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2 year old biting nails

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  • 26-11-2011 7:54am
    #1
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,471 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    My dughter started biting her nails a couple of weeks back and she's doing serious damage to them. I'm not sure what possesses her to do it (nobody else in the family has ever done it) or how to get her to stop.

    Any suggestions?


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    #2
    nesf
    Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    You can buy a substance in a pharmacist (I think) that you can paint onto the nails (it's clear) and it's extremely bitter and discourages the habit.

    Speaking as someone who still bites his nails at 30 and refuses to change of course. :p


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    #3
    meoklmrk91
    Registered Users Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭meoklmrk91


    nesf wrote: »
    You can buy a substance in a pharmacist (I think) that you can paint onto the nails (it's clear) and it's extremely bitter and discourages the habit.

    Speaking as someone who still bites his nails at 30 and refuses to change of course. :p

    It's called stop and grow.

    My mother got it for me as a child and I hated it, I always found the taste of it would transfer onto any food I was eating with my hands and refused to eat. So that was the end of that, I still bite them today, aged 20 and have been doing it for as long as I can remember.


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    #4
    Morag
    Registered Users Posts: 8,427 ✭✭✭Morag


    Keep her nails trimmed and just deter her every time she does it. Take her hand out of her mouth and say firmly "NO" and then try and distract her with something else.


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    #5
    cynder
    Registered Users Posts: 4,128 ✭✭✭cynder


    Its a hard habit to break, try keeping her hands busy. Roll play doh, draw, paint, play tickles.

    Biting nails is a stress reliever and it relaxes you, that's why some people do it, 2 of mine bite their nails the other doesnt. My eldest is that bad she bites her toe nails..... eeeewwww, we've have tried stop and grow with no success. The little guy only bites his nails in a blue moon but when he does they bleed and its normally done at school.


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    #6
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,471 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    I'm kind of more concerned as to what could be causing stress in a two year old than the nails themselves. I tried putting mustard on them which worked for a bit until she wiped it off (obviously).


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    #7
    Morag
    Registered Users Posts: 8,427 ✭✭✭Morag


    It might not be stress it may just be she finds the sensation intresting.
    If she is doing it after eating then make sure her hands are cleaned off so that there's no food remains lingers to temp her to put her hands in her mouth.
    If she's doing it when tired the consider putting scratch mitts on her until she falls asleep.


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    #8
    cbyrd
    Registered Users Posts: 3,214 ✭✭✭cbyrd


    My little lad is 22 months and bites his nails... i'm putting it down to the fact that to shorten his nails when he was smaller i bit them for him.... i hate using scissors on babies for fear of cutting them (:rolleyes: and i'm a hairdresser :eek:)
    he does it when he feels his nails long.. i think they annoy him.. so i've just started trimming them when he's asleep and it seems to be working.. although he thinks it's really funny to try to bite my nails for me too :D might be just as simple as a habit... like nosepicking ... they start and before you know it they won't stop. . distraction is the best thing i think ;)


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