Nail chewing advice

[ScotsMumOf4]

Posting here for traffic. My son is 9 and has autism. He is chewing his nails down to the point he's making them bleed and they are very sore. He said he doesn't want long nails 🤦‍♀️
He's had every type of fidget and chew toy I can think of and nothing is working. Need some fresh ideas how to get him to stop. Tia

Could you paint them?
A colour he won't want in his teeth? A pretty colour he won't want to mess up? A clear protective coat for nail health to put him off? A bitter polish he won't like the taste of?
Could you get him into a routine, Nails clipped every two weeks? Tell him all the reasons biting is bad? the germs could make him sick..

He doesn't listen to germs are bad. I didn't realise there was bitter polish I could try so I will definitely have a look for some of that. Normal polish gets picked and chewed off 😣

Not too sound too negative, but I’m my experience, there’s not really anything that can stop it. I’ve nail bitten and pulled for most of my life, and while I’ve been able to interrupt for brief periods, it never lasts more than a month or so. It’s so deeply ingrained that I do it before I realise I’m doing it. I can’t stop even when it’s painful. And to be blunt, if he’s not very motivated to stop I really don’t think there’s anything you can do.

Fidgeting with other things doesn’t help. Bad tasting nail polish doesn’t help. Painting nails doesn’t help, because I enjoy removing the colour and then my nails are there again. The only way I can interrupt slightly is by trying to focus the behaviour only on my pinky fingers and leave the rest alone as far as possible.

Ah I'm worried about being unable to break the habit. He's determined this is how he wants his nails 🙄
I was a nail biter for years till an ex partner commented on it so I grew them and realised I like the feeling of them that little bit longer.

I don't have any ideas, I've given up and don't give any sympathy when he says they hurt. I don't know what else to do, he hasn't stopped, but he hasn't made them bleed in a while.
The bitter stuff didn't really work, just made him angry and then he wouldn't let us use it. He washed it off.

I’m sorry to hear this, my daughter was the same and they were so sore and bitten right down. She was also embarrassed about them. She is 13 now and awaiting assessment for asd.
We tried the stop n grow stuff that tastes horrible and that worked once but not permanently.

To be honest the thing that has stopped her is that she got a brace a few months ago and she was physically unable to bite them like she used to, plus the orthodontist was clear she wasn’t allowed to do this.

I’ve never been a nail biter but I know someone who bit theirs right down like this, she didn’t find anything to help but eventually managed to kick the habit purely because she wanted nice nails so it might be a case of leaving him to it and letting him learn it hurts when too short unfortunately

Use Malava stop nail polish, tastes vile so that might put him off.