Nail Picking

My kids bite their nails too. Just keep bandaids on her cuts and scabs til they are safe to fall off every day if needed. My daughter is allergic to mosketoes(s/p?)She scraches til she has a cut. I just keep bandaids on it works out great!Keep a close eye so she wont pull them off but get the good sticky kind. You can take them off in the bath to put new ones on. Its a stage she will eventually pass through it try painting her nails and making it special to not bite them so you can paint them different colors all the time, make it a big deal how pretty they are.

Ok, I just replied, but I think it didnt go through so if this is a repeat.....sorry.

Picking can be a symptom of OCD. I am a picker too. I pick at the skin around my fingers, the dead skin on my feet until they bleed, and I chew on the inside of my mouth. It drives my dh crazy! I also HAVE to get splinters out, pick pimples, get lint out of belly buttons, etc. If I see it then I have to pick it or I get upset. It is really stressful if I cant pick it! I actually like getting bit by ants because I know there will be a pimple to pop the next day. I know,,, I am crazy! Well, I thought I was just a wierdo until i was doing research about OCD. My 12 year old daughter started touching everything 8 times so I was looking up OCD. Picking is more of the compulsion part of it.

I would mention it to her doctor next time you go. You can keep an eye out for other symptoms too. I think if the obsession or compulsion takes away more than 15 minutes of every hour, then you need to worry.

You can look it up on line too. good luck!

From what you say you might want to get her checked for OCD. Sounds like it runs in the family. Obsesive compulsive dissorder (sp?)

I don't know if this is something you are interested in, but my best friend's oldest daughter did the same thing. They gave her bubble wrap (like what you use for packing) to play with while watching tv or whenever else she tends to pick at her nails. It worked like a charm for them. That's of course if you don't mind the noise from the bubble wrap. I guess the point is to occupy her mind w/something besides picking. Hope this helps! Thanks.

my son will be 5 in dec and he picks his nails too. no matter how short I keep them, he always picks at them. I bite my nails and have since I was tiny. I'm not sure if they go hand in hand, but it's interesting that your husband is a nail biter....sorry I don't have any advice, but I'm curious as to what advice others will give....goodluck!

i would be careful with her picking and biting her nails, my son did that as too where he wouldn't have any nail left. well he got a staph infection from it, and it traveled up his arm and went into the glands under his arm pit. and he had to have surgery for to remove the glands, b/c it was the size of a baseball under the skin. the surgeon, suggested to him to chew gum to his mind off of biting his nails. i've even tried putting hot sauce, finger nail bitter stuff, you name i've tried it!! and he still bites his nails today but not as bad. but my son is ADHD and i think that has alot to do with his. i think it has to do with them being bored and needed something to do. so i would suggest if she is gonna bite her nails make sure you keep them clean with antibacterial soap!!

If she's biting the nails, you may want to try buying some of that stuff you polish on the nails, I can't think of the name of it, but it tastes REALLY nasty and will make them stop putting their hands in their mouth~ YOu can get it at Walmart.

my 2 yr old bites her nails and the only 2 things that have worked for us is to paint her nails (but sometimes that doesn't work either) and the most recent thing was that i gave her a nail file and told her every time she starts biting her nails then go get the file and use it and it's worked so far! i read that nail biting is just a sign of being bored or just a force of habit, so you shouldn't punish her or yell or anything because she probably doesn't realize she's doing it