My 3 Yr Old Daughter Has Chewed Her Nails Since Infancy

Some people in the reversingautism yahoo group I belong to say Cina, a homeopathic remedy, has really helped to end nail biting with their kids. Just thought I would pass on that information in case it helped.

sometimes you can put hotsauce on their fingernails and discourage biting the nails.

i was a nail bitter for as long as i can remember. there is something called thums that you can get ate walgreens...DO NOT USE THIS ON YOUR CHILD!!!! it has cyanne pepper in it and even after it dries if you rub you eyes it burns like hell. i tried it on myself before using it on my 4 year old thumb sucker thank god i did!!! the label will say bitter but its a lie! however there is something you can buy on amazon called mavala stop bit more expensive but wont burn your child and it taste horrible!!! i haven't bitten my nails in about 2 months! give it a shot

Hi T.

My son was thumb sucker and my doctors advise was to use bitter nail polish. My husband now ex hated when my son sucked his thumb. When we used that he did not suck his thumb. This is also used to stop bitting nails it has a bitter taste and children do not like it!!! Good Luck

J.

Hi!
I used it before to try to curb the thumbsucking for my 2 year old with not too much luck. It's called Thum and I found it at Rite Aid. Not sure if she's a girly girl or not but I told my little girl that if she'd leave her thumb alone then I'd take her and have her nails painted. It worked and she was so excited and said that she'd look like a princess. Something like that may work but it's hard to tell. The only thing about Thum is that you have to reapply often for it to be effective. I think you could just try lemon juice too. Hope this helps!

I'm not too sure anything really works for this. I used to bite my nails all the time. My mom tried everything to get me to stop when I was little and nothing worked. Even when I was in high school, I would put stuff on my nails to make myself stop and it didn't help. Finally, when I went off to college I stopped. I don't even know how or why...it just happened and now I have great nails. It may just be something you have to get used to and she'll eventually stop biting on her own.

As some one who used to chew her nails bad..its mind over matter.I didnt stop until grade 9 when I decided enough was enough..basically when you see her doing it just remind her 'we'(you & her) are trying to get her to stop doing that habit..good luck..
S. b

Just go to Walmart and it is with the nail polish. It is called something like "stop bite", you will see it. It may not work, I bit mine until I was 30 and I just bit that stuff off! nervousness causes it, maybe you can divert her attn, paint her nails to make them pretty...or offer her a reward it she can go a week w/ out biting them. then make the goal bigger. Also, as she is older and understands more, you can tell her to concentrate on only biting one or two nails and leave the others alone. That is how I stopped. I only bit my thumbs until the others were long and then I concentrated on my thumbs, I polished them everyday to keep them fresh and it made me stop. Take her for a manicure with mommy and get a cute color on them! Good luck! W.

PAint them. Maybe if they're a pretty color she won't want to bit them. I was a nail biter for the first 18 years of my life and one day I just stopped and haven't done it since (now almost 30)

You can put tobasco sauce on there, and anything that isn't pleasent to taste but is still edible.

I'm not sure what the product your refereing to is called and I too use to bit on my finger nails and did so until about 5 years ago. You have to be careful to get something that isn't harmful. Maybe you could try oralgel. Sorry I wasn't much help.
Good Luck, T.

You probably can't MAKE her quit (as you can tell from all the testimonies from 'former nail biters/thumb suckers. The more negative attention that was paid to it, the longer they did it)! She has to decide to quit and she will be in control of the situation.

It might do well to have a talk with her (like you would talk with one of your adult friends about a fixable problem) and ask her if she likes biting her nails. If she says, "Yes," find out why. Ask if she'd like to quit. If she says, "Yes," tell her you want to help.

I don't think we give enough credit to our kids' abilities (I've raised 4 and am helping a little --when I get to SEE them-- w/3 'Grands'). Our youngest (now 20) was a persistent thumb sucker from age 3 months. I refrained from nagging her about it (that was a miracle in itself, as I'm a 'control freak! LOL), but I told her very matter-of-factly how it was making her teeth stick out, etc, and when she started pre-school at barely 4, she 'broke' herself. It was so neat. As she'd be going to sleep, she'd strategically keep her hand away from her mouth. Then as she was actually nodding off it would kind of automatically be attracted to her mouth. As soon as the thumb was inserted, it would jolt her awareness and she'd jerk it back out. It only took her a week or two to quit totally.

Maybe discuss something she really wants or wants to do (like a bicycle, getting her ears peirced, going to a waterpark, or as one lady said, getting her nails 'done') and tell her that when she's done biting/chewing her fingernails it's a done deal! Then follow through. Simple, but not easy!

Hi
I bought a product from Sally's called "No Bite". It's a little expensive (about $6 a bottle)but it works. I put some on my own nails and it has the most disgusting sour/bitter taste. Some kids chew their nails anyways, but not as much. My daughter has sucked her fingers sinces she was 3 days old and she continued to suck them with the no bite, but she cried most of the time because of the taste until she learned how to pick it off. It doesn't wash off very easily and your child will really have to pick it off or else it will take a little more than a week to start wearing off. It has stopped my daughter from biting her nails completely(she still sucks 2 fingers) and it has also stopped my oldest son completely. I also explained to them that keeping their hands neat and clean it a part of good hygiene and how much nicer our hands look if we don't bite the nails. Try making her feel like she's getting pampered with a manicure to encourage her to stop biting.

Try this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Nail-Biting-Deterrent/d...

I have heard people using bitter apple, but it is a pet product. The link I gave is for people.

Good Luck.

I don't remember the name of the stuff but it is on the nail care ailse(sp) in any drugstore or wal-mart. my parents actually used it on me! it didn't work. i just ate the stuff off my fingers and kept on biting my nails. i may have been too old (7 or 8) when they used it on my so by then it was too late. i hope it will work for your little one. :)