# what are those mittens they put on newborns for?



## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

kinda random question, but DD is sick, we've been on the couch all day, and i've seen several episodes of "bringing home baby" (which, remind me never to do again














. all the babies were wearing these mitten things. i've seen them on lots of babies before but we never had them and i don't know what they're for. can someone please enlighten me?


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## Liquesce (Nov 4, 2006)

To keep them from scratching up their faces.


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## zoeyzoo (Jul 6, 2007)

They keep the baby from scratching their face. When they come out their nails are pretty jagged and hard to trim. I used sox because I found they stayed on better.


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## Limabean1975 (Jan 4, 2008)

^^I was just coming to say the same thing. We used them - DS was born with super-long and kinda sharp nails and we didn't want to mess with trimming them for a while!


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## Anna's Lovey (Dec 24, 2008)

baby has nails and if you clip them at that age their fingers bleed. mittens are for keeping them form scratching their faces.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

yeah theyre to stop scratching. we used them for a little while. i hated it when ds scratched up his face. poor baby, lol


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## CanBoo (Nov 17, 2006)

Yeah, never used them but they are supposed to keep them from scratching their faces...
I just bit off DD's nails at the beginning.  Never had a scratch.


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## gagin37 (May 25, 2008)

ds was terrible to scratch his face up, still is actually, the mittens helped a bit, when i remembered to put them on him


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## laurelg (Nov 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CanBoo* 
Yeah, never used them but they are supposed to keep them from scratching their faces...
I just bit off DD's nails at the beginning.  Never had a scratch.

Same here! Biting them works wonders - there's no way I could cut her nails with clippers yet.


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## beadmama (Nov 3, 2007)

DD was born with a lot of hair and she would pull her hair and not realize that if she let go it would stop hurting







I used the mittens for a few weeks until she stopped trying to pull her hair. It only took three times of her pulling it to stop.

She now runs her hands/fingers through her hair when she is going to sleep


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## dogretro (Jun 17, 2008)

I had some of those mittens in the hospital & they never stayed on >: I clipped dd's nails right away (day one or two) & they did not bleed. At discharge, the nurse told me to wait until she went to the dr to clip her nails. I was like, "Haha, I already cut them!"

FTR, I cannot STAND to bite my own nails, no WAY was I biting someone else's! As others have said, though, it is effective.


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## not now (Mar 12, 2007)

Not just their faces but their eyes.

My husband frequently sees babies who have scratched cornea's from long nails. From what I hear it's _painful_. It actually happened to my boss, he co-slept with his daughter and she scratched his eye while they were both sleeping. He said it was the worst, most annoying pain ever.


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## caro113 (Aug 25, 2008)

My DD actually cut her face so badly that she bled! I don't like the mittens because she takes them off and we lose them, so I just file her nails constantly. She scratches herself (rather nasty scratch behind her ear at the moment) and both myself and DP. I guess if your baby doesn't mind them, then putting them on would be good, but mine doesn't.
The mittens are also a good idea for when they have a little eye infection. That way they can't put their fingers in their eyes and then spread the infection elsewhere.


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## nj's_mom (Jan 13, 2009)

So they don't scratch themselves. My LO had to use them for a while. I hated them, but even with her nails cut short, she'd manage to gouge herself, so they were a neccesary evil.


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## FreedMama (Feb 13, 2009)

My son never really needed them on his hands - but I used them on his feet!! Not to protect from the scratching, but to keep his feet warm. Socks always fell off, but the little mittens had a band of elastic that kept them on his feet just fine.


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## mom2a4Rashelle (May 8, 2008)

I have had 4 kiddos and never used the mittens, they wore the gowns that have the had cover-up things on the sleeves, for us was much easier


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## yasinsmama (Mar 9, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *not now* 
Not just their faces but their eyes.

My husband frequently sees babies who have scratched cornea's from long nails. From what I hear it's _painful_. It actually happened to my boss, he co-slept with his daughter and she scratched his eye while they were both sleeping. He said it was the worst, most annoying pain ever.










I've never thought about that.


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## soccermama (Jul 2, 2008)

We know of a couple that placed them on both of their babies and yes, it is to keep them from scratching themselves and others.


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## mum23boyz (Feb 14, 2009)

as the others said, to help prevent them scratching their faces. My youngest had ezcema and I could not for the life of me get those mittens to stay on, but we got a sleep sack from New Zealand called a Peke Moe and it was fabulous as his hands were 'inside' teh sleep sack all the time at naps and sleeps.


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## SpiderMum (Sep 13, 2008)

Not only did the mittens keep her from scratching herself....they kept her from scratching me! Razor baby nails on already sore nipples/breasts are not fun! It's hard to clip newborn nails.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

My DD1 scratched the corner of her eye very badly as an infant. Her fingernails weren't even very long, but she managed it anyway, and now she has a tiny scar there. So with the twins, I tried to keep their hands covered when they weren't swaddled. The mittens never worked, though. We put socks on their hands. It also, like the PP said, keeps them from scratching you.


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## leosmommy (May 11, 2008)

they are also used to prevent/discourage finger sucking. We never used them. they decrease babies' sensorimotor input when they need it the most.


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## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

hmm, thanks for the replies. DD never scratched herself, or me. i'm pretty sure DH filed her nails from the beginning, till they were able to be cut. and he's cut them ever since. that's one of his duties, since he has been cutting the cats' nails forever and never messed up


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

I used to put socks on DD's hands (see the Mom picture in my signature). She had a bad habit of digging her fingers into her eyes. She also loved to scratch me, which was less than pleasant.

I tried cutting her nails when she was very small and it was a disaster.







Poor little girl.

I never heard of the mittens. I just used what I had, which was socks.

They were really cute. I called them her sock puppets "Dinosaurus" and "Velociraptor." They looked like dinosaurs to me, and when she was tiny she made these crazy shrieking dinosaur noises.


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## 3pink1blue (Jun 23, 2008)

ive never used mittens or socks and i HATE the way they look on babies. Mine never scratched me or themselves.


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## Nimbus (Feb 26, 2007)

I used the gowns with the built-in mittens for a little while because dd would dig at her eyes when she became upset.

Maybe a stupid question, but how is it babies don't scratch themselves in utero? My dd's hand were right next to her face the whole final month. I must be missing something.


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## Chloe'sMama (Oct 14, 2008)

I also bite my dd's nails. I understand it is really not very good to cover their hands in the beginning. They need to have the ability to sense things. It is critical to their development. I would research it before putting them on a baby.


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