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help - DD is biting her nails (and toe nails)

KathrynMDKathrynMD member
in Pre-School and Daycare

Nail biting is like one of my biggest pet peeves EVER!  DD has been doing this now for a few months.  The worst is when she bites her toe nails.  I'm so skeeved out.

They are raggedy and uneven and peeling, so I can see how she feels like she needs to bite them, but if she doesn't stop biting them, they'll never grow normally.. .. 

DH also bites his nails (cuticles) which grosses me out too, but his parents picked on him about it as a kid too and now he's like defensive on DD's behalf when I try to get her to stop and tells me I should just drop it - but ugh, its so gross!

Does anyone have suggestions for how to get her to stop?

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Re: help - DD is biting her nails (and toe nails)

  • MsAlyssMsAlyss member

    I'm no help, but you're not alone.  DS bites his fingernails too...especially when he's nervous or anxious.  I hope someone has a magic answer for us!

     

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  • NicoleWINicoleWI member

    Would she like to do nail polish, either as a deterrent, or as a reward for keeping the nails nice for X amount of time?

    As an alternative, don't they make some kind of bad-tasting stuff you can paint on the nails? Not sure if that is true or safe.

    The toenail thing is really gross! Good luck.

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  • Mrs.GregMrs.Greg member
    My DD used to bite her fingernails so bad! I tried a few different methods to get her to stop but nothing worked. Well, one day I noticed she had one lonely longish fingernail so I made a huge deal about trimming it with clippers. I went on and ON about how beautiful it was now that I clipped it. I texted DH and told him to notice it and gush over it too. I'll be hot darned, it actually worked!! For the next couple of weeks, she asked me daily to clip her fingernails. I was worried this would go on forever!! I'd check them daily and say only certain ones needed to be clipped that day. And eventually she stopped asking every day, I clip them like once a week or so. Good luck!
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  • steverstever member
    I have no advice. DS does the same thing and it drives me nuts. I tell him to stop and he won't. I tell him he's on TO and he'll keep chewing there. I tell him not to do it around me and he does it in his room. It seems to be getting better lately but I'm still irked.

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  • VTbride05VTbride05 member

    DS does this too. It started before he started preK this fall and just now is stopping. We have tried everything from putting clear nail polish on to asking him to keep his hands in his pockets. It's a phase, but it stinks! DS had bloody fingers a few times!


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  • brightningbrightning member
    DD went through a nail biting phase. I finally started having her use hand sanitizer on her hands a few times throughout the day and it stopped her. That stuff tastes awful!
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  • LoCarbLoCarb member

    imagebrightning:
    DD went through a nail biting phase. I finally started having her use hand sanitizer on her hands a few times throughout the day and it stopped her. That stuff tastes awful!

    This is what I was thinking. When I was young there was an ointment in a nail polish bottle for ppl who bit nails which had a bitter taste. I wonder if they make something similar now?  

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  • EchowyspEchowysp member
    imageLoCarb:

    imagebrightning:
    DD went through a nail biting phase. I finally started having her use hand sanitizer on her hands a few times throughout the day and it stopped her. That stuff tastes awful!

    This is what I was thinking. When I was young there was an ointment in a nail polish bottle for ppl who bit nails which had a bitter taste. I wonder if they make something similar now?  

    Yeah, and it gets in their eyes and burns like hell.  My mom gave up trying to use that stuff on me because of it.  Not safe for little ones.

    I'm still a nail biter, but for me it's an anxiety thing.  

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  • KathrynMDKathrynMD member

    I've been trying to put neosporin on it - hoping the petroleum jelly will soften it up and hopefully make it less likely to get infected.

    I'm just afraid she's going to get infected/inflamed ingrown toenails or something.

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