How do I stop my sweet, smart and witty 4 yr old from biting her nails. She usually does it before nap time and bedtime. I have tried some things but need advice and good solid ideas. Thanks. I know if I don't 'nip' this in the bud...
Thanks for the answers. She only does it at these two times so now if she is not tired at nap time-- I let her go to the playroom. I also applied No Nail Biting or something like that. Bought at CVS. It has a bitter taste- -but she has not tried. As a reward, I put on nail polish-- she has had nail polish before. Hope this works. Thanks again.
well, no great advice on this one, but maybe a word of hope. My five-year-old nail biter now has beautiful little nails growing out (with no effort from me) -- when she lost her two top front teeth at the same time, she couldn't bite them and so got out of the habit on her own.
I wouldn't put any polish or nail decor on her nails. More than likely she will bite that all off and swallow it. I recommend the No Nail Bite polish that's safe if they try to bite with it on. I used it on my daughter and it worked. Its sold at walmart, walgreens, and sallys beauty supply.
OMG, I was going to post this earlier, DO NOT use nail polish, that is what started my daughter.... I will be interested in your responses, I hope we both find an answer :-) Good Luck!!!
have you tried painting her nails? if you make a big deal out of it and use polish made for toddlers, she won't want to ruin her "manicure"... if she bites while its on then take it all off and try again in a couple days... if she doesn't maybe you can add dots or those little gems as a reward...my grandma did that with my little sister and I, and it worked like a charm. (wearing the polish was a big deal to us.)
I have heard of, but not sure if it will work, a bitter nail polish that you can get & this is supposed to deter nail bitting. I haven't needed to try it but do remember having the discussion before about the product. Good luck.
What stopped my daughter is she had been begging me to paint her nails and I told her I wouldn't do it until she stop biting her nails. It took her about a week to stop and it be obvious that she had. Every once in a while I'd see her doing it and remind her.
nerves- you need to relax her nerves. Give her Vit B complex liquid under tounge (follow bottle for dose) and magnesium malate, 200 mg day.
More water, since nerves run on hydro electricity.
consider herbal Valarian to relax her before sleeping (check if ok for kids)
You don't! The bigger deal you make of it the more she will do it. I've been encouraging my 5 1/2 year old to stop for a few years now and she won't. Her father does it, his siblings do it, his mother did it and so on. I think it's just a trait that they will hopefully outgrow. In the meantime just make sure that she keeps her hands really clean and discourage her from doing it at school or in front of you.
You could tell her that if she goes for a few weeks without biting them you will reward her with something exciting, but I wouldn't count on it. Sorry, I don't mean to sound negative but if she is really a biter you're fighting a losing battle.
