I'm grossed out - nose picking and nail biting

[Clarity]

Any suggestions on how to discourage a 2 year old from picking her nose? I'm sure they all do it (don't they?) but I'd like the phase to pass as quickly as possible as I'm really grossed out by it. I'll let you imagine where her finger goes after it's been in her nose.
She's also been biting her nails. This is a lifelong bad habit of MINE, so I'm trying desperately to stop her before she really latches on to this habit. I'm thinking I need to get myself a mani quick so that she's not modeling this behavior from me.
But if anyone has suggestions on how to encourage her to keep her hands out of her mouth, I'd be so grateful. She also has a tendancy to put a finger in her mouth while she's in a PUBLIC RESTROOM. As in, I sit her on the potty, she goes, before I can wash her hands her fingers are in her mouth! I don't want to yell at her but the germs she might be picking up there simply frighten me. We've talked about how there are germs in the bathroom and how germs make you sick, but she's TWO and the gesture is so unconscious that I don't think that's helping.
Thanks.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

I am eagerly waiting to hear some replies! DD is doing the same things. Oh, but she also loves to bite her toe nails....sooo gross!!!!

[pastrygirl]

I am so surprised that my 2-year-old bites his nails! My husband saw it happen. I was a frantic nail-biter until I was 13, so I definitely want to avoid that.

[willow33]

I found that the more I made an issue out of the nose-picking and nail-biting...the more they did it. My now 3 yr old ds no longer picks his nose - thank goodness!!

And I understand the whole nail biting issue. I've done it my whole life and my 5 yr old ds now asks me why I do it. For me...it's a total stress thing. I'm trying really hard to stop so they don't copy this awful behavior.

I really think this is a phase and your dd will outgrow it...good luck!

[kcandz]

That age is really tough for impulse control. What worked for us is as PP said, not making an issue out of it. When we were in a nail biting phase, I would say, maybe once every two weeks, "oh, are your nails bothering you? I can clip them after your bath tonight" and DC would say yes please or no, fine. After a few times of doing this I stopped saying anything. The message was not that DC had a nervous habit to stop. For the nose, similar style though more like once a week - "oh, do you have a booger? Let me get you a tissue" - both of these habits have tapered off greatly.

The public restroom - is she touching stuff with her hands? When DC was that little, I did all the positioning, holding and wiping so as not to have hands touch anything gross. When DC was older and could handle more solo, DC also had impulse control not to put hands everywhere and the in-the-mouth phase was gone.

[Clarity]

In the public restrooms....yes...she does grab the seat with her hands. I cover it with paper for her, but she still grabs on. I do sometimes try to hold her hands instead but if she is having a bm she won't let me near her so she needs to hold onto the seat. And, then, yep...I get her down and her hand goes in the mouth.
I'm trying now to remind her before she does it. We've talked about germs in the bathroom and how germs can make you sick. But, again, she's 2 and I'm not sure she gets it.

I'll try to ignore her nose picking and nail biting and see if that works. Thanks!

[JustMe]

sorry, I posted in the wrong place

[jgenie]

Could you maybe have a wipe ready and wipe her hands off before you get her down?

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

About public toilets, I bought a folding potty seat because DD loves to hold on to something while on the potty. We got a Sesame Street on because it was the only one TRU had. Here's one with actual handles:

http://www.amazon.com/PRIMO-Folding-Potty-Handles-granite/dp/B000BXHPEU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1216922356&sr=8-1

It fits nicely in a diaper bag (I keep it in a plastic baggy because I feel like the part that touches the seat must be gross!)