Nail biting - horror!🤢

[AsAProfessionalFekko]

Can anyone recommended the nastiest, most revoltingly stomach-turning anti nail biting polish on the market?

'Somebody' has almost nibbled to his armpits...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/JESSICA-Nibble-No-More-14-8/dp/B007FQJY5O
https://www.boots.com/stop-and-grow-stop-biting-10002460?cmmmc=bmmmGoogle+Boots+PLAsAs--BAU---C=%28GB%3AWhoop%21%29+Boots+Shopping+-+Category+-+Beauty+-+Mobile%28GB%3AWhoop%21%29+Stop+%26+Grow&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqfP08ruu3AIVBLTtCh1e0QqAEAQYAiABEgJnpfDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We tried that one and it wasn’t too awful apparently. I need something that tastes like rancid cow pats!

www.superdrug.com/Pretty-Quik/Pretty-Quik-Stop-Nail-Biting-Polish-25ml/p/412650
This
I weaned a dc off dummies, another one off my boobs and my niece off sucking her thumb with this. It is vile!
My niece was sick every time she tasted it it's so bad.

Put a mixture of tomato and ghost pepper juice on the nails.

I paid my son to stop biting his nails. It cost me a fortune, but it worked.

He's just started biting 3 of his fingernails again (4 years later) so I'm bribing him with extra gaming time and money..

Basically, if I can cut a nail (I still cut them for him), he gets the reward.

He says he has stopped - the I see them all gnawed away and shorter than their natural shortest length (like when you catch a nail and it pulls off really low down) or spot him chomping in them.

It’s such a revolting habit and it looks like he has stuck his fingers in a shredder. He has been promising for over a year now (bribes have been tried, reasoning, telling off, stopping pocket money...) and it’s getting worse - his fingertips are all frog like.

How old is he? Have you asked him what he would like in return for stopping?
Also, I'm aware that nailbiting is very much linked to anxiety and sensory issues (I think he finds it comforting to have his hands in his mouth) for my son, so when it starts again, or is bad, I know that he is worried about something and try to tackle that alongside.

It also helps to replace the behaviour. So, for instance, my son was always tapping on stuff all the time, and we used to try to get him to stop. But we got him an old guitar and then later a drum kit and these have helped massively. We got the idea from a friend who took up cross stitch to stop herself biting her nails.

He’s 13 and it’s pretty much whenever he is stressed - or not, so all the time! It’s just a really bad habit with no underlying cause.

He was offered cash reward but didn’t make it past day 1! He is also increadibly stubborn so if he decided that he really didn’t want to do it, there’s no way anyone could encourage him to do so. He doesn't seem to care (apart from when someone mentions it).

DS 10 is nail biter but I can't seem to catch him in the act so fuck knows when he's doing it!!!

But similar to yours his fingers are a mess, they're red raw and actually look swollen

I suspect a fair amount is nocturnal nibbling! During the day his fingers are too busy on his phone.

None of them have ever worked for me. I am a stress nibbler. My nails are soft and weak and snap/split. I disgust myself every time I find myself doing it, but cannot stop.

If he doesn’t care then I’d just leave him to it. I bite mine and have no intention of stopping. For me, it’s a mixture of a nervous/stress thing and a sensory thing, although I couldn’t say why I like it.

If he doesn’t care then I’d just leave him to it.

Please don’t do this. It’s a disgusting habit. Chewed down nails are embarrassing whatever the age and I personally find it stomach churning having to watch somebody gnawing on their fingers non stop. Lose all respect for the person for not having self control. If he’s stressed, get him a stress ball or something similar to fiddle with.

Does he want to stop but can't? I'd try little gloves on overnight if he wants to but is struggling. A runic cube or fiddle toys for watching TV with so that his hands are occupied.

I will find the polish I use with mine - not sure how good it is for a long seasoned biter but it works for my younger kid who bites until they bleed.

I know he is a boy, and may resist this, but gel nail polish (clear is fine) makes them unchewable until the habit is broken.

Also, some photographs of horribly infected fingers might be good. As a teen he still has a very plastic brain and stands a chance of kicking this. If he carries it through to adulthood it become so much harder to break the associations -so definitely don't just leave him to it!

I've tried the photos too - Googling 'badly bitter fingernails' turned my stomach!

He doesn't care. It must really hurt too. He is the most stubborn person ever.

Another nail biter here...

It does sound as if you are (understandably!) frustrated that he's doing something with his body that you strongly believe he shouldn't.

If he doesn't want to stop, realistically you can't force him. He will wash off anything you put on his nails or bite them anyway and put up with the bad taste. He'll do it at night when you can't monitor him etc

At 13 and if he's stubborn there's a danger of turning it into a battle ground and he'll become more entrenched.

Anecdotal evidence here (!) but My step mother spent years trying to force her children (my step and half siblings) to stop with loads of methods and none were effective. My DM just ignored me biting mine! As adults we are all still nail biters, they are 'worse' than me in that I can (and have) stopped on occasions and don't bite them down to the quick the way they do...

I've seen suggestions that you try and limit manage biting rather than stopping it. E.g. say it's not appropriate in certain situations or ask child to try and stop one nail at at time (or one hand, or whatever), insist on keeping hands clean and put plasters over any that are looking sore or damaged, keep a nail file and clippers handy to cut any ragged edges that are tempting to chew

That might work if he's willing to co-oporate and wants to stop...

For me it's when I'm bored more than stressed but everyone has their own triggers.

For me I stopped when we weren’t allowed fake nails at school but there was nothing in the uniform policy about length of natural nails (so I grew them as long as I could)

Wonder if they ever closed that loophole?

Stripesandwings that sounds quite sensible actually - not making it a battleground.

They only say it worked for me was I allowed myself and few finger nails to bite and I let the rest grow.

You could try letting him pick one nail to grow first and see how that goes before making it two finger nails, then three etc

I should of really previewed that post before posting

ex biter I gave up when an infection stopped my skin from shedding on one finger. The doctor scared me so much about what could happen I gave up on the spot so you could try the photos.

I found a quick google came up with quite a few articles on the psychology of nail biting wich could be useful

@Billben, why do you care so much about what someone else does? I really couldn't care less what anyone thinks of me biting my nails. It's my own body, I can do what I want with it. I don't find it embarrassing at all having chewed nails, or if anyone sees me doing it. If someone is going to judge me for it, then I don't really want anything to do with them to be honest! Someone giving me a stress ball is not going to stop me biting my nails.