Small maintenance: nails and cradle cap

Medically-informed · Sources: MedlinePlus · Updated June 2026 · 3 min read

The claw situation

Newborn nails grow fast, are soft and scratch-capable. File during sleep with a soft baby file, or clip when hands are milk-drunk limp — press the fingertip pad away from the nail and clip the white edge only.

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If you nick a finger

Every parent does it once. Rinse, press briefly with clean gauze — no adhesive bandages (they're a choking risk when sucked off). Forgive yourself; the finger already has.

Is this normal for your baby?

FirstWeeks answers with your baby’s age and today’s log in mind — with pediatric sources attached.

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Cradle cap care

Yellow scales on the scalp: soft brush during the bath, optionally a small amount of plain oil 15 minutes before to loosen. It's not itchy, not contagious, not a hygiene verdict.

Ears, eyes, nose

Cotton swabs never go inside anything: wipe outer ears only, clean eye corners with damp cotton from inner corner outward, and let sneezes run the nose department.

Escalations

Redness around a nail, discharge from an eye that keeps returning, or cradle cap spreading to face and body with irritation — quick pediatrician questions, all easily handled.