Hi Y'all,
My four year old recently started to bite her nails (fingers and toes!) She bites them so low that they hurt, but that does not stop her. I was a nail-biter and didn't stop until high-school, but I don't want that for her. Any advice would be appreciated.
Nail biting could be providing a comfort/anxiety relief. If it is, then the best way to combat it would be to replace the behavior with something more preferred that will replace the same relief for her.
Hi A.. Speak to your pharmacist. There is a product that you paint on the nails and it is very bitter. It usually works. Good luck.
L.
My 6 yr old daughter is the same way but I've noticed that if I paint her nails with regular polish, she doesn't chew on them - or at least not nearly as much. She is trying to keep them looking pretty because she is such a girly-girl. My only problem now is that I don't have time to do the upkeep with her every couple of days.
Hi A.-
The first thing that comes to mind is that when I was a kid I thought there was a product that you put on fingernails (similar to nailpolish) that tasted awful. I never used it myself, but I know I've heard of others using it to stop the nail biting. When I googled it I found several products out there.
The other thought is if your daughter is into girly stuff, how about offering to take her for a manicure (or just offer to do her nails yourself) if she stops biting them for a week or two?
Good Luck,
K.
What worked for me when I was little and bit my nails, was when my older sister told me, "You bite your nails and no boy will ever want to hold your hand or be your friend" I stopped biting my nails that day, at the age of 6.
Great advice from Karen. I was a nail biter all through school, it was hard to quit, but that nasty tasting nail polish I use to use and still if I needed to bite I would. I would say a type of pepper but she is only four, my folks did that to me but I was already in high school. Ask her doctor too, maybe he knows a solution.
I would paint my nails and that stoped me right away. I didnt like the chips of paint on my mouth or in there at all. Good luck.
Our wonderful dentist, Dr. Wheeler, told my 4 year old that if she continued to bite her nails she would get worms! Then we were able to find a National Geographic type photograph of magnified worms at home and she stopped on her own! She was horrified to think worms of that nature were coming from the little eggs under her fingernails.
Good luck!!
