Nail Cutting

Strategies for Nail Cutting

• Prepare ahead. Talk about routine for nail cutting before you plan to do it. Pair routine with a visual schedule or first/then. For example, first snack then trim nails

• Make nail cutting a regular routine. This will help your child to predict when their nails will be cut and add it to their daily routine. Choose a consistent time to cut their nails (ie: after bath time when the nails are soft). Try to keep routine consistent with cutting nails in the same room, similar lighting and tone of voice

• Pair routine with your child's favourite comfort items or distractors (ie: watch a show while holding their stuffed animal)

• Offer choice and control. This can be done by letting them choose what hand/foot goes first, which clippers to use, whether they want to clip their own nails (age-dependent). If offering child to cut their own nails, we encourage parents still supervise this

• Talk them through each step ("one more finger left")

• Hold their hand or foot gently but securely

• Pretend to trim a toy's nails outside of regular nail routine, to help with familiarity with tools and routine

• Gently touch their fingers/toes without trimming for a few days to build tolerance, if sensitive to touch. 

• Pair nail routine with a fun activity after (ie: "after we cut your nails we can paint them a fun colour")