AmandaA
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,502 
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Post by AmandaA on Apr 25, 2016 13:46:30 GMT
DD is 3.5 and has been a nail biter FOREVER... But it has to stop. She doesn't bite them down so short that she is actually damaging her skin or causing open sores. But, she is constantly sick and always has her grimy little preschool hands in her mouth which certainly doesn't help the situation. In her defense, she has always been a kid that got every cold or germ her older brother brought home from the time she was just a baby. But putting all of those germs directly into her mouth certainly doesn't help her odds of staying healthy. And after dealing with some GI virus that she brought home from school going through our entire family this weekend- enough is enough  She isn't old enough to fully understand that her hands are dirty and that could make her sick. She is good about washing her hands, but she is 3 and touches everything... all of the time. We constantly remind her to get them out of her mouth, but that lasts for just a minute or two- or she just goes into her playroom to chew them without getting caught. I have bought her favorite color of pink polish but she won't let me paint them- runs away crying at the suggestion! So any suggestions of what to try with a kiddo this age? I am leaning towards the bad tasting polishes (and just having DH help me catch her to put it on), but have no idea which one to try. So if you have tried one that worked well or have other suggestions, fire away! |
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Apr 25, 2016 13:58:24 GMT
I bit my nails from the time I had teeth until about age 13 when I began to notice boys. There was NOTHING my mother could do to get me to stop. That bad tasting polish? Well, once that taste is in your mouth it doesn't go away, so might as well keep chewing. I suggest trying to redirect when she's her nails; don't focus so much on the nail biting.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 25, 2016 14:32:13 GMT
One of my nieces was a terrible nail biter. My sister tried everything she could think of, from the bitter apple stuff painted on her fingers, to bribery and everything else. Nothing worked until my niece got into high school and stopped doing it on her own. She was also a compulsive thumb sucker until she was around 13 and I think that factored into it too. Good luck, I hope someone comes up with something that helps!
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Post by jeremysgirl on Apr 25, 2016 14:40:05 GMT
My dad was a nail biter, my brother was a nail biter, I am a nail biter, my DS is a nail biter. I think it's genetic. I don't think there's anything that has successfully worked to make me not bite my fingernails, accept if I'm wearing acrylics. Then I at least notice when my hands are in my mouth. I am really weird about making sure that my hands are clean and my keyboards are clean. Most of the time, it is very unconscious when I bite my nails. Like I'm reading something.
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Post by debmast on Apr 25, 2016 14:43:26 GMT
I am a nail biter. I am over 50 and just have stopped (for the most part) in the last year or so. I do still bite on occasion when stressed or something.
I agree with the fact that often times I am not even aware I'm biting.
I have a 15 year old who is a biter as well. She gets acrylic nails and they have pretty much kicked her habit. She can't bite them! That wouldn't work for a 3 year old though.
There used to be some bitter stuff you could put on your nails to help stop the biting. Not even sure they make that anymore.
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Post by pmm on Apr 25, 2016 14:46:25 GMT
If you decide to use the bitter tasting nail polish, I would wait until she goes to sleep and paint them.
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Post by scraphollie27 on Apr 25, 2016 14:51:07 GMT
My dad was a nail biter, my brother was a nail biter, I am a nail biter, my DS is a nail biter. I think it's genetic. I don't think there's anything that has successfully worked to make me not bite my fingernails, accept if I'm wearing acrylics. Then I at least notice when my hands are in my mouth. I am really weird about making sure that my hands are clean and my keyboards are clean. Most of the time, it is very unconscious when I bite my nails. Like I'm reading something. This is me and my family as well. I would desperately like to not be a nail biter and am trying really hard to be conscious of when I'm doing but it's a compulsive behaviour. My mum made me feel anxious about it when I was a kid and I wished she would have left me alone because she never understood the compulsion to nail bite. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 14:18:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2016 17:38:07 GMT
<--- sort of liked the flavor of bitter nail anti biting stuff. Totally agree that once that taste is in your mouth it is no longer effective so you might as well ignore it. It isn't like the taste goes away when you pull your fingers out of your mouth. Keep her hands busy so they stay out of her mouth. If she is still "mouthy" give her an appropriate chew item www.chewigemusa.com/pages/collections |
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
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Post by luvnlifelady on Apr 25, 2016 17:47:41 GMT
I bit my nails forever and recently stopped long enough to actually go get a manicure with DD etc. I just did it cold turkey because I wanted nice looking nails while out line dancing. Well, I can't go dancing right now and got super stressed last week, so I bit them all again.  I really want to grow them out but honestly, I found nails to be a pain, especially when texting. Once I get them going again, I want to keep them very short. |
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Post by Chips on Apr 25, 2016 17:58:40 GMT
My older son was a nail biter from about 3 until maybe 7 and then he just stopped. I was so relieved that he just stopped. I am not sure why he did it but now he is great at using a nail clipper and keeping his nails trimmed.
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Post by lancermom on Apr 25, 2016 18:15:23 GMT
DH and my three kids are nail biters. Drives me insane. I hate talking to people that have their fingers in their mouth. Once the kids were old enough, I tried to gross them out. We would be at the grocery store. I would ask if they ALWAYS washed after the bathroom, and said some people don't. So if someone went to the bathroom, pooped, wiped, but didn't wash, they could have poop on their hands. Then they went to the store, touched the cart, kids touched the cart. Kid put hand in mouth. They could have put someone's poop in their mouth. Didn't even phase them. When I think of all the things my hands touch a day, it grosses me out!!!
I think it is something they have to stop themselves.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Apr 25, 2016 18:21:59 GMT
My son doesn't bite his nails. I had to cut them short for him forever. He got every cold, flu, pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma attack with fall or spring, all 47 viruses that cause hand foot and mouth disease, chicken pox, and a very bad staph infection all before he was 7. I thought I would lose my mind. He must have been a mouthy kind of kid. He had hand sanitizer in the classroom from forever onwards. He knew how to wash his hands and do it well.
Then he went into grade 3. I swear he has been healthy as a horse after that. He got the occasional cold or nothing but a cold. He just doesn't seem to get sick anymore. He had a cold last winter I think and he was "FINE". He was very FINE. He didn't need to rest or take a day off or anything he was FINE, Mom. Okay~~~~~
He did take off an afternoon to have dental surgery. He had to miss 2 hours of class and I swear it nearly killed him. He felt so guilty. (He went to class in the AM but went home at 1 pm.)
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Post by cmpeter on Apr 25, 2016 22:04:27 GMT
I bit mine until I was 47 and then stopped cold turkey. I never got sick more than anyone else, not sure about when I was a toddler though.
My mom tried a ton of things, bitter polish, taping them, hypnosis when I was older. None of it worked. Acrylics worked as an adult until I got tired of the upkeep.
My son was a nail biter until age 4 or so. Bribery worked with him. Every week if his nails were long enough to trim, he could pick a new toy from the store. My dd is 15 and an on again/off again biter. She'll stop when she has an event she wants a manicure for. She's getting better though. Bribery with toys didn't work for her. Neither does the bitter polish.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Apr 25, 2016 23:30:05 GMT
I was a nail biter. It's usually a nervous tick. Even though I have long nails now, as soon as one goes down I find myself tearing at the others.
Your son isn't getting sick from hands in his mouth. It's hands in his nose and eyes.
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Post by straggler on Apr 25, 2016 23:34:13 GMT
I am nearly older than dirt and nail biting is the only thing that keeps me somewhat "sane". It's not a habit I am proud of, but there are worse and believe me, I have more than my fair share of stress. I could not afford to drink it all away!
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Post by myboysnme on Apr 26, 2016 0:33:13 GMT
I am almost 60 and a lifelong nail biter. I hate aversive strategies.
The only thing you can do is keep her nails super short. Another words, nothing to bite. Teach her how to keep her hands clean. Tell her to wash her hands if she is going to put them in her mouth.
But she has an oral need to deal with stress, boredom, etc so try to replace it with something. I don't know what though.
If her nails are too short to bite then maybe she will find something else. Sometimes I bite my cheek which is no better. My mother picks at her self until she breaks skin, then picks at the scab. She always has and she's in her 80's.
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AmandaA
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,502
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Post by AmandaA on Apr 26, 2016 0:33:30 GMT
Shucks. I was really hoping someone here would have the magic cure. I am definitely not above bribery...or incentivizing as I like to call it  Just not sure she is quite old enough yet to have the patience to see it being worth it. I am not going to lie though... Not having to trim her nails all of the time is an upside of the habit. With 3 kids, every little bit helps  |
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madgie
Junior Member
Posts: 52
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Post by madgie on Apr 26, 2016 0:47:54 GMT
One of our friends (a man in his 50's) jokingly told my 10 year old nail biter that she would get toxic shock syndrome if she continued to bite her nails. I don't think either of them knew what it was. I was cracking up when she told me who it was that told her that.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,247
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Apr 26, 2016 0:49:00 GMT
I was a bad nail biter for a long time. I don't bite them any more but I do pick at them and my cuticles sometimes.
It never helped me when someone called attention to it. That just added to the stress, and since it was a nervous habit for me, more stress just increased the need.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,787
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Apr 26, 2016 2:01:49 GMT
I started biting my nails when I was a little kid. Bad. Like bleeding and torn cuticles and down to the quick. My fingers were always in my mouth. I tried the bitter polish, I tried the rubber band to snap when I was doing it, I tried everything. Nothing worked.
At 37 years 4 months, I delivered my little girl. The day I went into the hospital to have her I quit. No reason. No clue why. I didn't chew them the whole 13 months that I breastfed her. A week after she quit nursing, my nails were destroyed and gone. Weird.
I got pregnant with my son at 41 years 2 months and randomly quit chewing them again. Delivered him in March of this year and have yet to gnaw them off. More weird.
If there is an edge or rough spot, I have to file it then and there or I will peel and pick at it.
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Peamac
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea # 418
Posts: 4,229
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Post by Peamac on Apr 26, 2016 3:28:00 GMT
My older sister bit her nails quite a bit~ my mom used the bitter tasting stuff, but she got used to it (it might work for your little one, though).
What made me stop biting my nails in jr high was to see someone else biting theirs- seeing what I looked like to everyone else made me quit pretty much cold turkey.
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Post by cmpeter on Apr 26, 2016 3:28:06 GMT
Friends and family used to tell me all the horrible things that would happen to me if I kept biting my nails. The favorite was that my appendix would rupture. That never happened, nothing negative ever happened, so I never believed them.
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Post by ghislaine on Apr 27, 2016 2:47:37 GMT
Same story as many of you, I was a nail biter until I was a teen. Around fourteen I stopped chewing them down to the nib. I still stick them in my mouth, but unless there is a rough part, I don't actually bite anymore.
I was a thumb sucker too and I just sucked off the bitter stuff until it was gone. The only thing that worked was my mother bribing me with enough money when I was 8 to buy a Cabbage Patch doll!
My 7 year old never got into sucking her thumb but she's definitely a nail biter! She didn't start until Kindergarten and I haven't tried to do much about it.
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Refupea #1142
I really want to grow them out but honestly, I found nails to be a pain, especially when texting. Once I get them going again, I want to keep them very short.
Just not sure she is quite old enough yet to have the patience to see it being worth it. I am not going to lie though... Not having to trim her nails all of the time is an upside of the habit. With 3 kids, every little bit helps 
