Nail biting - 3 year old

[supertrouper]

Is it normal for a 3 year old (nearly 4) to bite their nails all the time? My ds does this and his nails look painful they are so short. Am hoping its just a habit he will stop. If anyone has any advice would be very grateful.

DH has JUST stopped biting his nails - and he's 29

I still haven't stopped and I am 38....

So don't ignore it as it may not go away... and I remember my mum trying allsorts when I was around 10.. even mustard on the nails....

I would have thought it would be easier to stop earlier rather than later...

It's certainly not abnormal. I wouldn't necessarily expect your ds to stop. dh is nailbiter and only gave up for any length of time this year because he wants to fingerpick more on guitar (40). Dd1 was nailbiter from very young age (fingers and toes) and only stopped this year (10) as she wanted nail varnish to look better.

Good luck to you if you want to try and stop it - have no advice on that front. I tried hard to ignore it. Dh said no point banging on about it.

Thanks for your replies. Glad its not rare. Hopefully he will grow out of it then.