I have three sons who were circumcised (for religious reasons—I am not interested in evaluating the secular arguments for circumcision), and I have seen a lot of other circumcisions performed in my community, and in the vast majority of cases, the babies involved did not act traumatized; the typical behavior was for the baby to cry when his diaper was unfastened and stop when the diaper was put back on. (The only anaesthetic used in these cases was Kedem Cream Malaga.)

By comparison, cutting an infant’s fingernails has always been a squirm-and-scream-fest.