Advice needed for nail biting habit

[bitsnblobs]

Dd10 has a terrible finger nail biting habit, all nails are bitten about half way down. I've tried the special nail polish which works for a week or two but once she stops applying it she's straight back at it. And it seems the habit has just transferred to knuckle cracking instead, which she now does constantly. I've tried rewards and incentives. I've tried explaining the long term effects on her fingers, not to mention the germs. Nothing seems to work and I'm at a loss! Any advise? Has anyone managed to crack the habit?

Anyone?

Find out what she is anxious about and address that.

Look at relaxing/mindfulness techniques together.

Is she bothered by it? If not stop policing her poor hands and leave her be!

I'd get her a fiddle cube or twisty fiddle toy

I've tried explaining the long term effects on her fingers, not to mention the germs

What long-term effects on her fingers, OP ? I bit my fingernails until I was 30 and there were NO long term effects. As for these germs that you mention, if she washes her hands she'll be germ free.

Maybe back off and let her be. You'll only make her anxious about it if you keep making a big thing of it. At 10 I'm sure she is one of many in her class who bite their nails - she'll be fine, honestly.

Knuckle "cracking" has not been shown to be harmful or beneficial. More specifically, knuckle cracking does not cause arthritis. Joint "cracking" can result from a negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas temporarily into the joint, such as when knuckles are "cracked." This is not harmful.

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