4 Yr. Old with Nervous Habit _How to Break It??

When my daughter was between 3 and 4 she chewed excessively on her fingernails. I spoke to the pediatrician, and she said to completely ignore it. We did, and she stopped doing it within a few weeks, started it up again, and stopped again.
Not sure how long your daughter has been doing this, try to wait it out patiently.
Maybe you can help her by NOT BUYING new clothes, just explain that she will have to wear these until they don't fit anymore. But I would only do this if you think your daughter chews on clothes to get your attention.
Sometimes kids would love to stop their annoying behaviour, but can't help it. And then it would be pretty devastating to your daughter.

Take her to the ped. It's important to rule out pica, a nutritional imbalance characterized by eating non-food things. I think it's easy to treat if caught early. Good luck!

Hello. I may be way off base with this, since my children don't have this issue - but I happen to have 2 separate friends whose daughters have this issue, so I've read a tiny bit about it. It may be that your daughter is trying to develop her "vestibular system" - you can google this. One therapy that helps develop this system is chewing. One of my friends whose daughter has been officially diagnosed with problems with her vestibular system told me that her daughter always used to chew the cuffs of her shirts and would chew holes in all of them. My sister-in-law is an occupational therapist and she told me kids with this issue often are allowed to chew gum in school, or are given one of those plastic coil keychains that they can chew on. Another thing that helps the vestibular system is hopping. When you take your daughter for her kindergarten screening they are supposed to see if she can hop on one foot. If not, they are supposed to look into whether or not it is her vestibular system, bur since most don't understand what the purpose is even all about, it often gets overlooked. It is difficult for kids whose vestibular system is not yet developed to pay attention in school - they are often diagnosed with ADD. This may not be the problem at all, but you should probably ask your pediatrician. Good luck.

It sounds like something very serious and I would consult with your pediatrician right away.

Hi D.,

Well, that certainly is an expensive little habit. As previous responders have said there are some possible physical causes for excessive chewing and earlier respondes hit on them. I would bring it up to your pediatricion for his/her input. Odds are it is just a habit.

Nervous habits can be very hard to break. I know for sure the more attention that you give it the worse it gets. For now I would keep her in her old clothes to save money and pray she moves past this habit quickly.

If you can identify if there are any new stressors in her life that would be helpful. Any major changes? Preschool? Move? New sibling? Marriage difficulties? Overstressed mom? Nervous habits are a manifestation of anxiety and some children are more prone to them then others. They are usually transient. Best Wishes.

J. L.

At the start of school, my 6yo started biting her fingernails. It was stress related. Nothing helped, until someone on the Mamasource board recommended a bribe. Now, normally, I do not like bribes, but nothing else was working. Plus, my daughter can be goal driven---and it worked. Our deal was as soon as her nails grew so that I could clip all 10 of her fingernails, she could get a Webkinz, which she desperately wanted. I made very few reminders along the way, and instead of saying don't bite, I'd just say "Webkinz" to remind her of her goal. It took months, but she did it and now the bad habit is over. You could try a similar tactic, with a deadline or goal or something.

My daughter did this chewing thing too at the same age, mostly on clothes and crayons, for about a year. I was worried, but it stopped. I'm not saying not to investigate the cause of the behavior, but my sense is these kind of things are developmental and will pass.

THEY ALL DO IT!! I thought my son was the only one and then I discovered that his friends do it too. It is like having a gerbil eating thru the shirts and sucking on the them too ;-) It will pass, eventually.