From birth, you’ll find that babies have razor sharp nails that seem to grow at a record pace and I can’t fathom why this happens. But what I do know is that it’s a must to file them down and keep them blunt at all costs!
Seeing your newborn baby develop a unbeknown-to-them-self-inflicted scratch on their precious little face is one of the worst feelings ever, especially when they seem to appear out of nowhere, so to avoid this, I find and according to my experience, it’s best practise to file down baby’s nails every 2-3 days. This is where every second day is the optimum time to file baby’s nails again. Three days is the absolute maximum amount of days before you reach what I call the danger zone which is on the 4th day. The danger zone being when you can almost guarantee that if baby’s nails are left unpruned, she may gain a scratch or scratch you😩.
Scratch mittens are good and I used them when I couldn’t file baby’s nails for whatever reason in the earlier days but you might find that you feel as a parent, that covering up a new baby’s hands feels
quite punitive and restrictive. It may prevent baby from exploring, using her hands and eventually developing her fine motor skills. Keeping baby’s hands free, I imagine, would promote dexterity and the like, so I think its best to allow their hands to have free range of movement, wherever possible
So frequent filing is the way forward.
Notice so far, I haven’t mentioned clipping or cutting the nails as I found, these methods of nail care to not be appropriate for baby. Babies don’t want to lie or sit still for sustained periods of time, so I find using sharp scissor blades or a nail clipper dangerous to use with a newborn. I’ve heard of babies’ little fingers drawing blood when a caregiver cuts baby’s nails too deep, and I wanted to avoid this problem straight out of the gate.
Initially I purchased the Thumble, the wearable baby file, as it has many high ratings on Amazon and it’s won tonnes of awards, but this didn’t work for me. The idea was to file baby’s nails, but baby didn’t want to stay still enough for me to glide the Thumble back and forth across the edge of baby’s nails, so I invested in the Tommie Tippee Baby Electric Nail File, and I don’t regret it!
Here, I’ve listed my thoughts on the Thumble, so you can have a read and make your own informed decision on it…
I am now able to file baby’s nails in no time. All I need to do its hold baby’s fingers and toes steady enough (at the right angle- this is very important) up against the rotating abrasive pads, and then I let the file do all the work for me. These pads are course enough to remove the nail but gentle enough not to buff away baby’s delicate skin. It’s amazing. Baby doesn’t even flinch, not even slightly when we are using it, so that’s how I know it’s baby approved!
The kit comes with three different colour attachment heads for baby. They go from a lightly coarse texture to a heavier material to be used according to baby’s age. The other three heads are for adults, but I don’t like to mix my stuff with baby’s things, so I won’t be using the other heads. The light peach/ orange pad is advised to use for babies from ages 0- 3 months, the light chartreuse green is to be used from months 3 to 12. And the blue is used from 12 months onwards. As you can see I’ve used the blue head to death, and so this lead me on a quest to find replacement heads for this tool. To my surprise, I couldn’t find Tommie Tippee selling replacement heads anywhere, so I looked all over Amazon and found and bought these additional file pads that are compatible for this model. One small thing I don’t like about this nail file is that the heads have to be discarded after use, once they become redundant due to the abrasive property of the pad is worn
down. As in, they aren’t recyclable, and I guess for hygiene reasons they shouldn’t be, but I can’t help but think about all the little plastic file heads that I would be a repeat purchaser and discarder of, and how that may impact the environment negatively.. That’s my only qualm with this product. That and as a whole, it’s a bit on the clunkier side.
As for how the tool works, it has 4 settings once switched on, at two different speeds and two different directions of rotation, clockwise and anticlockwise. “R1” and “R2” are for the right rotation of the filing head, “1” being the slower rotation speed and “2” being the quicker rotation which I find the most effective, and “L1” and “L2” ditto’s the same function as “R1” and “R2” respectively, but as you can imagine it rotates the filing head in the opposite direction, leftwards.
The file comes with a travel case, which I always like. Even though I don’t like the Thumble, I’d consider taking that on holiday with me rather than the electric file if I’m going to be away for a short time, becuase personally when I travel, I need to intentionally travel light, because I will take everything and the kitchen sink with me. I feel like the nail file will take up space and weight that I don’t need for it to take up for a short stay. And I don’t want TO pay excess luggage charges (it’s that deep) BUT having said this, I’m happy that the electrical nail file comes with its own case, so I can take it away with us if we chose to and at home, it makes it easier to stow away, and keeps her nail file organised.
The nail file also comes with a LED light that shines on the nail and can be used at night time. I could only dream of being able to file baby’s nails at night time. Sleep? 404 Error! If I file baby’s nails at night, where is sleep? My baby is such a light sleeper, if I attempt to file her nails at night, that would be it for me that night I reckon. That night the only place I’d be able to find the even concept of sleep is in the dictionary or something. But if your baby can sleep through getting their nails filed down, it’s nice to know that the integrated light can be used, while keeping the main light off and the room dark, if you choose.
The LED light and the rotating function of the file is powered by x2 AA batteries. According to the instruction manual, a battery provides 3.5 hours of filing.
I haven’t had to change the battery in the 8 plus months of having this file. I’m please that I haven’t had to experience that annoying thing where you are in the middle of filing and you need to get a battery to replace the old one. I’m happy that so far I haven’t had to swap a change through a load of batteries.
To piggyback on what I mentioned earlier, I reckon if your baby sleeps well at night or is a deep sleeper and you can file their nails while they’re sleeping, I think that would be the best way to go about this task. Filing babies nails while they’re awake has proven to be a mission as they love to wriggle while you try to hold their hands still. In baby’s earlier days. I used to file her nails while breastfeeding. Multitasking is my thing. I felt like the guzzling of milk served as a distraction to her, and maybe it slightly sedated her, either way, it worked, but it didn’t work forever. Now I’m able to file baby’s nails quick enough, in an amount of time that is just long enough to get the job done due to the electric nail file. Any longer trying to file baby’s nails, for example if i was to file them manually, I’d have one or two fingers still sharp due to not being able to get through them all, which isn’t good enough.
I also team this nail file with the 3-in-1 Nose, Nail and Ear Picker by Frida Baby which I’ve reviewed here, in order to get that gunk which may have settled beneath her nails.
Honestly, I’d say, if you want a hassle free time filing baby’s nails, just pay the £19.99 and get this. I think it’s worth it. For those of you who like a discount, for a limited time only, you can grab 20% everything on the Tommie Tippee website with code “HOT20“!
Let me know if you file your baby’s nails at night. Is this a thing? Am I missing out on this? Let me know if you have any hacks regarding filing babies nails
Afia 💜
High End Mama 
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