Nail biting Toddlers

[witch1]

Can anyone please offer me advice on why my 2 year old son is biting his nails and how to help him stop without turning into a monster nag.

I'm afraid that we resorted to bribery as nothing else worked (dh would not allow me to persevere with the stuff that you dip their fingertips into that tastes so foul that they are supposed to stop biting after ds threw up when he licked his nails after I had used that stuff).

As ds is very rarely allowed anywhere near a lollipop, we went out together and selected a lollipop which he was told beforehand, he would only be allowed to have after his nails had been cut with scissors (i.e. allowed to grow long enough to need cutting!). We inspect his nails everyday now and tell him how lovely they are and how proud we are of him for not biting his nails etc..

witch1, I am having a similar problem with DS1, aged 4. As a reformed nail biter myself I am terrified not to come down too heavy on him. I have explained that the nail clippers are for cutting his nails as he tells me that is what he is doing when he bites them. I began biting my nails when I was about 9 or 10 as a friend did it and I thought it was cool, my Mum nagged and nagged me for years about it and I only managed to stop when pg with DS2 and my nails went really hard and started to grow, this coupled with my Mum saying to me "there is more to you as a person than just nails, don't worry about it", almost as if she had a last accepted my nail biting.

I know all too well what a difficult habit it is to break and I just don't know how to tackle it with my DS1, I worry that if I come down too hard on him it'll just make matters worse but also worry that if I just ignore it (more or less what I am doing now) it will just turn into a habit that will be with him for years.

So I am afraid no advice but plenty of sympathy!

I wish I could offer some advice on this. I have been biting my nails since I was a wee little one and at 33 have only once in my life ever let them grow (somewhat). This lasted a little over a week then I went crazy and chomped them all off. I would give anything to have nice long nails but it so hard to break the habit. More hard when your home all day and night not doing much to keep busy. Hopefully your ds will break this and not carry the habit into his older years.

I have the same problem with my ds #2 3y my mum say's to rub dry soap all over finger tips plus nails. mum in law say's put musterd over the ends of fingers. we tryed the musterd one and now he love's it, we say dont bite your nails or eles we'll put musterd on them, but he now bites them as he loves the taste.

Interesting that we all are nail biting parents of nailbiting children as someone told me today that our kids start most habits by copying...does that go for drinking as well do you think!Our plan is to watch for a bit and see what happens and if it escalates try the positive praise thingy like sis did.
He responded incredibly well to praise when potty training and we roped his older sisters (aged 4 and 6) in to love him up for that so may be we should get them in to the nail thing as well. Bit of sparkly nail varnish from them??

Yes sparkly nails might look too good to spoil - or they might look good enough to eat!

My ds started biting his nails when he was about 2, much to my horror. I wasn't a nailbiter but dh was - I think there is something to the copying/modelling idea. I made sure dh was aware not to do it in front of him (though he rarely does it now and only when they get long or ragged). I kept ds' nails trimmed and tried to distract him whenever he did it, to keep his hands busy - just casually, without mentioning what he was doing (as I think at least part of it was attention seeking, since he knew it annoyed me). His favourite time to do it was in the car, so I made sure he had a snack instead (now that is another habit but one I can live with!) Can't remember how or when but he stopped doing it. He is now 3yr 10m and doesn't do it at all.

Sounds like you've got a bit of a plan now anyway - good luck with it and HTH!

witch1, yes you are right, there is a trend, as dh and I were both nailbiters until our late teens.

The sparkly nail polish sounds like a great idea, especially if you only paint the top millimetre or so of the nail so that if he bites, the sparkly bit will disappear! good luck.

thanks everyone for you help wiht this we will see how things progress. I will return with an update...

hello witch1

My daughter bites her nails, and am afraid I do aswell so I know where she gets it from, I Have tried everything from that horrible stuff you paint on her nails to bribing her with pretty nail varnish, am running out of ideas, so any more suggestions please.
???

I'm sure I read somewhere recently that they seem to think that the tendency to nail bite is genetic and therefore if you are a nail biter, chances are your child will be too.

I'm thinking maybe it is a genetic thing myself because my mother, myself and my grandmother(who I beleive) all bite their nails. So far my dd who is 10 hasn't yet. She keeps her nails nicely trimmed. Just hope it doesnt become a habit as she gets older.

It's weird isnt it. I have 2 who do and one who doesnt. But I do and dh doesnt . my sister and brother never did either....mmmh

Hello everyone,
Me and my sister done it, I have done it since I can remember which must be around 3 or 4, so bad that I don't know i am doing it anymore. My dd does it and now I have noticed my ds is too. I can't help feeling guilty, that it is my fault cause they have both copied me.

My ds has started doing this occasionally, and I'm wondering if its because I have done it to his nails sometimes when I notice one is snagged and I can't be bothered to find the scissors.