There’s nothing like the warm, reflexive grasp of a newborn baby’s hand around your finger to melt your heart.
Unless, um, it looks like this:
Cute or not? ???? Photo by: unknown
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The viral photo shows a tiny hand wrapped around an adult thumb, but the baby’s nails are long, and look like they’ve been shaped to be… pointy. It’s unsettling to say the least.
As you’d expect, the internet had a very impassioned response, with one Instagram user writing, “You should cut them on a baby, long nails can be very dangerous on baby’s fingers”.
Another said, “That baby is gonna be blind or completely cut up their face,” while yet another wrote, “Who would do this sh*t to a child?!”
As a mum, the image is somewhat disturbing. The nails would have been allowed to grow long enough to shape, which is irresponsible at best, and entirely negligent at worst. Babies scratch themselves a lot, especially on their faces, so, you know, THEY COULD GOUGE OUT THEIR EYES.
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When it comes to parenting, a lot of things are up for debate – co-sleeping, bottle vs breast, dummies. But it’s generally accepted by most parents, and recommended by health professionals, that finger nails should be kept short.
Parenting site Raising Children advises, “you can gently trim fingernails and toenails as needed. You can also file them using an emery board. This means just rounding off the nails so they’re smooth”.
Pointy nails, however, are surely not a good idea.
