If nail biting were an Olympic sport, ds would win a gold medal. Any suggestions?

[Happy2BaMom]

Ds, 7, keeps nails picked down to the quick. Constantly. He doesn't make them bloody (PTL), but will NOT leave his nails alone. Doesn't seem to make a difference with stress or not...he picks regardless. Has been going on for about 18 months....has anyone found anything that works to help children break this habit?

 

Thanks!

[myfunnybunch]

:lurk5:

 

No ideas from me. My 7 y.o. does the same thing. At least he finally stopped biting his toenails. (No, I'm not joking.)

 

Cat

[Guest]

Maybe it's the age; my daughter bit her nails all the time at around seven, also. It stopped after about a year. Now at fourteen she has begun fiddling endlessly with her hair, which drives me equally as crazy.

[mommylawyer]

:lurk5:

 

My ds5 has been biting his nails (fingers AND toes) since he had teeth. (DD7 was the same way but mercifully stopped about a year ago...of course the threat that I wouldn't paint her nails worked with her; I don't have that option with my son.)

[Daisy]

We watched and took note of when he was doing it (he was 6-7yo). He mostly chewed his nails when watching tv, listening to read-alouds, basically any time he was expected to sit still. So we started giving him a huge carrot instead during reading time. The munching kept him busy.

 

I also made a big deal out of cutting his nails. I'd ham it up, compliment him, chit-chat with him like a hair stylist, whatever made him happy. I told him no matter what time of day it was, if he wanted his "nails done" he could come to me. I think he started coming to me with every ragged nail just for the attention but it eventually broke the habit.

[Julie in CA]

The drugstore sells stuff made to paint on the nail, that seriously discourages nail biting. It is truly disgusting tasting, and after one use my dd's never sucked their fingers again. They really wanted to stop though. I'm not sure I would've been willing to inflict that on them if they hadn't been the driving force behind breaking the habit.

 

ETA: The nail-biting polish is found where the regular nail polish/manicure stuff is. Don't make the mistake of buying the stuff made to discourage finger-sucking. It's usually sold in the pharmacy section, and didn't work worth a toot for us!

Edited April 10, 2010 by Julie in CA

[TracyR]

As a long time nail bitter to be honest there isn't much you can do, and the more you say something about it the more it stresses them out. Trust me.

I'm 33 and not until about this year I've really let up on bitting my nails. I can't say I've completely quit because once they hit a certain height I've got that urge to start bitting them again.

 

Nail bitting, in my experience, is caused by many things. Boredom is one. I've found myself just doing it because, well evidently I was bored. Second stress. Like everyone else in the world that smokes, drinks , does drugs, overeats, its a stress releaser.

I have four girls. My oldest bites her nails much worse than I ever did as a child. My last daughter bites them when she is stressed out.

Time is honestly the only thing that cures it. My mom tried everthing to get me to stop as a kid and none of it worked. She tried taking me out to get my nails done ( well then I would just chew with the edge of my teeth as not to get the nail polish in my mouth) those nail polish things they use for nail biters that didn't work either. She tried bribery, getting mad and just none of those things work. The more you make notice of it the more they will do it, because it causes stress.

 

I'm not sure what exactly causes nail bitting , I know its irritating for the other person to watch but there isn't much you can do. In the end its up to him to quit doing it.

 

My suggestion to you is if you see him bitting his nails and he is in a stressful situation , gently move his hands from his mouth and sit and talk and find out what is bothering him at that moment.

If he's doing it while watching t.v. or any other activity then say in a matter of fact voice. I think your bored. Its time to move on to something else. Those are helpful tips, that won't cure it but if it irritates you that can help to get him to stop for at least a little bit.

[sixpence1978]

My DS did the same thing this year (age 8). I took the idea from the Berenstain Bear's Bad Habit book. He was given 10 pennies (or dimes or nickels, etc...), one for each finger, at the beginning of the day. At the end of the day, he got to keep a penny for each fingernail that was not chewed. Having the money clinking in his pocket all day helped to remind him not to chew.

 

But, like the PP, we didn't make a huge deal out of it, if that makes sense. At the brief "inspection" at the end of the day, I would usually compliment how nice the fingernails that hadn't been chewed on were looking. It took some time, but he broke the habit.

[OhM]

No good suggestions - unless you're up for spending a couple thousand - I was a world-class nail biter myself, and was only "cured" of it when I got braces and physically couldn't bite them any more. If he's picking them off, too, even that might not help.

 

Sorry I can't suggest anything better - as a pp mentioned, I can remember the compulsion being so strong, it was near irresistible. The stress of wanting to not do it made doing it even more likely! Cold turkey + time worked for me - maybe you could contrive a similar cold turkey situation?

[Julie in CA]

those nail polish things they use for nail biters that didn't work either.

May I ask--why didn't it work? I got just a teeny bit of that stuff on my finger as I was painting my girls' nails with it, so I immediately tried washing and polish remover. Later in the day, I wiped my lip with my hand, not really thinking about it. Every time I licked my lips for two days after that, I would gag and retch. My girls only tried it once too, and they gagged and cried. They never put their fingers in their mouths again. Maybe I just got a super-strong batch, but I can't *imagine* being able to get past that and continue with the habit.

 

Anyway, I was just wondering if you remember why the polish didn't work?

[Happy2BaMom]

we aren't uptight about his nail biting (actually, he doesn't bite, he just picks and pulls and tears, no the liquid no-bite stuff won't work....sorry, should have clarified that up front), it's just that I know it often turns into a lifelong habit, and I'd like for his sake to stop it before it becomes that. However, I'm not going to stress him about it or punish me for it.

 

We may try the pennies approach, or some other reward program. I also liked the carrot idea...one of the main times he is picking is while he is reading, and he loves to read. I think a lot of it is due to restlessness.

 

It's nice to know other parents have this same struggle!

[FlockOfSillies]

We used No Bite It. It's a polish, and the label has "Bite It" with a red circle and a line through it. Got my then-dd5 to stop sucking her thumb. Dh and the other kids put some on their fingers in solidarity with her. It's disgusting, but effective.