stop biting those nails!!

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suey

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can anyone help please, no it's not me that's a nail nibbler!

I had a call from a health visitor, who wondered if there was a suitable product to apply to a child under the age of 2 to stop them from biting their nails. So could you please let me know so i could pass on the information!

Thanks geeks :lol:
 
There are several nail polished with unpleaseant taste that are usually used for this, they are available at the chemist but in most cases i know it's not very effective. Children aren't always discoreged by taste and continue to bite their nails. When i was a child, ididn't bite my nails but i sucked my thumb, my parents triend this and it didn't work. After a while i had a serious infection and my thumb sweled and became huge! On top of that i was wearing a bandage over it. That stoped my annoying habbit!
 
I'd wonder why a child of under the age of two was severely biting their nails in the first place?? :confused:
 
It Appears very common for young children to bite their nails!!! My niece has bitten hers from a very young age and so has my nephew (both from different sides of the family). My niece has comes from a stable loving home yet my nephew was left by his mum at the age of 2 and she sees him once in a blue moon now!!! I find that they are both biting when nervous and worried about something!!! No paint on prvention has ever worked for them.....but i find that lots of encouragement on growing them really helps but it has to be continous encouragement....one slip and you are back to square one!!!
 
I agree with Mrs Geek. I assumed that nail biting would be a 'learned habit' which in the majority of cases it is, little girls at school see their peers biting their nails and join in, the mums that I chat to can vouch for this. However, my son who is now 3 1/2 started biting his nails when myself and my husband were going through severe marital difficulties when he was about 2 1/2. None of my family bite their nails so I don't believe it could be a learned habit. Incidentally, the nail biting also coincided with the loss in a local supermarket of his comfort toy 'kitten'.

My belief is that the stress of what was going on in the family and the loss of 'kitten' stressed him in to biting his nails.

I am happy to say that now everything is back on an even keel he is less of a biter and grows his little and ring finger on each hand and I feel sure that although he now has a habit, that everything is happy at home, he will lose that habit.

There has to be a reason why very young children bite their nails and the root cause should be sought before we start painting their nails at such a young age with foul tasting substances!!!

Kids have to see and feel so much more than we did at their age...the 21st century?.....
 
my daughter started biting her nails at about 4yrs of age. i have tried the solar oil manicure as mrs geek once sugested and all the nail biting lotions and potions but the only one that works is the marks and spencer one as it does not wash off. as to it been able to be used for a 2yr old i really wouldnt know. all i have to do is remember to put the stuff on and with my memory dont do it enough and she gets in there with her teeth yet again. She is 6 now and you would think she would really want nice nails. hope you find an answer before it is too much of a habit, best of luck and if you find another way please let me know.
 
Thanks for all your replies!

Glad some of you thought the same as myself, being rather fond of psychology (but probably unable to spell it! :lol: ). But i do not know the child, or his/her history or even the health visitor.

I can see it being rather difficult in replying, was kind of hoping some of you would know of some miracle product to recommend! I think i will mention that it could be due to a change of circumstances at home, and hopefully when things are more settled for the child, fingers crossed, may stop the habit. I would also assume that most products on the market, may be foul tasting, but are safe for even the youngest of people.

I shall ring her tomorrow, but i'll try not to psychoanalyse a child i haven't even met ;) Hey, surely that is her job!!

Thanks again! x
 
don't think it's a good idea at all to use that horrible tasting stuff on a child so young...it would cause a lot of distress as it really is horrible!
 
My daughter is nearly nine and has bitten her nails 4 as long as I remember. I think its because she always sucked her fingers as a baby and nails just get in the way of that for her. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you encourage them if they gona do it they gona do it! Most of the time mine doesn't even realise she's doing it!!!
I even tried the bandage, but stopped when I caught her bitting her toe nails instead!!!! Yuk!!!!!!!!!(i hate feet at the best of times!)
Just hope they grow out of it in the end!!!

lol xxx
 
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