Child biting nails and skin, and scratching self

[Parsley91]

My son (6) can’t stop biting his nails. Occasionally it extends to scratching himself or biting his arms.

The scratching and biting has been within the last year, the nail biting has been since about 2 years ago.

Iv bought him chew/teething toys and he uses them but says it’s not the same. It seems to have stopped him biting his skin but he really struggles with his nails and keeps coming back to that and scratching himself.

I would really like to hear if anyone has had similar problems with their child and how it turned out

No experience sorry. How is he at school? Have you spoken to his teacher?

I'm afraid to say that's when I started biting my nails and I never stopped. I'm told it's an anxious behaviour (I do it when I am feeling anxious about something) but I've never really been able to stop it for any decent period of time. I would suggest trying to ask him why he does it and see if there is any link with something that is making him uncomfortable or nervous or worried, then trying to solve that problem before encouraging him to stop (he has to want to stop too)