Any Thoughts on Discouraging Nail and Cuticle Biting?

My sister was a nail biter and my grandma told my mom to but hot sauce, like tabasco, on her fingers, kind of like conditioning (maybe thats too mean???). I know for myself painting my nails, but maybe 3 years old is too young for that. What about a rewards chart, you know the one where you put up a sticker or something for when she does not bite her nails. Good luck.

I found a great product called HOOF Stop the Bite! at Walmart about $3.00. Works really well. ( I have been using on my 3 boys who are nail biters and nose pickers. Ages 2-6) It is like a clear nail polish that tastes really bad.

There is a sort of "nail polish" that is clear, but when added to the mouth has a foul taste. My friend has used this with her daughter-it did discourage her biting.
I am a past cuticle and nail biter, only when stressed, and am a mother of two girls ages 7 and 9. I use almond oil on myself, it softens the cuticles so well, i don't have the urge to tear at them.
I KEEP MY 7 YEAR OLDS TRIMMED AND SMOOTH WITH CLIPPERS, OTHERWISE SHE TEARS AT THEM.
HOPE IT HELPS.
SINCERELY
K.C.

I sent this message privately to A., but she encouraged me to post it to the group, so this is what my response to A.'s request about the nail biting issue was:

>>>>>>Hi A....it sounds like you received lots of advice, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in there. I find I don't fit into the "rewards/punishment" camp. It just doesn't feel good or right to me, and I think it teaches kids to do things based on the reward or the fear of being punished. It doesn't really teach kids how to make responsible choices, how to trust themselves, or how to take care of themselves.

My suggestion is to spend time with your daughter taking care of your hands. Perhaps you could put a little bag or basket together with hand-care supplies for each of you, and then spend time once per week treating yourselves (and your hands) to some pampering. Show her ways to make her hands *feel* good. Let her do to your hands what you do to her hands. I wouldn't make it so much a reward (or punish her by not having that time together if she ends up continuing to bite), but more just a way to help her take care of her body, and feel good about herself. If she ends up biting, then on the next hand time you do a little extra to help her hands to feel better.

I would get some high quality, natural soap (maybe lavender as it is gentle and soothing), massage oil, cuticle oil, a file, little clippers, a nice cloth, nail polish if you feel she is old enough etc. Then you could each wash your own or eachother's hands, give yourselves or each other hand massages, learn about the accupressure points on the hands together, take care of any hang nails or torn cuticles, paint her nails (not because it taste's bad and you don't want her to bite them, but becuase it's another way to take care of your nails and to feel 'pretty'), and then go make some tea together and sit and admire each other's hands and how good it feels.

Just be together.....Help her to find ways to feel good about her hands....not base her worth on whether or not she's biting or not biting her nails! The more she bites, the more comfort and care her hands are going to need. I think this will make her feel really good about her hands, rather than judged and punished for something she may or may not be able to control.

I hope this helps!<<<<<<<

Apple cider vinegar, put on nails and the smell will keep her from biting.Its also good for her if she gets some in her mouth.
I drink it straight a tablespoon twice daily.health benefits are remarkable. lori

Hi A.,

I use to do this when I was a child and stopped when I wanted pretty long nails to put finger nail polish on. My mom said I couldn't wear nail polish until I stopped biting my nails. That worked for me. She tried the paint on icky stuff (didn't work) It comes off so quickly I could just ignore the taste. So, now at age 35 I've started doing it again, which baffeld me for a while. I thought about how I'm feeling now and what I was going through when I did it as a child and I found that anxiety/stress was the common thread. It's gotten so bad that I can't stop myself, so I went to the store and bought the Revlon glue-on acrylic-type fake nails. You can grow them out or soak your fingers in nail polish remover to take them off. I took them off after one week and my left hand had grown out enough for me to file them nicely and not pick and bite. It also gave my cuticles a chance to heal up. My right hand got the better of me because i still had some rough edges to pick and bite at, so I put another set of nails on and hope another week of growth will get them in nice enough shape to stop the habit. I don't know why i leave them alone when they're long and pretty, but I do. I think it has something to do with not noticing any dry skin around the finger tips. So keep her hands moisturized. there are cuticle oils you can apply or vaseline works good. Neosporin works good to heal them quickly. Since your daughter is just doing her thumbs, maybe just pop in to a nail salon and have them put a layer of acrylic over those two nails. And see if you can pin point any anxiety she could be experiencing. I hope you find a solution :)

A good friend of ours recommended putting deodorant on our son's fingernails when he started biting his nails. It's non-toxic, won't come off until you wash with soap and water, and above all, tastes awful! Our son really started biting his nails at about 3 years old, and would just lick off the stuff that you paint on. Good luck!

Molen Orthodontics in Auburn has a wonderful mixture that you "paint" onto her nails - like fingernail polish - they developed the formula themselves - you can put it on her cuticle areas as well. The stuff tastes horrible and discourages any kind of nibbling. Works great for my daughter. I still have to apply every once in a while. She usually chews when she is nervous or bored - I almost always catch her doing it when she is watching TV - she is 14 so its a battle for me to put the stuff on. But when we do - no chewing whatsoever.

My son used to bite his nails constantly. We tried everything from a pepper mixture on his nail to bandaids. Nothing worked. When he was in the 5th grade, I took him into my nail lady on a Saturday and had a set of acrylic nails put on. They looked completely natural and are just about impossible to bite through. She put them just over the edge of where he had been biting them, it took away the "edgy feeling", his words, and the need to bite them. By the time the acrylic had grown off, somewhere around 4 months, he had stopped biting them. All I did was keep them filed down. I did it, not him, for the first 3 months then he decided he could. I just checked to make sure he wasn't taking them back too far. His friends did not even notice that he had the nails and they did not get in the way of his sports and other activities. My son is now 28 and still does not bite his nails.
Terri K.

Try the nail biting finger paint. And set up a date for her to have either a real Manicure, or a home spun Manicure. You can make it a reward. I know my little 4 year old loves to have her nails painted with the colored stuff. She even askes me now to put the bad tasting stuff on so she won't bite her nails.

good luck

Honestly, I am an adult and have bitten my nails off and on my whole life. It's a mind thing really. A bad and ugly habit. I find if I quit being lazy and keep my nails filed then I am able to grow them. There is an awful tasting type of polish you can put on them. This you can find in the baby section of most any store. It doesn't hurt to put it in your mouth, it just tastes terrible. The problem is you need to keep polishing their nails because it wears off quickly. Good luck! I hope she is able to stop.

Hi A.,
Make her nails taste and smell gross with that special nail polish, or you can do what my parents did for my sister, soak her nails in a jar of minced garlic when she's really sleepy or fast asleep. Just make it seem gross.

Your daughter is actually correct in telling you that she can't help it. It is actually a genetic trait. My entire family on my mom's side bite our cuticles. Some do so more than others, but Aunts, cousins and one of my kids all engage in what seems to others to be a bad habit. Some people are pickers and bitters and it is nearly impossible to stop. I bite my cuticles when I am reading or watching TV. It is the same as fidigiting. As she grows older, it will lesson and having an infected hangnail or 2 will also help, but honestly, I don't think you can "cure" it. I put neosporin on my fingers that hurt nearly every night to prevent infection. This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but as a mother of 4 kids, ages 18-6, I have found that it is important to pick the battles that matter and ignore the ones that don't. Being respectful, honest, obient and kind are all important character traits, letting your kids choose what they want to wear(modest of course)for example and ignoring the nail bitting will lead to fewer battles of the will and a more peaceful home.
B.

I do that when i am stressed. When is she doing it?

Oh my. My husband, my brother in law and my father in law have that 'habit'. though we realize it's a bit more then a habit.

Find a good moisturizing cream that can hydrate her hands. Plus with the added stuff it will taste icky. Invest in some gloves for the first week till the lotion actually helps instead of makes it itch a bit more.

But in the end all the guys still do it after investing in some really expensive creams. :( You might want to talk to a dermatologist if a simple cream doesn't work. I'm starting to think it's an actual skin problem since it spans all the guys in that family.

My neice did the same thing. I believe her mom bought some over the counter medication to apply and it has been working. The daughter stayed with me and had a routine on putting it on herself. She said it tasted awful so it prevented her from chewing on her nails.

Good luck!

Some people might say this is bribing, and that it is not good to do, but.... Our 10 year old bit his nails forever, and though I don't feel it is a HUGE problem, it is a bad habit that I wanted him to overcome. So we started telling him that for every nail that needed clipped because he wasn't biting, we would mark down on a piece of paper. When he had at least 5 nails that needed to be clipped we would take him to the baseball card shop, or to his favorite place to eat. We did tell him that this was not an indefinite thing. After a while he just quit all together. The only problem now is that he wants me to clip his nails, because he doesn't like to. So I am clipping his nails quite often because he likes them so short! I do make him do it sometimes though, and everything seems to be going well! Good luck, J.

Most girls love being pretty. Try using pretty nail polish as a reward for not chewing her nails. Also, nail polish does not taste very good which should help discourage nibbling.

our oldest son does this... drives me batty! I have tried everything, the paint on nail stuff, talking to him about it, and it just does work... altho it might for your little one... He seems to do it when he thinks he has nothing to do, or watching TV... Now that he is older he doesn't do it as much, but he will use the nail clippers and cuts them VERY short.. Sometimes I think they can just gorw out of it, if you don't make to much of a deal out of it
keepsing eye out for other ideas from others too.

ok...this is going to sound gross...but our 8 year old is doing that. We had to have a sit down with her and tell her why she should not bite her nails. We told her that gross things are under her nails like dirt, which could have poop and pee in it and other germs. She got grossed out and has not been doing it since. I don't know if it would help to tell your 3 year old, but our 4 year old was listening in and has not picked up the habbit yet.

You could also try painting her nails with that stuff that tastes awful. I hope that you find something that helps.

D.