My 4yo daughter is a nailbiter. We have tried for a 2 yrs to break this habit. Does anyone have any suggestions?

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 01:31 pm:

Wish I did! My 6 yr. old DD is also a nail biter and I don't make a big issue out of it. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?? It's a battle I've chosen not to fight, but only because of my own personal experiences as a child. I was a nail biter and my parents were determined to make me stop. They made such a huge deal out of it! I remember all the approaches they tried, including that disgusting tasting nail polish, but nothing worked. *I* finally gave it up on my own in Jr. High when *I* wanted to wear nail polish and make my nails look pretty. It all tied in with puberty, primping and boys for me. LOL! Hopefully my DD will do the same.

By Tink on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 01:54 pm:

All three of my dks and my dh are nailbiters. I rarely even catch my kids at it but when I try to trim their nails, there's nothing left to trim! My oldest stops occasionally for a few months at a time but always restarts. I'm not stressing over it at this point. Since my dh will bite down until they bleed, I'm hoping the kids don't follow in his footsteps.

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 03:01 pm:

I was a nailbiter. And I think one of the questions is, is the nailbiting a habit from nervousness, or another reason? For me, it was that every time I felt a rough edge on a nail when I ran my thumb over another nail or something snagged, I'd try to bite the nail short. I didn't solve it until I was in my mid-30s, but solved it by buying a dozen of those diamond (I think they are sapphire now) nail files and putting them everywhere - bed table, kitchen sink, bathroom sink, table by chair where I sat for TV watching, desk, purse, and everywhere else I could think of.

I would say keep the nails trimmed/filed as short as possible, use cuticle remover to keep away those cuticle tags which are so tempting to bite at, hand cream, and patience.

You know, when they are babies we give them pacifiers. And when they start school, so many kids chew on their pencils. But at age 4 there aren't many options.

By My2cuties on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 04:03 pm:

Why not make one night a week a manicure night and trim her nails and put fingernail polish on and lotion and chill out and watch a movie while it dries, maybe that will make her want to have nails to do it. Good Luck.

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 09:48 pm:

I read a suggestion in Parents for this. Do the manicure night like Candis said, but also give 1 m&m candy for each nail she hasn't bitten. There are bitter polishes for nailbiting, but I've heard people say they get used to it, and learn to like it. A pretty color may be a better incentive! (BTW, anyone know how to make a 26 y/o stop?? Kids seem easier to bribe!)

By Monicamomof3 on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 10:01 pm:

I think Ginny has a valid point when she mentioned the nervous issue. My dd is 5 and bites her nails. I've noticed that it is a nervous issue (for her). We do manicures, etc... but unless she matures enough to deal with the nervousness in another way, a million manicure nights won't stop her. When her nails are too short to bite, she bites the skin around her little nails. After reading all of your posts, I don't think I will worry as much!!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 10:39 pm:

Crystal, I don't know about kids, but my system worked for me. Every time I felt a snag on a nail I grabbed a nail file instead of putting my nail in my mouth. Now sometimes I find my nails get too long to type properly and have to cut them back or file them down.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 10:44 pm:

I'm still a nailbiter! What works for me, personally, is keeping my nails trimmed short. I don't bite them until they bleed, though. Ouch! I'm really not a long fingernail person, anyway! I grew my nails for 2-3 weeks before my wedding, so my fingers would look nice for the ring picture. The Monday after my wedding, they were gone! My kids really weren't nailbiters.

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - 11:17 pm:

Ginny, it's not me, I hate nailbiting! Nate bites his nails and cuticles until they bleed, it totally grosses me out. He's done it since he was 5, no one can break the habit for him.

By Audreyj on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 08:16 am:

Paint her fingernails. Then try, "Now they look so PRETTY don't bite them, you'll mess up your pretty nail polish." AJ

By Bellajoe on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:15 am:

My 5yo dd started biting her nails at the beginning of this school year...she started kindergarten. She used to love to get her nails painted so i told her i am not going to paint her nails till they are long enough to paint. If you bite your nails, they aren't going to be long enough to paint. Her nails were long (well, long enough) again in no time.

By Angellew on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:31 am:

My DD (3 years old) has been biting her nails (actually just one!!!). And it drives me crazy because my DH and I don't. So... I was reading in Parents magazine (another subscriber here, Crystal!!! ) that nailbiting in a child that young COULD BE a sign of too much TV! Now, at first, I balked at this. But, the article said that TV gives a child a constant stream of stimulation, and when the child isn't watching TV, they go into a "sensory withdrawal"! Like they need that constant stimulation!!!! Kind of makes sense, I guess!

Needless to say, we have cut down on my DD TV watching, which I really didn't think was that much to begin with, but... hey, it's worth a try! I'll let you know if it makes a difference.

By Kateg on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 10:59 am:

My DD used to bite her nails & she finally stopped when we started putting fingernail polish on & she was so proud of how they looked. Did it long enough it broke the habit. Me, on the other hand, I've been a on-off again nailbiter for 33 years. I generally only bite them now when I'm driving long distances & get bored or have something I'm worried about. My husband knows the signs & he sees me start biting them & he starts quizzing me about what's wrong.

By Debbie on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 12:02 pm:

My ds who is 4 is a nail biter. He does it when he is nervous. I really don't make an issue of it with him. He used to do it all the time and now he hardly does it at all. His teacher even commented the other day that he hasn't been biting them at school lately. I am hoping that he will outgrown it as he learns other ways to cope with things.

By Hollydollyc on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 01:36 pm:

I have tried telling her that she cant get her fingernails painted until she has fingernails to paint, but she still bites. I think she does it more when watching t.v. but lately we have cut back alot on the tv! I guess I just need to file the nails every couple of days to keep them smooth! She rubs them against her cheek and when she feels something rought she will bite on them! Thanks for all the ideas.

By Pixie on Thursday, February 3, 2005 - 03:46 pm:

Wish I knew, my 6 yo DD also is a nailbiter. I am too, but the only thing that keeps me from biting mine is to get them done every two weeks getting an acrylic overlay so they are too hard to bite through - and we obviously can't do that with DD. We tried the nail polish thing I even told my DD that every friday if she didn't bite all week. I would take her to the SALON to do them (the lady who does my nails does DD for free) she gets to do "like mommy". It worked for a week. Now it works like once a month. I guess thats a start! She paints her own nails at home and naws right through them.