How can I get a child to stop biting their fingernails?

What are some things I can do to get my child to stop biting his fingernails and toenails? It’s drives me crazy and is so unsanitary.

1 Like

How old is your child? If he is a toddler it is normal and the only thing to do is distract him with something else. If he is older like close to school age you can try talking to him and explain how his feet and hands can get dirty. Again, distraction may be the best solution. There are ointments that you can by to stop thumb sucking maybe they will work for nail biting as well. One of my boys sucked his thumb and nothing worked until he went to school. Some of the other children laughed at him still doing it and called him a baby. He stopped and never did it again.

As a adult that still fights biting my nails from even when I was an adult. Not much. You can’t dip the fingers in anything or paint with nasty nail polish that wouldnt just be licked off regardless and continued to bite. Your child has to want to stop and work on it. I still bite my nails ( I do t my toes anymore because I’m not that flexible anymore lol) but I’ve been doing my own nails to keep me from biting them. I also bite the skin next to the nail. It’s worse when I’m stressed which seems to be all the time these days. I’ve had times in my life I thought I had myself broke but then something would happen like death or dhs etc.

4 Likes

I used to bit might when I was a kid a friend put hot sauce on my fingers that stopped me that was many years ago

Anything like biting nails, pulling out hair by twirling hair etc is an anxiety issue. Slow life down. Start the kiddo with a relaxing hobby.
Help kiddo with schoolwork big time.
Talk to kiddo about what would be a happy place.
Kiddo needs to know what will be happening, later today, tomorrow, on the weekend. Lots of anxiety is because kiddo doesn’t know what to expect or what is expected.
If there are sibs, kiddo needs to have HIS special quiet place in the home

2 Likes

Do spa days that arerelaxing, even if it’s at home, to keep them manicured and also help with whatever stress or anxiety they might have.

1 Like

There’s a nail polish called NO Bite that tastes nasty. You can find it at most drug stores

1 Like