Help with Nail Biting - Farmington,MI

We are working on the same problem with our daughter. What has worked so far, is a reward chart. She gets a sticker for every day she doesn't bite her nails, and after so many stickers she got a reward. It was a reward for soemthing she wanted, not a little throw-away. IT gave her the motivation to try. We started out with 7 days in a 2 week period, then upped it to 7 days in a 10 day period, then 1 full week. It did work, but... she did fall back ( after about 6 months of not biting) and we had to rebreak it.If that happens be patient with her, and get it from the get-go. Start over again with the reward to get her excited about breaking the habit. It is a very dificult habit to break, I don't know why. Once the habit is broken, you might want to get her into the habit of having something to do with her fingers, like a fidget in her pocket, to prevent those fingers from going back into her mouth until she really does outgrow it. Good luck!

It has been my personal experience (at her age, too.) that this is a sign of nerves or stress. Do you notice if she is doing this randomly, all the time, etc.? I sometimes to this day attack my nails when I am under the most stressful situation.

At your daughter's age, I found exams to be highly stressful for me (even to this day! LOL~).

The time I was able to stop biting my nails: was when I was on immune-suppressants. I then realized that if I was in between hand washings and if I bit my nails, I risked becoming ill. Even now it happens. As for infections, if she is practicing good washing skills, she should be fine. You could always put an antibacterial cream on her hands at night (or when she is asleep if the nails are particularly bad.) as this will add some moisture and protect the skin. Olive oil works well too (I pick if I have dry skin when I am stressed!)

When she is older, I think she will realize that she wants long nails when her friends have them in school ~ I did! (just watch for cuticle biting.)

Also, I find with my son if I make less of an issue out of things, he responds better! (Go figure!)

As long as she is not able to bite or pick at the toe nails too~ less washing occuring compared to our hands, as there is more bacteria from sweat (hosting the germs, etc. making it the perfect breeding ground), shoes, carpet and ground.

By the way, this works on me: when I have onion, garlic or lemon juice (lemon juice is actually a very good nail conditioner when mixed with warmed oil and soaked on the nails) on my hands, I rarely pick! (too bitter & sour, plus I hate the smell of the onion/ garlic when it is raw!) Of course, if she had bitten the nails down too low, it can sting~ maybe as a prevention in between?
Or get a flavor in 'essence form' from the health food store that she does not like and apply it. Essences are natural and will not harm her if she takes a bite! (I never was stopped with conventional Bitter nail treatments!) I have to keep after myself as I risk infection with my job if I have open sores on my hands (so I apply liquid bandage or super glue if I am out- if I really have to!).

Good luck and I hope she grows out of it! ;)

Eeeww...one of my pet peeves. As well as my many other hats I am a licensed nail tech. One approach I find works well is to remind her of how dirty her fingernails are. Honestly, she would be better off biting her toenails. Of course that is ridiculous and nobody would do that, but it's true as far as germs go...sweat doesn't make you sick (although the thought of it may!) and unless one has fungus (more eeewww) your feet are cleaner than your hands! Depending on how in-depth you'd like to go, find a place to do a scraping from under her nails and have it analyzed...costly Im sure, but it would get the point accross! Remind her of all the things that she touches every day that she wouldn't want in her mouth! Even frequently washed hands are NOT clean under the nails, especially kids, unless you (like in the medical field) scrub your nails too...which most kids don't even under the best watch!

I have cured many nail-biters with this method...in fact, I am one who used to always have a pen in my mouth while doing paperwork...that is, until I started working in medicine!! LOL

Good luck!

~L.

I was a nail biter as a child and continue to do it as an adult. I have never had an infection myself, my mom used to worry like you do that I would get one. When I was younger my mom did the manicure thing as an incentive. It worked but only for a short time. I am guessing that she will either grow out of it or not. Lot's of adults have this "bad habit" I am sure it's just a nervous habit. Maybe ask your doctor. My only other suggestion is maybe just cut her nails short so she can't get to them. Or maybe you can find some kid press on nails so that they being her nails are harder to get too.

Hi S. -

Nail biting is a nervous habit. It relieves stress. I used to bite my nails until I got pregnant. Now I don't bite them at all. I've found that two of my three boys tend to bite their nails, too and it's always when something is bothering them. A change in routine, tests coming up in school, etc. Try to be patient with her and try to evaluate if something might be bothering her when she does bite her nails. She may not even realize she's doing it. As long as she keeps her hands clean I wouldn't worry about infection. Even if she did get an infection that might be just the thing to make her quit biting. Cuticles can hurt when the nails are bitten too low and made extra sensitive. A little antibiotic ointment with a bandaid for a couple days will clear any kind of infection right up.

Good luck - S.

I used to bite my nails until when I was about 7 I started to notice how nice adults nails looked and wanted mine to look like that too. once I decided I wanted to quit I did (I still bite my cuticles if they are grabbing things and I dont have nail clippers handy). I would just leave it be for another year or two to see if she outgrows it.the habbit might break when she looses her front teeth and it is a little harder to bite her nails. and like another poster mentioned the less it seems to matter to you the better chance she will stop (control thing with kids, if it dosen't get a reatcion it isn't worth doing).