason. (1)
“My wife and I just had a baby and this is soo true. The amount of times I’ve seen him scratch his own face and cry in the first weeks is like in the double digits. Most of the time he wears gloves now. Also does she not breastfeed? My wife screams regularly from our son pinching her nipples and breast with his nails, even through gloves.” (1)
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The Dangers of Long Fingernails for Babies
As all of the parents commenting in the Reddit forum can attest to, babies’ fingernails are incredibly sharp. To top it off, babies’ skin is delicate, and newborns lack the motor control to prevent themselves from scratching their own faces and bodies, as well as those taking care of them. (1)
“My daughter used to scratch herself really badly as an infant even with very short nails. We had to put little baby mitts on her hands to keep her from doing so. To have a baby’s nails be this long is just straight-up dangerous.” commented one user. (1)
“Can confirm, have scars all over my face (including one very prominent one) that I scratched onto myself the day I was born” said another. (1)
Many of the Reddit users said they hoped that this was photoshop or that they are just fake nails put on for a photo as a joke and taken off immediately afterward. Many other parents commented about the risk of infection that could be fatal for a child that young, as bacteria builds up quickly underneath long nails. (1)
Beyond the concerned parents commenting, just as many people mentioned that this just looks plain gross. (1)
To conclude, the general consensus is that this photo is most likely fake, however, having fingernails this long on an infant is highly dangerous. (1) Keep your baby’s fingernails short for their safety and your own.
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Sources
- “Baby manicure.” Reddit.
