Nail Biting - San Marcos, CA

Could be nervousness due to allergies or just mental development. You may want to look into NAET.com for allergy eliminations and Amazon.com for Prodigy & Advanced Children Books also Indigo & Crystal children books.

Be well.

N.

We didn't go through this, so I don't have specifics, but there is a need someplace that isn't being met for your child.

Before you start treating the symptoms (i.e., the actual thumbsucking) with well-meaning advice, please try to dig in and find the root cause. A quick internet search turned up this article that echoes my concern for you: http://www.momtomomchat.com/articles/nailbitingbohorquez2.... This one too: http://thesparklingmartins.blogspot.com/2009/03/down-with.... This is a long one, but has some explanation for nail-biting specifically: http://www.parentingwithpresence.net/index.php?pageid=2686.

Good luck!

You know my grandaughter did that about same age for about three to four months when they discovered another baby on the way....They ignored it and she no longer does it!

Remember sometimes negative behavior elicits a lot of attention.....

I say ignore it.....

:) Nanny P.

Your request could have been written by me about 6 months ago. My son bit his nails pretty consistently for about 6-9 months and I thought it would never end! We were advised to ignore it as any attention to it reinforces the behavior. It was soooo hard to ignore. But last month I realized he needed his nails trimmed! He will occasionally bite his nails now, but not to the bloody nubbs he used to.

Here's my nail biting story: I bit my nails my entire life. I'm sure I started when I was your sons age. I don't remember NOT biting my nails. My parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles tried everything. Bribery, punishment, that stuff you paint on your nails, getting fake nails, putting bandaids on my nails, weekly manicures to encourage me to keep them pretty, everything. Honestly, I tried that stuff, too! The bitter nail paint was my idea!

At some point everyone just gave up. I would bite my nails down to the quick until they bled. It was not good. One day, in high school, I just stopped. Everyone had stopped bugging me, so there was no pressure, and I just woke up one morning and discovered that the need (and it really was a need) to chew had left. I just grew out of it. I still sometimes put my teeth on my nails to *feel* them. And occaisionally, if one of my long nails starts to break I will trim them with my teeth, but I don't bite my nails anymore and my nails are long and pretty.

I think for nail biters, biting the nails isn't as much of a habit as it is a need. I have no idea what drives that need, but I do know that when people pressured me to stop, it put me under a lot of stress. That stress, even though it was subtle, caused me to respond by biting my nails even more. It's like it was a comfort thing or something.

My take on it is just to back off, let him do what what he needs to do. Eventually he will outgrow it, or he might not. Is it really that huge of a deal though? Sure, chewed up nails are ugly, but who really looks at that anyway? The stress and battle to get someone to stop who isn't ready is huge and honestly, it's more likely to backfire anyway.

Hope this perspective helps.

The answer is embedded in your question: someone here mentioned Stop by Mavala. I agree big time- that stuff really WORKS. My son did not bite but sucked fingers. We told him that he was getting "yucky fingers" b4 we painted stuff on and we ended up making a game of it. He'd stick fingers in our mouths and we'd say "Eeew YUCK!" He'd laugh. This went on for two weeks then the sucking stopped. Completely. (and my son pretty much had the habit from 3 mos-18 mos.) If you try this, please tell him that you are going to give him yucky fingers bc that stuff tastes nasty. It really works though. Good luck.

My son does the same thing. I hope you get some good advise. Let us all know how it went

a 5 minute garlic tooth nail treatment is all it takes... helped me kick the habit.... now i have beautiful long nails...

peel the garlic tooth complete... stab the each nail into the garlic from edge to edge of the nail... wait 5 minutes and then wash with mild soap... the smell goes away but the taste lasts for a days... keep the treatment going everyday for 1 week and bam the habit is gone... unless he like garlic then good luck finding something he doesn't like...

sometimes its out of bordem or nerves...

I was a nail biter for as long as I could remember. We (my mom, and then later I) tried everything, but nothing worked.

Nothing until I realized that if I got regular manicures there was no little sharp edge, hangnail or anything else that would catch my attention. I also noticed that during times when I had stress or boredom I would go at my nails.

So I would suggest making a big deal about trimming his nails, something like "Whoa! My big lion needs his nails trimmed! Graaaaaauuuuw" or something fun like that. I know, what nails, but trim ANYTHING that is white. After trimming I would take one of those four sided foam nail files and smooth out each nail. If its too short for a trim then just file it smooth. This gives less surface for the tooth to catch on. You may need to manicure your own nails in front of him to get him interested.

Other than that, keep his hands busy and see if there is anything going on feelings wise that needs to be discussed. Is he feeling guilty about something, anxiety perhaps? Those were always high nail biting times for me.

Good luck!!!!

I think this is common around this age, my Daughter did it as well. I used a product called STOP by Mavala, picked it up online for about $8.00. You brush it on nightly and it tastes terrible. I told my Daughter that if she stopped biting her nails for 30 days I would take her to the toy store and let her pick out anything. It worked!! Although on occasion I still see her doing it (4.5 yrs old), I resort to the STOP product again and it solves the problem.