Nail Biting... - Los Angeles,CA

I can't remember the exact name of it, but there is some kind of nail polish ("no-bite", etc) we used with my daughter. Found it at target even. It tasted pretty nasty apparently. She soon stopped. You could do it at night if he thought it was too wierd for a boy to have nail polish. I also heard putting garlic on their nails worked too?? good luck

I have bitten my nails all my life as well, and don't get sick very often, so I don't know that nail biting is the definite cause. I have tried EVERYTHING to stop, nothing has worked. It is just an nervous habit, I guess. Good luck with finding a cure, but until then teach him to wash his hands really well.

I have my daughter, 5, wear socks to bed. This stops her from doing it when I'm not around to remind her not to. If we are in the car of sitting around not doing much and she keeps putting them in her mouth, I will have her put socks on then too.

One time I asked her pediatrician about it. I was told her skin could be irritated and to make sure it's well moisturized. From washing hands to eating acidic foods (ketchup, staple in most kids diets) their skin gets dry and irritated.

I've bitten my nails all my life... I rarely get sick - but that isn't why I'm posting.

My daughter has been biting her nails off and on for about a year. I'm having a issue of getting her to stop completely too. She uses the excuse that I bite my nails so why can't she? She sees my hands and nails, but doesn't find them ugly like I do and she has such beautiful hands and nails!

I'll be looking for answers here too - just letting you know you aren't alone!

would it work to give her a quarter or some kind of reward for every white nail tip you see like every two days or something like that ? What will be something that she really wants to strive for a goal of saving up for . But keep her showing them daily. Give her an idea to twirl her hair instead.

Hi

My son bit his nails for about a year (from age 4.5 to age 5.5). We tried the product "no bite", that I bought from the pharmacy. They are either right on the shelf, or behind the pharmacy desk (ask them). I dont want to discourage you, but it did NOT work on him. We asked the doctor during his regular routine check up, and she explained that nail biting is usually a habit as a result of something else in his life -- like new school, boredom, nervousness, anxiety, etc.. And she said that if we could figure out the core issue and change it, the biting (at this age) will go away, normally. Well, it seemed like a difficult task, but I started thinking about when his habit started and how it had progressed. The habit started after he started a new childcare center in the afternoon. We decided to give him rewards if he stopped chewing his nails first for 3 days, then a week. You can definately know if your child is still biting his nails, because his nails would always be short:) Well, after the reward system, my son's nails started to look better. Then came the summer,and he didn't go to the child care center. By mid summer, he completely stopped the biting!

So to sum it up, I would say that a positive encourage system, combined with removing him from the environment that caused the biting habit did the trick. Good luck with you! In the mean time, don't worry too much about him being sick from nail biting. I agree with other moms --there are many other places that he could have picked up germs.

my fiance is 30 and bites his nails so bad they will bleed. i wish i had a way to get him to stop. his hands get so ugly sometimes from doing it. is there something i can do for an older man to get him to stop? lol. i hope you can stop him before he's like my fiance. good luck!

have you tried that stuff to get them to stop sucking their thumbs? my daughter never cared though when i tried that!!! she didn't stop until she was around 7 - but then it was cuz that was the only way i would paint her nails! or maybe some kind of a reward chart? or everytime you catch him have him wash his hands? good luck!

I have bitten my nails my whole life. Thats almost 23 years! I have tried everything from jalepeno juice to bitter stuff. The only thing that kind of helps is if I paint my nails. But you cant really paint your son's nails, well maybe clear coat them. My husband bites his nails constantly and I tell him if he's hungry, Ill get him a snack, and he hates that!!

I wouldn't bet on him being sick from biting his nails. I'm a horrid nail biter as is my youngest and I never get sick and she rarely does. That said, good luck! Nothing worked for me, I'm now 38 and still a nail biter and so far nothing has worked for my daughter, whose now 10. :(

I know someone said that No Bite didn't work for them but it definitely worked for me. I used to be a nail biter and this stuff worked like a charm.

I bought stuff called THUM which I got at Walgreens when my oldest was about 3 years old and was biting his nails. It worked for him. Now my almost 4 year old daughter is doing it and has been for a year and the stuff did not work. Nothing has worked for her. She runs and hides to do it so I never see her doing it. I even tell her I'll paint her nails if she stops and that hasn't worked.

Thanks for asking this question! My nearly 3 yr. old son bites/chews his nails, too. It looks like you've asked about a common problem. I will be reading to see what everyone says. I think I'll go to Target and see if they have anything. I'm sure that WalMart or Walgreen's would have something (?) I'll have to check it out.

Best of luck!