My almost 5 yo has bitten his nails (fingers and toes!) for as long as I can remember. It gets to the point where he will rip the nails down so far, they bleed. Then he's screaming and crying. I try to explain that's what's going to happen, but it never deters him for long. Anyone have any suggestions? I know there's stuff you can put on their nails that tastes gross. Anyone try any of it? I'm up for any suggestions. Should there be a punishment? I'm at a loss with this!
M.. what i did it sounds kind of mean . i but pepper on her finger ans she never did it again . he is to young to be doing this . he can get a bad infection. . so next time he does that try to but a ver little pepper on his fingers or toes. good luck i hope this will help
B. mello
I know it's gross and hard to watch- but he's definitely old enough to understand actions and consequences! I think you should just keep pointing out the behavior and keep telling him that when he bites his nails they will bleed. Sooner or later he will figure it out!
Don't give him sympathy or attention when he does bite them till they bleed. Just shrug and say that's what happens when he bites his nails!
At his age he knows what will happen and is capable of making the choice on his own!
My husband used to bite his nails like this- it was nerves. I don't think his mother ever cared enough to point it out to him! I took this same strategy with him (as silly as it sounds!) I basically said- well.. you chose to bite them and now they are bleeding! What did you expect? He no longer bites them. I think he just needed to really internalize that there is a consequence. I don't think he even realized what he was doing till it was too late!
Good luck,
S.
M.,
Whn I was young I did the same thing. My mother first tried pepper, and when that didn't work she put some wart remover on my nails. The first taste of that in my mouth I was done. You have to put in on every day until your kid forgets about biting his nails.
Nail biting tends to be learned behavior, maybe if you stop the role model you will have better luck stopping him.If no one else bites try getting him an educational hand held game that will give both of his hands something to do.
My daughter is older, but the Bite It! nail stuff worked for her. She stopped biting right away with a reward of a WebKinz when her nails were long enough to cut. I try to keep the short an even because it's the unevenness that makes it tempting for her.
My advice to you is take him to a counselor. When my daughter was biting her fingers I tried to get her to stop and couldnt. Years later after it was too late i found out the real problem was she had been molested by a close friend. Children think that you approve of whatever is happening to them and will not talk about it. This may not have happened to your child but something is bothering him that needs to be dealt with.
Hi M.,
Well, I hope that your first responder isn't right about your son. That would be a tragedy and I really don't have anything to offer on that front. However, I originally decided to offer this advice:
I was a thumb sucker and my parents tried everything to get me to stop--including the bad tasting stuff. Nothing worked until... the doctor suggested that my parents make ME remind them to put the stuff on my fingers. If I was made responsible for the process, I would be more likely to follow through. He was right. Hope this helps.
My son is a bit younger, 4.5 now, but we got him to stop last year kind of by accident (after trying the bad tasting nail polish with no luck). One night after dinner my husband, who our son adores, just started making noise on his glass with his nails and DS thought it was so cool and wanted to make that noise too - and of course he couldn't because his nails were way too low. So every day he tried the clicking of his glass until he finally made the noise - he was so proud of himself! Even now, every so often he'll click his glass and say "listen...I haven't been biting my nails!"
I'd guess this won't work for everyone, but it just happened to work for us.
Best of luck!
I have tried that bitter nail stuff and it is gross.... just be aware - like any nail polish .... you can pick it off and then bite anyways.
I dont think there should be a punishment for it though. Most people who bite their nails do it out of nervousness or anxiety. I am not saying by any means that your son is nervous but its usually the cause and then it just becomes a habit. I would carefully watch what is going on around him when he is biting his nails. Talk to him about his feelings and it wouldnt hurt to try the bitter nail stuff as well.
