"Jeff" wrote in message ...

"kalanamak" wrote in message
...

Pardon, I'm new at this. 2 year old, very active in dirt, gets it under
his nails. If I trim back all the way, I hit skin every now and then,
and I don't want to do this for obvious reasons. I've tried getting him
to claw soap (he likes doing this) and scrubbing it out (he hates doing
this). Not sure he'd hold still for an orange stick, but maybe with some
really special treat. This is a daily problem, usually fixed by an hour
at the Y's pool, but he doesn't go ever single day.

BTW, it seems to be the swelling of skin by soaking in water that
PUSHES dirt out from under fingernails. It's not primarily a matter
of the dirt dissolving in the pool.

Why is it a problem? I would wash his hands very well with a soap and water
and a wash cloth, and let it go. It won't hurt him (even if some gets into
his food -- he will just poop it out).

Depends what the dirt is. Consider pinworms and some other kinds of
parasitic worms.

Robert