8 yr old's nail and finger biting habit?

Question

I could use some advise on stopping my 8 year old to constantly have his fingers in his mouth - biting nails or biting the skin around it. Tried using lotion to keep the skin moist - did not work
Any ideas?????
Thanks

Answer 1

hey , ive been doing it for the past almost 10 yrs, since i was 6 or so, and ive recently stopped. the nailpolish stuff that tastes bad doesnt really work, well not for me because it tastes bad afterwards, not staright away.give it a try though, its called 'stopbite'

give rewards when the nail grows.
insures he gets plenty of calcium, try milk and cabbage
godo luck

Answer 2

I did the same thing. My whole life. I chewed my nails, then when I couldn't reach nail anymore, I chewed on the skin around them. I'm told my g-grandmother did the same thing. So, maybe more than just my own bad habit, maybe its in my genes. I tried everything. Sour apple and hot applications that tasted nasty, but I just got used to it, and chewed anyway. My hands looked awful and I was embarrased.
Well, then some miracle happened. I was 47 years old... suddenly, and I mean like suddenly, it stopped. I can't explain it. I'm grateful for it, to be sure! Now I have long nails. So long they get in the way. (You have no idea how many times I've had to use the backspace key to type this due to nails in the way.) They are thin and therefore sharp and I often scrape and stab myself with them, but my hands finally look normal.
Advice is.... don't give up. Try using some type of hobby, maybe like model building that keeps his hands busy. Anything that keeps his mind on other things and out of his mouth.
I noticed I chewed mostly out of anxiety or being bored.
Maybe ask his pediactric physician about an anti-anxiety drug if its really a serious problem. Cheweing also makes him more suseptible to fungal infections.
Otherwise, wait till he's in his late 40's.... he might magically quit too.

Answer 3

I am a nail biter. Only thing that worked for me as a kid was painting on that terrible tasting stuff. Now it helps if I always have an emery board to take off the sharp edges so I don't feel a need to bite.

Answer 4

rub some nail polish remover onto the fingernails. it tastes disgusting for the whole day, even if you wash yoru hands. that will make it stop. you could also try the stuff they use for dogs when they constantly lick/bite themselves until the skin is gone. something like "bitter apple" might work.

Answer 5

I know this sounds terrible, but when I was a child I bit my nails constantly. My mom told me that I could get worms biting my nails. It seems discusting, but it can actually happen!
Check this out:

http://familydoctor.org/139.xml

I pretty much quit immediately.

Answer 6

i us to bite my nails since i was a little girl as well, there is this product you can find in the pharmacies that comes in a small tube you place it on your child's fingernails, if he tries to bite his nails the taste is extremely bitter he wont want to bite them anymore!!

Answer 7

Have you asked him why he does it? Try talking to him about it hes old enough to understand. It also could be something to do with his nerves. Try not say too much about it maybe he will quit on his own.

Answer 8

He will out grow it, it is just a nervous habit and when you can stop what he is nervous about and stop it it will go away. Besides it is not fatal

Answer 9

This question was asked 3 dasy ago by soem else, they got some great answers:

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index.php?qid=20070223203655AAiJtNe