OT- Toddler biting nails habit
My 2 1/2 year old boy has the really bad habit of biting his nails. Both fingernails and Toenails. It is so gross, and his fingers and toes now look ridiculously painful and ugly, but he keeps doing it.
Any thoughts on how to make that stop, any sort of nail polish that is bitter and will prevent him from biting? any ideas?
I have tried to give him toys and keep his hands busy, but this doesn't seem to help all that much. I also tell him no, but that doesn't help at all either, ignoring him definitely doesn't help, as he doesn't do this for attention (I find him doing it by himself).
Thanks!
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Have you talked to your
Have you talked to your pediatrician? I think nail biting is a nervous habit. The only thing I can think of is trimming them to where he can't bite them anymore (but where to where it isn't painful).
"If I turn into another, Dig me up from under what is covering the better part of me" -Incubus
There is no way I can trim
There is no way I can trim them, he has them "trimmed" all the way down, he barely has nails.
Sincerely,
G
"I will die on my feet before I live on my knees"
Sorry to say that this habit
Sorry to say that this habit actually runs in the family here. My mom, bro, myself and BS do it. It really is a gross habit.
We tried hot sauce, some brand of bitter nail polish, nothing works.
Though my BS does it he no longer bites all the way to the end. It took me letting him bite it til he was in pain from how low he bit the nail for him to see that it wasn't a good thing to do.
hi GiGi:) Remember back
hi GiGi:) Remember back when I was always talking about choochoo picking at his fingers til they were bleeding while he was at school? Well we found the end all be all fixit cure! lol
Please try this and see if it works... We cut 4in x 4in squares of felt material in his favorite colors. we would send him to school with 2 squares in his pockets and whenever he got the urge to pick at his fingers,he would pull the felt squares from his pockets and pick at them instead and fold them and scrunch them til he felt better.
It REALLY worked. I hope if you do try it that it works for your little one
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We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. ~Anaïs Nin
That actually sounds like
That actually sounds like something I would try B. BS' fingers look AWFUL, and I hate it. I also don't remember the last time I cut his toenails. And I always have to be careful he doesn't bleed and cause an infection.