Nail Biters

Tanya - posted on 10/05/2009

Have you bitten yours infront of her?? cause sometimes its what they have seen usually mum bite theres,im guilty of that,what i did when i noticed my girls bit theres as well ,was i said ok lets grow our nails they will look much more pretty.So we painted our nails and she would not bite them cause she wanted to be the same as me...hopefully this can help..:-) oh and good luck i know its a terrible habit :-)

Martha - posted on 10/04/2009

Quoting angelina:

putting sauce on your childs hands is considered abuse. I would not encourage this. My 8 year old son also does this. You need to understand the reasons behind it. when does she seem to do it the most or when does it occur and how often?! Some children do it out of anxiety or something is causing them stress and resort to fingernail biting. Solutino: You could give them something( small) to hold, i.e. sqeezable balls, rubber balls. A great idea is to fill a balloon with play sand and have her squeeze it or play with it. She could keep it in her backpack or something that she can carry around with ther. Now if she has this problem at school-you could talk with ther teacher to allow your daughter to do this in the classroom-My son is allowed to have a small squishy ball in his desk so as to help him decrease his nail biting. I also carry one with me so if I see him biting his fingernails, I give him the squishy ball.

I think if a doctor or pediatrician tells a parent to do something they usually believe it is safe and not abuse. I do not disagree with you, I just want to let the moms know that doctors are wrong sometimes too. Use your heart and your motherly instinct.  Do what you think is best for YOUR child.

Angelina - posted on 10/04/2009

putting sauce on your childs hands is considered abuse. I would not encourage this. My 8 year old son also does this. You need to understand the reasons behind it. when does she seem to do it the most or when does it occur and how often?! Some children do it out of anxiety or something is causing them stress and resort to fingernail biting. Solutino: You could give them something( small) to hold, i.e. sqeezable balls, rubber balls. A great idea is to fill a balloon with play sand and have her squeeze it or play with it. She could keep it in her backpack or something that she can carry around with ther. Now if she has this problem at school-you could talk with ther teacher to allow your daughter to do this in the classroom-My son is allowed to have a small squishy ball in his desk so as to help him decrease his nail biting. I also carry one with me so if I see him biting his fingernails, I give him the squishy ball.

Martha - posted on 10/04/2009

My 7 yr. old bites her fingers. They look awful, I know they must hurt. Rachel gave advice on using hot sauce, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I have tried the nail polish as well. It did not work and I won't do it anymore for fear that it may make her sick. I am trying a special allowance of 50 cents a week for each week that I do not see her biting her nails. She may still bite them but it gives her a reason to try her hardest not to bite them when she is around me. I have yet to see if this works. *sidenote* I am a stay at home mom so I am around her all the time. but if your a working mom you could ask the sitter to let you know if they saw your child(ren) biting there nails.

Rachel - posted on 10/04/2009

Have your tried putting something like hot sauce or just something else with a bad taste on her fingers? I have not had this problem, so I am not sure of what would work. I just know I have heard of people putting hot sauce on their kids thumbs to get them to stop sucking them.