How do I stop my 3.8 year old from biting her nails?

[castlesintheair]

Any advice please?

[Indith]

Dunno Castles I still bite mine

My mum tried to use that foul tasting stuff on me once when I was a kid. It rubbed off onto everything I touched (not good for packed lunch at school). My sister once picked up the bottle then picked up her brace and put it back in her mouth............

[castlesintheair]

Hurumph. Well, if you still do it Indith, I shall have to put it down to one of DD1's charming little quirks and not worry about it I thought about the stuff to put on her nails but knowing her she'd like it and eat that too!

[Upsadaisy]

They are her finger nails.....if she bites them let her or distract her with something else as it's often a comfort thing when your anxious.

[HAPPYMUMOF5]

Stop n Grow from chemists is good. Tastes awful and you have to re apply it every day. Word of warning tho - dont leave it in your jeans, then wash them as when you put said jeans into the tumble dryer the Stop n Grow bottle WILL explode. Everywhere. And smell to high heavens.

[HairyIrene]

castles..once you crack it, let me know!

have same, ds 3.6 bitten his nails for as long as i can remember, dh does too!

i stopped him biting toe nails (no more treats as that would be his 'treat'!) and that has worked
but
finger nails, no joy
i drum my nails on table alot and he is jealous of noise i can make, so thats my next strategy...
in it for the long haul i think though!

[Bellygone]

Oh no is it an anxious thing? My dd does it, shes only 2:6 i keep worrying that shes worrying about something although i bite mine too, so DP says that shes just copying me...

[bearsmom]

My ds started biting his nails when he was about 3 (we had some problems with my parents at the time he started doing it and I'm convinced he was anxious about what was going on), and for a while we'd ask him to stop whenever we spotted him doing it, but pointing it out made him more anxious so we decided to try and ignore it for a while which seemed to work. In the last six months (he's now 4.5) he's almost completely stopped doing it so I think it's something that will just fade away with time. He's got a head start on me - I didn't stop biting my nails until I was 30!

[jellybrain]

ds2(7) Has stopped biting his toe nails. Fingers are proving to be more difficult...any tips would be gratefuly received.

[Fizzylemonade]

gloves, seriously, make them wear gloves inside until they stop. It is a habit and usually sub-conscious so they do it without thinking.

I used to bite my nails, my Mum tells me I did it from being at least 4 years old, I stopped when I was 15 but still bite the skin around my nails.

I went to see a hypnotherapist but he said it was so ingrained that they may not be able to cure me.

I wish my Mum had tried harder, I hate the habit and even when I make a conscious effort to stop I find my fingers in my mouth and I don't even remember putting them there.

I stopped biting my nails by wearing cotton gloves. I must try to do that for my skin.