How can I prevent my child from biting his fingernails?

Answer 1

Our doctor recommended with our five-year-old son that we tell him there were only certain rooms or places that he could bite his nails, like the bathroom or his bedroom. Then you start eliminating those areas one by one. We also used a product called "Stop Bite", which is one of those horrible tasting nail polishes.

Also, we discovered that our son was really doing most of his nail-biting because he has alot of energy and nervous tension and always needs to be doing something. We would catch him doing it mostly while watching TV. So sometimes we found just giving his hands something else productive to do, like playing with a stress ball, was a good deterrent. Good luck and hope this helps!

Answer 2

It's far more productive to try to find out WHY the child is biting his nails than to simply attempt to stop it. If the child is tense or under some form of pressure, this is one way they will show it. I know it's not easy with a young child, but try to figure out the root cause of the problem, and chances are good that the behavior will go away.

Answer 3

There is this ointment thing. You put it on your child's fingers. When she bites it'll taste bad and that'll stop her/him from biting.

Answer 4

I use a product called Nibble no more...it's absolutely foul...but it works