She wants to stop biting her nails

[KaraBoo]

My nearly9 yr old (she'll be 9 tomorrow!!!!) has asked for advice on how to stop biting her nails.

Any tips?

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Well my cousin and a friend of mine quite nail biting by having acrilic nails put on. One had them done professionally and hte other did the store bought kind. But at 9yo not sure if that is feasable tho you can get them super short.

[nonnymoose]

Can you give her some nice manicuring tools? The thing that helps me stop messing with mine is to have them looking nicer in the first place. Good cuticle scissors, orange sticks and good emery boards would give her a place to start. You could paint her nails for her, too. Then she could pick the polish off instead of tearing up her nails!

[CallMeMommy]

Painting my nails is usually the only thing that keeps me from biting them (though it does take me a couple of tries to quit completely). DH got me a gift cert for a manicure and pedicure for Christmas, so now I've stopped biting them so I can grow them long enough for the manicure Try letting her pick out a couple of cool nail colors and give painting them a try.

[livinzoo]

She needs to replace that oral feeling. I chewed gum or sucked on Jolly ranchers. I also have to keep my nails filed. If one breaks and I can't get to a file that nail is chewed off.

[orangefoot]

Alll of the above but I found I also needed to find something to do instead of picking my fingernails.

I hold my left thumb with my right hand like a baby holds your finger. I can't pick anything like this and it feels nice especially if I use the thumb of my right hand to massage the base of my left thumb!

A stop biting buddy might be helpful. Does she have a friend who also wants to stop? Or a friend who would encourage her every day and tell her that her hands are looking better and better?

[SharonAnne]

Also, keeping soap under her nails might help. It didn't help me But it's been known to help other people I know.

I agree with needing to replace the behavior, although I'm not sure it's the oral feeling. It wasn't for me; I found I needed to pick at something So, yeah, keeping them polished, even clear polish, is a good idea, because if that's her thing, she can pick at the polish

[Cherie2]

Originally Posted by nonnymoose

Can you give her some nice manicuring tools? The thing that helps me stop messing with mine is to have them looking nicer in the first place. Good cuticle scissors, orange sticks and good emery boards would give her a place to start. You could paint her nails for her, too. Then she could pick the polish off instead of tearing up her nails!

this is what did it for me

[MamaJenese]

My sister did it with a manicure every two weeks and sugarless gum.

[stickywicket67]

have her get regular manicures w/no polish. (i would bite off the polish and that would just lead to more nail biting.)

if she gets a simple manicure every couple weeks it will definitely help. i tell the manicurist to keep the nails short and rounded and i get them buffed for shine. the shine lasts for about two weeks and buffing makes my nails really strong. i use hand creme constantly too.

part of it is about spending the money to have nice nails- i wouldn't want my manicure ruined by biting. it's not that expensive it's just the thought of wasting $10. and part of it is that by taking care of them they will growing stronger w/ out hangnails and ragged cuticles to pick at.

visualization to stop biting, too. it really is gross to bite them. i didn't realize just how nasty until i saw this dirty druggie guy picking and biting his nails on the subway once and that image just grossed me out soooo much. i thought of it every time i caught myself gnawing and it pretty much cured me.

imo-i think getting manicures (and pedicures and professional hair cuts) are nice things to do for your body. a great habit to start as she approaches that awkward teenage time.

[sbm1001]

Funny...I sat here biting my nails while reading the responses without even ealizing it til just now.

I've been biting mine since I was little & have had periods when I have had nice nails, but never for too long. If you give her something to replace the oral fixation, I'd skip the jolly ranchers, as one person suggested. It's really bad for her teeth. I learned that one from experience. I think my dentist was able to add on a new wing to his house after I quit smoking! I digress....

Anyhow, I would buy her a manicure kit as well as a buffer, but take her for a manicure & bring the kit with you. Have the nail tech show her how to use each of the tools. At 9 years old, I'd be hesitant to give her a cuticle clipper or allow the nail tech to clip them unless it's really necessary.

I second the soap suggestion, as well as some light polish. If you see her picking at the polish, fore go it until she gets a better handle on picking. If she's even slightly aggressive at removing the polish (IE with her teeth), she'll remove fine layers of the nail too, so when they start growing out they won't be as strong.

This is all coming from a former nail tech & current biter, in case you needed my references.

GL to her!

Shannon

[trinity6232000]

When I was a child I would bite my nails until they bled. They were so short that I remember older woman would just be disgusted by the look of my nails. I didn't break my habit until I used fake nails. My nails grew out a little underneath and then I was so happy to have nails I gave it up completely. I've only relapsed twice since then, and I was 17 when I finally broke the habit.

I was also a nail tech in a past life. I left the profession when I couldn't feel good about damaging peoples natural nails. BUT on the two occasions that I relapsed and started biting my nails I went and had acrylic nails put on. I asked them to create them thinner than normal, using tips, and a very thin layer of acrylic. Plus I have them cut far shorted than normal, so they don't get in the way.

The nails will weaken while growing under the acrylic, my favorite product to strengthen nails is OPI Nail Envy. Start using it when the acrylic is taken off, and in a short amount of time the natural nails will grow beautifully.

[KaraBoo]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to let her read this thread herself as well.

What I'm doing now is: painting her nails with polish (which she likes) and putting those stick on decorations on them. Also, I'm trying to notice WHEN she is biting. She says when she's reading or when she's bored and trying to fall asleep. She's a very oral kid. Nursed til past three, chews on everything in sight. Her dad is a smoker and I worry so much about her oral fixation leading her to smoke.

[Petronella]

Putting little pieces of tape around her fingertips? Actually, what worked for my dd was flicking herself with a rubber band every time she bit her nails. But a lot of kids don't like that.

[NaomiLorelie]

The one and only time was when I got acrylic nails but I don't want to do that again because it destroys your nails. Maybe a nice natural manicure? Maybe I should do that myself.

[LaLaLaLa]

When I'm reading a book or something I tend to fiddle with my hands, too. I used to be a nail-biter but nothing really worked to stop me except to decide I wasn't going to do it anymore. I'm very stubborn like that. Anyway, for the reading thing, can you put something else into her hand to fiddle with? Silly putty? A miniature slinky? A worry stone of some sort? She probably has her fingers in her mouth without even realizing it. Put something in her hand that makes it inconvenient for her to be biting her nails while holding it. Although this may not stop the impulse, it should at least wake her up to the fact that she was about to bite her nails, and from the consciousness of the action she can decide if she wants to do it or not.

[hipmummy]

I have been biting mine for ovre thirty yeras. I have spurts of beautiful nails. I actually did not bite during pregnancy, but then ds ended up in the NICU and it was all over from there. Those nails were gone in an instant. I don;t bote as far down as I used too. I sued to bite down tothe cuticle. I know it is nasty. Now I just pick more than bite. I have tried all of th epp advice and nothing worked. One thing that did help was a worry stone. The two I have are from Ireland. You ruv the depressed area and it really soothes you. In fact, I forgot it during my labour but I was focusing on th emotion. It really helped me. Now if only I could find it!

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

I have bitten my nails for as long as I remember, and I *hate* it! I have only successfully "quit" twice in my life-- when I was seventeen and just starting to date future Dh (so deliriously happy all the time, no stress, so no nail biting). That lasted a few months, and I tried *hard*.
When I became pregnant with DD, I suddenly became very germ-phobic (I felt a deep hatred for people who left the restroom at school without washing their hands!) and intolerant of seeing other people fidget. One man in a grad class with me bit his nails, and it drove me CRAZY. It was a serious wakeup call for me. I quit almost immediately and my nails grew beautifully because of the pregnancy. I think it must have been hormone related, though, because as much as I loved having nice nails (and my DH complimented me on them all the time-- he does not like the biting!), I started feeling the urge to bite them again around 3 mos PP, and now they're as bad as ever. I don't understand why I do it, but my paternal grandmother, my father, and one of my brothers do it, too. I really would like to know what's behind it, psychologically or physiologically. I welcome any theories!

Sorry to hijack the post a bit-- I hope the above tips help your daughter. I wish I had tried harder when i was younger and a little less dependent on the habit.

[Ruth S]

I took my 11-year-old for a manicure on Friday because it's been three months since she stopped biting her nails.

I made a deal with her, her 13-year-old sister, and a (male) friend that if they stopped biting I would give them $10 at the end of the first month and something significant if they could do it for a year.

Our 13-year-old fell off the wagon before the end of the first month, but our friend is doing great. It also really helped when our 13-year-old told him that girls find it really unattractive when boys bite their nails!

[KaraBoo]

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