My daughter just turned 9 and still has a problem with bitting her nails. This past Lent season she did give up bitting her nails and she was sooooo excited that she finally had "long" nails. Her father and grandfather both offered to treat her to a manicure after Easter. Well, two days after Easter she bit them off. Just some history - when I was pregnant I was determined not to give my child a "binkie". That was short lived when I realized that she had a strong sucking urge. Instead of having her use me as a pacifier, I decided to give her one. Once she found her fingers, she preferred them over the pacifier. She did stop sucking here finders on her own when she was 5 but continued to bite her nails. (Her father has always been a nail bitter but he finally stopped this past year to be a better role model to our daughter). The problem is during the school day. When she is home, she chews gum which helps her to keep her fingers out of her month. When ever I see her with her fingers near her mouth, I tell her to stop. I know she does not realize she is doing this most of the time. Painting her nails also helps some - she peels the polish off instead of bitting her nails. But we don't always remember to paint her nails every couple of days. Any suggestions on how to keep her from biting her nails during school?
I really don't think it's a big issue to worry about. My mother did it for all the years I was growing up. She never stopped until she had artificial nails put on for my wedding. That was almost 12 years ago.
I think the reward system is a good way to go. She knows she can control it, as she did it for Lent and was excited for her success with that.
Wish I had a great answer for you. I too have tried everything. I tried the bad tasting poilsh, painting nails daily, doing a reward chart daily with stickers and a bigger reward (like manicure) when the chart is filled. I've tried taking something away and giving it back as a reward when nails are not bitten. I've tried taking picutres of them when they are biting their nails to see how gross it looks, and even taking pictures of their nails bitten and a nice pair of nails to look at as incentive. I tried the education route about germs. I even found pictures of petrie dishes that show the growth of bacteria from fingers of nail biters vs non-nail biters. It shows a ton of e-coli growth which is in feces. Even this did not deter for very long. I tried figuring out if there was anything at school they were nervous about, but there was nothing unusual. Some kids just worry about little things like, what if the teacher calls on me and I cant' answer, who will play with me at recess, what if I am the last picked for a team in gym, etc. I spoke with my pedi, she said that it is a very common habit for kids and more than 50% stop in their teen years, some continue throughout their life. Honestly, I bit my nails until I was in my 20's and wanted nice nails to be in my sister's wedding. Even then, I had to work on it on a daily basis. I have found if I work with my girls daily, they do better, but if I forget, so do they. If you find a good solution that works, I would love to hear it and try it with my girls. Good Luck!
If she doesn't care about biting her nails or not then there is very little you can do. If she wants to stop but does it without realizing it, then you can use one of the products on the market that are put on the nails like nail polish but are invisible once they dry and have a very bitter taste. The taste will be a reminder of what she is doing and it will stop her. You need to apply it every 2 or 3 days as it wears off. If she wants to bite her nails anyway she can get used to the taste and peel it off. (I have had a nail biter under each category)
There are several brands of this and can be found in drugstores in the nail polish area, one that comes to mind is "Bite Off". You may have to ask an employee where it is, as it has a small display between all the other nail care products.
Good luck!
Years ago, I heard about a nail "polish" that tastes terrible. It's specifically designed to help break the nail biting habit. I don't know if they still make it - or if the ingredients are safe to ingest. Maybe you can look for it and if you find it look at the ingredients. If it's made in the U.S.A. it's probably safe. Good luck!
This may sound silly as she is 9 years old, but try carmax lip balm rubbed on her fingers or lemon rind. Both are edible as one is meant for lips and the other is food obviously. The key is they taste gross. You can discuss it with her and help her do it or you can do it for her while she sleeps. Sometimes its a mental thing and she may prefer not to know it's there and then when her fingers pop into her mouth....surprise....yucky taste. She will have to do this for a good 2 weeks to a month until she basically trains her mind to keep away from her fingers. I suggest the lemon rind,that taste is just nasty and it tends to stay with you. The carmax works great with little ones, it is just a very perfumy, yucky taste. Good luck!
I had the same problem, and it is a hard habit to break becasue your right you don't realize your doing it. My mom bought me nail polish that tasted really and I do mean REALLY bad, and that worked. It's clear and it doesn't "feel" like you have polish on at all so you can't sit there and peel it off. I just now started NOT biteing my nails at all ( it went from "something to do", to a nervouse/stree reliver thing. I kept telling my youngest daughter to stop biteing her nails, and in the same breath biteing mine, so I bought that "green tea" nail polish and it works. I actually have my OWN natural nails, and if when they break I paint them again with it and within 2 days their back to being long again ( and to strong for me to bite). I agree with the 1st response you got, a reward system sounds good ( but the cost of a manicure would strat to get expensive if she bites them off soon after, so maybe a trip to the store to let her pick out a new color of polish, just for her)!!!!
She needs some re-direction. She obviously has an oral fixation. I worked in a school with an boy who HAD to chew on something - it actually helped keep him focused. It was always soemthing he shouldn't be chewing on. So the Occupational Therapist had some great "chew toys" that attached to the end of his pencil or that he could wear around his neck. Talk with her teacher to see if anything like this would be available for your daughter.
I have a nail biter too who also happens to be 9! She never took a pacifier and I had offered it to her, so I would tell you not to be too hard on yourself about that! My daughter does it out of nervous habit... one of the many things I will talk to her pediatrician about! I will read on to see if you receive any good suggestions!
Its emotionally based. Nervous condition, not a "bad habit"
I think it is genetic. My husband and brother both do. My daughter is 21 and bites her nails. My brother is 58 and bites his nails. I think there are more important issues to stress about without creating a big issue out of this which is self perpetuating. Really basied in insecurity.
I was a nail biter, still am somewhat. As a child not much helped! My mom did try this stuff that you can buy that you "paint" on the child's fingers that tastes really awful when the child puts her fingers in her mouth. Nail polish helped when I got older and more aware of being "fashionable" (I didn't want to ruin my manicure). And unfortunately, always pointing out her habit tends to reinforce it! You could try a reward type system with charts and things. Maybe trying to get her to stop her fingers in her mouth for say, an hour, then after that, 2 hours, to the morning, to all day at school etc. Set up something that she can succeed at and maybe that will motivate her. Good luck. It's a rough habit to break (I know, mine isn't broken yet!).
Obviously there is some heretary thing going on. I bit my fingernails down to the bone -- a nervous child to say the least. If you have a Walgreens near you, they have a product specifically geared to nail biting. My mom used to put a peppered nail polish on my fingernails that was repulsive. Don't know if that can help, but it is worth a try.
I am a nail biter myself, I'm 38 and have been gnawing at my fingers my whole life. My mom tried everything and nothing worked for long. Even that bad tasting stuff on my nails, the urge to bite and gnaw was so strong, I actually just got used to the taste after a while it would wear off anyway. The only strtch of time I stopped biting was when I would get a weekly manicure which I paid for. If I just painted them myself I would peel or scratch off that polish in no time. But it was the money I spent on the manicures I didnt want to go to waste. I don't even do the manicures anymore though so I am still biting. Even through college I tried all the behavioral things I could think of rewards, rubber band snapping,. .. This happens to be an extremely hard habit to break for a nervous or restless type person, you do it unconsciously, hand to the mouth without even realizing. The idea of giving her a chew necklace makes some sense as long as she has it all the time, but as you get older it's not so cool to be chewing on a necklace, and as soon as that's gone it's likely back to the fingers again. Maybe the breathing and yoga as someone else suggested could help her over time relax that nervous energy inside her and make it easier for her to stop on her own. Maybe I should try this one myself! Good luck, This is coming from someone who's front tooth is visibly worn down from this habit! UGGG!
Don't beat yourself up about using a binkie; it happens to all of us. From my experience in pediatrics the nail biting is not the cause / root of the problem---it's probably a comfort to her as she's dealing with another problem that she may not realize is affecting her. Hypnosis can reveal to her what is really bugging her and once she discovers what it is then you'll know what you have to handle with her and the nail bitting will end.
I am a stay at home mom of a 5 1/2 month old. Her father and I are terrible nail bitters. I asked the pediatrician about this. He said that she is more than likely going to be a nail bitter because of us. I am trying to encourage both myself and my husband to stop before she will start emulating us. My parents tried everything when I was a kid. I like the idea of her giving up nail bitting for Easter. I did that countless times as a kid. I use to and still put nail polish on my nails. The trick is not to have too many coats. The more coats of nail polish you have, the easier it is to peel off. As for school, maybe you can tell the teacher to keep an eye out.
I think short term goals are good. IE: give her a manicure after not bitting for 2 days, then a manicure after not bitting for one week, etc. I know that you work but maybe you can have your daughter go for a maicure after work so she can see the immediate results instead of waiting for that weekend. I wish you much luck.
Hi R.,
It sounds like your daughter has some strong oral stimulation needs. Have you ever read "The Out of Sync Child"? It is an excellent book on sensory integration dysfunction (and has great tips on helping those hypo or hyper sensitive kids). I think this book is a must read for any parent - because the suggestions help kids of all types deal with any sensory needs whether they have SID or not.
One of the suggestions I've used with my 10 yo ds is to give him a "necklace" of aquarium tubing to chew on (much better than his former habit of chewing on his shirts!). There are also Occupational Therapy catalogs online that sell items made especially for oral stimulation needs.
Since she'll peel her nail polish as an alternative to biting her nails, unless she's chewing the polish off (is she?) it could also be a figeting issue. There are loads of other things she can figet with - velcro stuck to her desk (my son loves this one), "stress" balls, the "figets" the OT catalogs sell. My son has also used those.
Good luck!
Is she the nervous type? I have always been that type and I bit my nails -and chewed the tops of my fingertips- from 6 to 16. I only stopped when I had a strong enough motivation: looking pretty to attract boys.
I'm 46 now and in the old times the Nuns at school put some bitter liquid on my nails, tried also painting them with Tabasco sauce...you named, they tried everything....and nothing worked for long. If she stops that habit she probably will pick another one -like most people do. She probably will twirl her hair or bite the inside of her cheeks -which, unfortunately, I'm still doing on occasion.
So my advice is to work on teaching her to relax more. Some breathing routines, yoga etc.
I'm glad you remind her to stop when you see her doing it. We really don't realize we're doing it, so that helps a lot.
So really there isn't an easy fix. Sorry I can't suggest any cure!
Good luck.
L.
