My 2 Year Old Wont Keep Fingers Out of Mouth

Try nail polish. Tell her that she can have nail polish to make her fingers look pretty, but only if she keeps her fingers out of her mouth. Paint all ten nails and then take the polish off one nail at a time if you see her sucking her fingers, start over the next day with them all painted. If she gets through a whole day without losing a nail, she gets some kind of a treat (not necessarily a food treat).

It's probably a sensory thing. You might try oral massage with her. Did she have trouble eating as an infant? Did she not really know haw to suck well? All of these things can affect her in this way. Going back and teaching her to suck, along with oral massage could help.

My son did the same thing, of course it was over 20 years ago. Try a product named "stopszit" (not sure of the spelling.) Tastes extremely bitter, also there is or was a product that had hot pepper in it. The stopzit is like a finger nail polish, so it won't wash off.

Does she do it all the time? My son bites his nails when bored or watching T.V. My pediatrician suggested to give him some thing to hold or do. Like beads and a string. Hope this helps.

You could always try Bitter Apple or Phooey. Both are "dog" products but neither has anything really bad for you in it (if I remember right).

Try gloves, my friends mom did this with her when we were growing up. She didn't offer it as a choice, it was just the way it was, she didn't want to at first but her parents kept up with it, and it worked, I think they call it aversion therapy...

Although most kids grow out of it, it may take a while. I was a closet finger sucker for longer than I'll ever admit. :-) I did stop, though, and your daughter will, too. But you're not completely clear whether she just has a habit of putting her hands in her mouth or sucking.

There is a REALLY yucky fingernail polish with a very bitter taste that my parents used to help me stop sucking my fingers when I was little. It seeps into the nails, so the taste remains long after the polish is taken off. Although I'd try other things first if she's sucking fingers, it might be very effective if she's just putting them in there frequently.

Before you go this route, I'd look at why she's doing this. Maybe she needs a distraction or a gentle reminder. If you can find the triggers, you can help her find other ways to soothe herself.

Here's a great article: http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/50/10...

In case you need a last resort, I did a quick search and found the following that might be helpful:

http://www.stopbitingnails.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Orly-No-Bite/dp/B0001AQCWY
http://www.folica.com/MAVALA_Stop_for_r442_1.html (good testimonials can be found here)

Hope you're able to find something that works for you!
L.

I purchased (online) folica.com - MAVALA Stop for Nail Biting and Thumb Sucking for $7.99 for my daughter. It is much worse than anbesol.

We have also added giving her something to "hold" when we noticed her doing it. A book, toy, rattle, anything to occupy her hands.

My Mom used tabasco sauce on my brother's thumb to
break him of sucking his thumb and it worked. Now he
loved Tabasco sauce. :)

I've heard some people have success with putting band aids on the tips of the fingers.

Well the worst thing that you can do is tell her 'don't do that' because of her age that is exactly what she will want to do. So instead give her a ball or ask her if she wants to play ball. Give her some finger paint with your close supervision, give her a puzzle anything to keep her hands busy! The LEAST mention of the fingers the better!
THis will work, just be patient they are very oral at this age! Good Fortune!
:)A.

Instead of trying to stop the behavior, focus on the problem (she is seeking pressure and sensation in the mouth). Just a question, when she was a baby, did she put alot of things in her mouth? Sometimes, babies may "skip" this step and the oral fixation will appear later in life. Try to substitute her fingers with something else like chewy or crunchy foods (twizzlers, pretzels...) or there is nothing wrong with resorting to teethers and chewy toys. Allow her some time during the day to chew away and hopefully you'll see the behavior diminishing!

Try the nail polish used to stop nail biting. Tried it on my granddaughter.Before we used the polish we told her that if she continued to suck her thumb it would start tasting bad. The polish was applied while she was asleep. The bad taste lasts about a week. It took 2 weeks. She was 6 at the time. Its been a year and she hasn't sucked her thumb again.

I've recently learned that the mouth is the most organizing part of the body (sensory-wise), and she might NEED to have something in her mouth to chew on. If you don't want it to be her fingers, give her some acceptable alternative (we give my son plastic straws to chew on, for example). I agree that a homeopathic or natural solution is better than putting chemicals on her hands (that then go into her mouth!).
Good luck.

Your daughter may be putting her fingers in her mouth because she is getting her two year molars. I am embarrassed to say that I sucked my thumb until I was seven years old and my mother tried everything to no avail. I only had braces for 1 1/2 years and am no worse for the wear. I would let this phase pass and not worry too much about it. You might try something hard for her to chew on that is safe if she is teething. Your pediatrician can tell take a look next time you go in for her check-up or you might even be able to see for yourself.

I bought some Mavala Stop (look it up online) for my son when he couldn't stop biting his nails. Maybe you could try that. It tastes really bad. My son would work through the bitterness eventually, though. It's like nail polish but I'm sure your daughter would taste it when she puts her fingers in her mouth. It's also used to deter thumb-sucking, so maybe it would work for her.

I would also encourage you to work to figure out what occurs BEFORE she sucks her fingers. That's her pacifier, you know, so what's going on that she needs to pacify herself? Most kids do outgrow it (be it pacifiers, thumbs, fingers, blankets, etc.), but it's hard to wait for that point. My son finally decided that he was going to stop biting his nails, and he did it! It's a great confidence boost to him, and a "monument" to which we can look when I need to encourage him in something that takes effort and perseverance.

Well, I've rambled more than a bit. Good luck to you!!
M. :-)

A good friend of mine went to the People's Pharmacy on Lamar (across from Central Market), and had the pharmacist there give her a natural concoction of some sort to put on her son's fingers because he too sucked on them non-stop and they were chapped and beginning to bleed. It worked! Sorry I can't remember what it is called, but you could always stop by and speak to the pharmacist about it.