All Most 3 Yr Old Nail Biter.

Try malva stop on whatshebuys.com. We used it for my daughter's thumbsucking. It works like a charm and tastes horrible. As for the reason she is biting, you may need to look at some anxiety or problems going on in the home that she is picking up on.

Maybe, trying to give he somethngelse to doassoon as starts biting her nails, the very familiar change the channel.If she starts biting tell ask her to help you with one of thelittle ones, getting a toy or playing a game.

I use to lick my lips so bad that the would red almost to my chin and so sore. My parents at first used alum powder just mix it with vasilene. Than I got use to it and so my dad went to the animal store and got no chew they put it on fence posts to stop horses from chewing on them. It is the worst thing I have ever tasted still but it worked.

There is nail biter nail polish. It is clear and I think it is called nail biter. If I remember correctly it is in a brown bottle that you can get from Wal-Mart. Maybe also, you can try to bribe her and let her know that when she stops you will be able to paint her nail "pretty". Also, is she biting because she has some anxiety? Just try to notice when she is biting and what is going on at that time. I used to bite my nails. It was because I was nervous, and it is a very bad habit. I started when I was young, but my mother also bit her nails to and I think I picked it up from her...good luck!

They do have this i use it on my daughter. Its called Stop Bite and i got it at Walmart in the clear nail polish area, with the strong nails, press ons, ect.

The stuff you paint on is called "THUM". Ask for it at the pharmacy in Target.

You know my daughter who is six started this up, then my three year old followed her lead on this nasty habit! I added it to our behavior chart as points added or taken away for this habit. I then proceeded to talk to them about germs, what nails can hold onto even after a hand washing and that if they get short enough it can lead to them being super sore.
I then just let it go and would casually remove their hands away from their mouth when either did it, or clear my throat and cut them a look. I am happy to say that after four weeks now nobody is doing it!!! They both got happy faces for me not having to say anything to them each day and frownies for days I had to tell them several times. My daughter is so happy about her nails growing she wants me to polish her nails again (something I stopped when the biting started), I watch their nails and keep them trimmed to prevent much from being able to be chewed on or bitten. It is a germ fest when kids are in school under their nails and I think my first grader that is what helped her stop and I think her brother then followed her lead again on stopping! Who knows but I finally got it to stop!! Good luck

I'm interested in the responses as well. My 4 year old son bites his finger and toe nails! Yuck!

You can find the icky nail polish in a health food store. My granddaughter didn't like the taste of hand sanitizer after she had put it on her hands, so that might help also. My oldest daughter, mother of my granddaughter, even bit her toe nails! It looked hilarious, but grossed me out! If she was a little older, or if you think it would faze her, you could find a picture of what is inside of our fingernails under a microscope and show it to her. I did that with my oldest daughter and she never bit her nails again. (Inside our fingernails there are microscopic worm looking things, not very scientific language, but it's enough to stop some from biting their nails!) Good luck to you. And if all else fails, go to a health food store and get the yucky nail polish.

I am a mother of 5, ages 28 to 12, and a grandmother of 5.

I don't have any advice for you, but I do know what you're going thru. My son also bits his nails, and has since he was 2. He's 4 1/2 now. I never see him do it, but I look at his nails and they are chewed down so far! He has had a chewing problem for some time...chews up toys and books and even furniture, and I've been able to put a stop to that by just making a comment about him doing it when I see it happen, but that hasn't worked for his nails. Mostly because I don't see him doing it. So if you find something that works, send me a message!! I'd like to know. :)

see if you can find out why she is doing it. pay attention to when she does it. is she anxious about something. give her a replacement activity. don't shame her. maybe she needs something in her mouth. maybe you can give her something to suck on like a doll or a stuffed animal

I don't know if there is anything you can or should do. Maybe just ignore it and hope for the best.

I bit my nails from 3 yrs old until I was 50 and started getting acrilic (sp) nails. I had them done every two weeks until I was 71 yrs old and stopped because I was moving to Boise from Arizona. I never got set up with another tech and I haven't had them done here because I finally don't bite my nails anymore.

I tried as a teenager to stop biting them but it never lasted very long.

There are worse habits that bitting your nails. Just leave her alone and see what happens.

M. b

It sounds like you have your hands full with three toddlers. I know this may sound funny, but could this be a way she is getting attention from you. As negative as it may be. Instead of the nasty tasting nail polish, I would try the prettiest color with nail stickers and then clear coat. Have it be Mommy and me time when the younger babies are napping. It's a wonderful way to bond with your little angel and she may not want to chew off her pretty nails with the fancy stickers then.

My daughter bites her finger nails when she is nervous or stressed. When she started preschool, and then kindergarten. We tried the stop biting nail polish stuff and it did not work for us. I hate to say this, but finally I told my daughter for every finger nail we were able to trim with clippers she could earn an m&m. It worked. I really was not thrilled with the idea of rewarding her with candy, but it worked.

Hope this helps!

J.

my 4yo boy was doing this, my hubby is a dentist & wanted this corrected asap - he went to Sandra Coulson - 2121 s. oneida st., stuite 633, denver 80224 ###-###-####) - she is a specialist & is a miracle worker! She has now stopped one 4 yo from biting his nails, one 4yo from sucking his thumb & a 2.5 yo from sucking their thumb! (yes, all mine)N.

Hello L., In order to address the stress related causes of your daughter's nail biting, I recommend, "How to Talk So Kids will Listen and Listen So Kids will Talk," by Faber and Mazlish. With two younger siblings in the house now, your daughter may need to express some things to you and you may want some extra skills for responding to her (and your other children.) Enjoy! ~T.

My 8 year old bites her nails when she is bored (watching TV) or stressed about something. It's like thumb sucking, something she does for comfort. It is now a full fledge habit. I try not to degrade her when she is caught. I just let her know that if I can see the whites of her fingernails, than I can put on a pretty color. Sometimes we get there and sometimes we don't. I also had this habit. My mom put me in piano lessons finally at age 9. If she caught me biting my fingernails, she would send me to the piano to keep my fingers busy. It changed my nervous habit over to the piano. And when I found my fingers needing something or was stressed, I would play the piano. My mom used to say, she could tell what my mood was in by how I played the piano. Not that you want to wait that long to break a habit, but you may find something she can do with her hands when you notice her biting. Is there a certain time or situation that she is biting her nails? I have heard of the nail polish also, I have never tried it. I would talk to the pharmacist about it. But the cases I have heard of that use it, the kid usually licks until the polish is gone and it doesn't work. But when you are desperate, you try anything and everything! Good luck

My oldest son, 8yrs old now, was a voracious nail bitter at around 3 yrs of age. It drove me nuts. I did try the bitter nail polish. It didn't faze him. I tried hot sauce, he just went and washed his hands and went on biting. At about 5yrs he finally slowed down on the biting, but still has a habit of chewing other objects. I still wonder if it was because I weaned him of breast feeding at 20 months...
I think it is a calming mechinism for the kids like thumbsucking. Maybe they'll find meditation or something as they get older. I'm interested in other responses you get on this subject....
Good luck

My 23 year old daughter bit her nails at three. A friend of mine pointed out that it was a sign of stress. I took Lauren out of all her activities and guess what she stopped biting her nails. Over the next year, we added back in the activities one by one. While my younger daughter could always do it all, my older daughter needed monitoring of her stress levels - she still recognizing when she needs to cut back and have down time.

I would suggest looking at what might be causing the stress - which is an invididual thing. It could be activities, stress in the home, peer pressure - assessment requires personal consideration.

Good Luck!
Nancy

It's called Thum and they have it at the Wal-mart pharmacy. Ask at the desk.