Biting My Nails as a Child -

How to Help Children Stop Biting Their Nails

As a child, biting my nails was a huge issue for me. My parents never seemed too worried about the behavior, even when I would gnaw them down to the point they bled. Later as an adult I was finally able to search out a remedy, but I never stopped completely biting my nails until I was able to realize what was leading to the biting in the first place.

In my case and I believe in the case of many other child nail-biters, the issues was emotional. My nail biting started around the time my parents were getting a divorce, when they would spend hours at a time screaming at one another from their bedroom or the kitchen. This provoked a lot of emotional anxiety and tension in the house which for me resulted in a nervous habit of biting my nails.

With time, the behavior set in and I would gnaw on my nails at school when I was bored or any time I felt the slightest big upset or nervous. I was essentially self-soothing with nail biting. It gave my mind something to focus on besides whatever was making me feel uncomfortable, nervous, or stressed out.

As an adult I was finally able to redirect my self-soothing into healthier behaviors, but that is not always easy for a child to do. If you are dealing with a child who bites their nails, don’t ignore the behavior as my parents did. Maybe they are experiencing some emotional problems or suffering from anxiety, or maybe it is just a learned habit that they are having difficulty shaking. Either way, you need to help them redirect into a healthier behavior while they are still young.

For starters, keep the lines of communication open with the child. If an upsetting event has taken place in their life then that may be the likely reason they are biting their nails. They may need someone safe to talk about their feelings with or they may need a safe zone to relief anxiety and grief. This may not stop the nail biting over night, but it will help relieve the stress and anxiety that leads to the biting, which will definitely help ease the behavior.

You may also need to cover the child’s fingernails with something that will remind them not to bite their nails. You may not want to go with something that tastes horrible, but you can definitely go with stickers or band-aids that are brightly colored. Children will find this a fun way to remember not to put their fingers in their mouth. Even small children may be able to understand what those brightly colored cover-ups mean for them.

You can also turn not biting the nails into a fun game. Set up a chart and tell your child that for every day they are not caught biting their nails they get a sticker. A solid week of stickers could equal out to a small prize that they really want to achieve. This will give them incentive to consciously focus on not biting their nails.

Finally, make sure to explain to your child why nail biting is not good. When I was biting my nails as a child I never realized there was anything wrong with it. That was until I became a teenager and was embarrassed for anyone to see my hands.

How Can I Stop Biting My Nails?

3 Practical Strategies to Consider

This is one of the most common questions that doctors hear asked on a regular basis: how can I stop biting my nails? People of all ages struggle with nail biting either as a source of stress and anxiety relief or sometimes as a mindless habit that occurs for unknown reasons. If you find yourself suffering with the same problem, the following three practical strategies may help you stop once and for all.

#1: Relieve all sources of stress and anxiety.

For most nail biters, the real issue that leads to the behavior is stress and anxiety. Just as some children suck their thumbs for comfort, many children and adults will bite at their nails when they are under a lot of stress, experiencing emotional turmoil, or suffering from anxiety. Those who have more serious anxiety disorders need to seek treatment for the anxiety in order to get the nail biting under control in many cases.

If you suffer from occasional anxiety or attribute your nail biting to an overload of stressful situations, then you can often combat the nail biting by fixing the problems leading the anxiety and stress. For instance, if your job has you stressed out try to delegate tasks or create more relaxation at home so you are better able to cope with the stress on the job.

If you have someone in your life that continually brings stress to your life or makes you anxious, then try to talk to them about it or stay away from them as much as possible. Nail biting is just a minor outward consequence of excessive stress and anxiety, but there are more serious consequences happening inside your body.

#2: Care for your nails so they are well trimmed and shaped.

It is more difficult to bite your nails if they are trimmed down to a short but comfortable height where you cannot get your teeth around the end of the nail easily. If you take the time to shape and polish them or even have them professionally done you won’t want to bite them and ruin the attractive appearance that you have given yourself. This may serve as a mental reminder not to bite.

Plus, getting chips of nail polish on your tongue is never fun! If you are a male, then trimming them down nicely and using a clear nail polish that doesn’t taste very good can serve the same purpose.

#3: Cover the nails with something fun that will remind you not to bite your nails and taste disgusting if you do it mindlessly.

There are some special polishes on the market designed to give a disgusting taste if you do put your fingers in your mouth, but for many people the taste is not strong enough and wears off too quickly to really serve as a deterrent.

You may now be wondering: how can I Stop biting my nails if those products don’t work? Think of more creative ideas, such as putting colorful stickers around the ends of your fingers or covering the nails up with band-aids.

If your biggest question right now is “how can I stop biting my nails?” you may need to spend some time in serious thought. Question what is leading you to this behavior and try to think of creative remedies unique to your own personality and quirks.