fingernail biting - any advice?

[twindad]

Our 4.5 year old girls just started biting their fingernails. They usually do it when we are reading books or when they are falling asleep at night. We've talked to them about it, tried gentle reminders, given them a "squeeze" toy to hold while we read books.... any other ideas? TIA!

[nupe]

I'm curious too. When I asked ped about it a few years ago, he said not to bring attention to it. Well our nail biting problem has only gotten worse, now that DS is 5 and in KG he bites his nails when he is "listening" to the teacher, and i find him biting his nails while watching tv. I've talked to him about staph, and the risk of infection, but i 'm sure he sees he hasn't gotten sick yet. So I don't have any answers!

[m448]

I'm curious too. When I asked ped about it a few years ago, he said not to bring attention to it. Well our nail biting problem has only gotten worse, now that DS is 5 and in KG he bites his nails when he is "listening" to the teacher, and i find him biting his nails while watching tv. I've talked to him about staph, and the risk of infection, but i 'm sure he sees he hasn't gotten sick yet. So I don't have any answers!

It's a coping mechanism for stress and the reason most pedi say not to bring attention to it is that it will be gone when it's no longer needed (which is likely for a while). Also the more attention you bring to it the more they will hide it from you (and become more obsessive) or move onto another behavior as a coping mechanism.

My husband still does this during moments of stress and he feels that had it not been a big deal when he was a child it would have blown over and not carried into adulthood.

[egoldber]

It's a coping mechanism for stress and the reason most pedi say not to bring attention to it is that it will be gone when it's no longer needed (which is likely for a while). Also the more attention you bring to it the more they will hide it from you (and become more obsessive) or move onto another behavior as a coping mechanism.

:yeahthat: And being in school often intensifies the behavior because it is very stressful for many kids.

[tmarie]

Our dd#1 started biting her nails two years ago. It drove me crazy...sigh. Well, for a year or so she has been begging me to wear nail polish. I just kept telling her that she could wear nail polish when she stopped biting her nails. In the meantime, I casually told her that princesses don't bite their nails. I told her that we pick up germs on our hands and that its bad to put those germs in our mouth (of course dd NEVER gets sick, so she didn't seem to believe me, lol). The pediatrician told me to let it go and let her outgrow it. I was afraid it was a comfort thing and that it would be impossible for her to get over on her own.
Well, last week she came up to me to show me that she hadn't been biting her nails. Sure enough, her nails were longer than they've been in at least two years. This weekend I rewarded her with her own manicure set and we polished her nails. She is so happy. I am SO happy. I really feared that nail biting would never be behind us.

tmarie

dd#1 5'05
dd#2 6'08