My 2-year-old bites his nails...
 

... how do I make him stop!?

He must do it pretty often because I haven't had to cut his nails since the beginning of October, and they're very short. Almost too short. They actually almost look painful :-( I've thought about getting that bitter stuff that you paint on your nails but the kid has a very strange palate. I mean, he'll eat the sour stuff out of the bottom of a bag of sour patch kids. I won't even eat that shit.

I've only actually caught him doing it a couple times, so I can't really discipline him for it. Xepherys also bites his nails (worse than anybody I know) and I'm kinda bummed that our little guy "inherited" this bad habit.

Any suggestions? Product reviews? Should I just duct tape some socks onto his hands? It's tempting...

Superglue his mouth shut and feed him by nasogastric tube?

TM, can you teach my 2 year old? Seriously. I have a cut on my face from his nails, and he won't let us trim them. I'll take biting his nails over having to pin him down with the whole tears and screaming production every time. Same thing with a haircut, by the way.

However, to actually address YOUR problem, I think he's probably too young for those chemical deterents. You could try the Santa trick, though.

My parents used to make me wear a pair of clean socks on my hands if they caught me (I chewed on mine from about 5 until I was about 25). It didn't really make me stop, but it did keep me from making them raw at times. I guess I just eventually grew out of it.

Good luck!

Still do at 22 :(

Buy an anti-nail biting preparation with Bitrex in it. The stuff tastes incredibly nasty. It's child safe, but it tastes so gross your son will likely learn fast that biting his nails tastes icky.

Also, reading the Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit (all about Sister Bear's nail-biting habit) is a good lesson alongside the anti-nail biting stuff.

I watched my uncle bite his nails as a kid and tried it just to see why and it became and addiction. Weird! I bit my nails until my senior year in high school when I got braces. With the braces I couldn't chew on them, it was too painful and it changed my bite.

I know it seems like a long time to wait but my grams tried everything when I was a kid including hot sauce which I hated, nothing stopped it. Kids are the most stubborn creatures and I was one of the worst! (German scorpio girl what a combo)

Rub raw artichoke on his hands. It'll make them taste terrible, and it's all natural. And I guarantee it's cheaper than some special drugstore preparation.

I will try the Bitrex stuff. He may or may not understand the Berenstein Bears book, since he only turned two a few weeks ago. Worth a try, though! Thanks :-)

Haha, I would've never thought of that! So how, exactly does one do this? just peel off a leaf and rub it on?

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to make a trip to the drugstore tomorrow...

My daughter, five, also bites her nails. She gets it from me.

She is very stubborn and sneaky. She only bites them when she thinks nobody is watching.

We've tried the bitrex but it's not easy to get that stuff on her.

Before you go ahead an start applying yicky substances to the fingernails, have you considered that maybe your son isn't just mimicking Xepherys but perhaps instead is stressed out? Nail biting, like thumb sucking, can be a response to stress.

As you likely already know, kids can be worriers too. This might be a tension habit. Forcing it to an end might make matters worse.

That's a good point.

The Bitrex may work for some, but not all. The artichoke sounds like a more plausible alternative, at least worth a try.

I was a child nailbiter and continued biting them with the Bitrex, yes -- even with that nasty tasting stuff. I was also punished, smacked, bribed. Nothing could stop me.

Outgrew the nail biting when I was 17 and able to move onto more "grownup" habits. :rolleyes:

I am so putting this in my wondernanny playbook. Thanks for the tip.

Yeah, he can't really be mimicking Xeph since he is 6800 miles away. He hasn't lived with us since he deployed to Afghanistan a year ago :(

But, as you suggested, perhaps he is finally reacting to the stress of this deployment as well as the stress of relocating from Phoenix to Detroit. His nail biting began right after the move.

Still, regardless of the cause, I don't want him to be a lifelong nailbiter, especially if he's going to be as bad as his Daddy (no offense, hun). I'd rather nip this in the bud now, if possible.

I think I'll start with the raw artichokes.

man, i sound like your kid. i bit my nails until i was like 16 and i looooooooooove sour stuff, including that sour patch kid stuff. really, i don't think it's too big a deal to bite your nails. i still do sometimes when i'm nervous. i mean, it's a pretty easy habit to kick unlike drinking and masturbation and eating bad food and just about everything else i've tried to quit or at least lower my usage of and failed

also, sour != bitter. i love all things sour, but detest bitter things. so if you really think its best that he stop biting his nails, it's worth a shot.

Everytime you catch him biting his nails dunk his head in the toilet and then tell him that biting your fingernails will turn you into a doo doo head. So don't doo it!

"BAAAAAD baby!" *flush*

Hehe, I think tomorrow I'm going to teach him how to say "doo doo head." Oh, poor, impressionable toddler...

Yeah, Bitrex isn't sour, it's NASTY! I recommend it. I've tried using it to stop my biting, but I just get frustrated and still bite. It probably IS a tension issue. Also, hun, remember that mom bites her nails like a banshee too. Maybe he picked it up from her.

Anyways, good luck. I'm trying like hell to stop while I'm here. :(

You can't stop him. Either he will do it himself or he won't. I still do at 21 (almost 22). I haven't had my nails cut with a clipper/scissors since my mom did it for me at the age of 5.

However, one of the home remedies was to put strong mustard or hot sauce under the fingernails. Something spicy in general.

... Spicy didn't work, and till this day I love hot foods.

It is a sneeky bugger to kick. I stopped biting my nails for two years... and then one day I found myself doing it again. :-/

Why would raw artichoke be cheaper than buying Bitrex? Artichokes are usually $2-3 each.

I don't know but it is said that biting nails is symptom of hyperactivity, depression or unability to relax completely.
Will do some research before posting next.

Just let him stop on his own. As someone who bites my nails right down to the quick, you arn't gonna be able to stop him except by reducing the effects of the cause (i.e. stress from the move and his dads deployment).

I caught him doing it again as he was falling asleep tonight. Grrrr.

It seems like all the nail-biters here are saying "don't bother... nothing will work and he'll eventually (maybe) outgrow it," while all the non-biters are saying "use this, try that, rub this on his hands, dunk his head in a toilet, etc..."

I think for now I'll listen to those who are more experienced with nail biting than myself and just let it be, since his hands are still in pretty good shape. Heck, maybe it's a blessing! I'll never have to pin him down to cut his nails again :p

(If he starts getting as bad as his Daddy or his Grandma, however, then I will have to break out the Bitrex/artichokes/hotsauce/toilet/straight jacket, etc.)

Thanks for the advice :)

I am a nailbiter, but what broke my habit won't work for your son. It was a tip given to me by a family friend. She noticed, shortly after she met me, that I liked to bite my nails. She told me she had had a terrible nailbiting habit for a long time, but after she accepted a promotion, she had started getting manicures. She never bit her nails as long as she had a manicure, because she had paid for it and didn't want to ruin it, plus nail polish tastes gross.

So I started painting my nails and giving myself manicures, and I haven't had a nail biting problem since. I can now leave my nails natural and not bite them. I just divert the nervous energy I expended through biting them into keeping them neat and tidy. I carry my lovely http://www.sanborns.com.mx/sanborns/...9972530288.jpg
in my backpack everywhere I go.

cut his hands off. PROBLEM SOLVED.. hehe. j/k or course..

or cut his nails short before they get long?? or maybe he might be those ones to bite further than that?

or what i would suggest, for a 2 yr old since you will be in their presence at most times, just keep on telling him no. i know it sux, but its called CONSISTENCY.

all i know is when you tell a kid no, ABOUT 100 times a day they will listen.
it all falls into the "what i say goes." attitude.

alot of parents dont want to be "mean" to thier kids or hear them cry.

i have a sister that will listen to her daughter cry and cry and not let her get what she wants, and now she has her trained to stop crying on command.

Not being a nail biter, I dont really have any useful advice to add to this particular thread. But I can say that I have never had the urge to do it, because I know where my fingernails have been and it's usually really disgusting, especially at the place where I work. I just usually end up humming a song to myself until I calm down.
You could try communicating that biting nails is really dirty and it's a bad idea, could make you sick, etc.

they're as short as they can get, which is why I'm sorta concerned. I couldn't cut them any shorter if I wanted to.

He's *barely* two years old (he just had his birthday). He wouldn't understand me saying "No, no nail biting!" 100 times a day partly because I can never actually catch him doing it, and also because I don't even think he realizes what he's doing. I have "talked" to him about it (the talk went something like, "Honey, no biting nails. It's yucky and bad, yucky and bad. Don't bite nails") and all he did was point out his fingernails and say, "Nails!" while grinning at me. He thought we were naming body parts. I honestly don't think he realizes what he's doing because it seems to largely be an unconscious action. Yelling at him 100 times a day would just annoy us both and accomplish nothing.

Like I said, I'm just going to wait it out. If he doesn't bite them any shorter then I guess I'll let it be. If he starts mangling his fingertips (like daddy and grandma) then I'll break out the home remedies.

Or his teeth...

That might do the trick. But seriously, through a decade and a half of practice, I can bite my nails with such precision that you wouldn't be able to tell that I didn't use a clipper or scissors.

sometimes its not about explaining to them about the nails, but just saying "no", and a light tap on the hands when the child puts their hands in their mouth.

"honey, no biting nails. It's yucky and bad." ?? hmm well of course hes not going to understand that. Thats a complete sentence. i would just say NO. and move his hands out of his mouth.

it seems as if you are try to explain to him the reasoning to him. at this age, he doesnt need it.

all i know is when my dad was bringing me up. he was the king! he was the boss, and whatever he said, is what went.

he was a great man, and he was never my friend but my father.

people now days want to be friends with their kids. wrong answer. you can be friends when you get older.

So, instead of building my son's cognitive and verbal skills and nurturing his rapidly developing mind you'd rather I just hit him, utter a monosyllabic "No" and leave it at that?? Brilliant.

You don't seem to be reading the part where I say "I can never catch him doing it." He won't be able to understand me saying "No" if there's nothing to say "No" to. Trust me, if I can catch him I plan on pulling his hand out of his mouth and telling him "no" very firmly, followed by an explanation as to why we do not bite our nails. Slapping his hand is pointless and only encourages him to hit.

Also, how many children have you parented, and where are you getting the idea that I want to be his friend instead of his mother?

Sorry, I was a bit cranky to begin with but bad parenting advice from non-parents just irks me.

Kids mimic their parents, as you've already addressed in this thread, TotalMILF. You are absolutely doing the right thing in explaining to your child why biting nails is wrong.

Just because a 2-year-old cannot repeat what you say verbatim doesn't mean it isn't getting absorbed and learned. I personally think that that is the critical age to REALLY talk and read to them, to cement those verbal and cognitive skills. And as long as you're doing that--anything else is really supplementary.

Putting medical tape on all of his fingertips the way Mama Bear did to Sister Bear in "Bad Habit" might also work.

Habanero!

you act as if tapping him on the hand will make him resent you for life or something. a tap never hurt anybody or made them to be a serial killer.

as far as never catching him, well then there is no real fix for that. he will learn eventually that doing that is not ok since mom says no. just give it time.

people learn from pain. and a small tap will not make him a bad person.
"do as i say, not as i do." is something that comes to mind.

as far as raising a child, I am still in the process. he is 7 right now.

as for me seeing you as wanting to be his friend, i never said you said that, i just implied, and if you clarify it for me, then I can understand better. sorry to come off as an accusation. but i got it from when you try to talk to him about it and explain it. at two he wont know, but he will understand no. you will be able to make his cognitive and verbal skills grow in other areas, and sometimes, "no means, NO." thats all the answer you need sometimes.

Of course tapping him on the hand won't make him a serial killer. What it will do is teach him that hitting is OK, likely causing him to be a hitter as well. A 2-year-old can't yet understand why it's OK for you to do something to him that he can't do back to you, or to other people.

"People learn from pain." <---- are yous serious? IMHO you should never, EVER hit a child with the intent to cause pain. That, in my book, qualifies as child abuse. I may give him a smack on the butt, but it is only to get his attention and only because I know it won't actually hurt him.

Also, how does me wanting to talk to him like a person instead of a dog or something make me his best friend? "NO!" *smack* is reserved for Blue, our doxy, when he shits on the carpet - not for the small child when he chews on his nails. Isn't part of the job of a parent to teach their child as much about the world as they can, to prepare them to be functional adults someday? That starts shortly after birth, doesn't it? It should.

I am also curious why you think that a two-year-old can't understand complete sentences. I talk to my son in complete sentences - always have - and now he's beginning to speak in full sentences, too. In fact, I think he has some pretty impressive verbal skills for a 24-month-old. He also knows most of his shapes and some of his colors, and he can count to ten. I know he understands what I am saying to him because I can ask him questions and he will respond appropriately. For example, "Honey, would you like to read a book, or would you like to watch a show?" He will say, "Watch Blues Clues, please," and run to my room (where the television is located). I can request, "Honey, please get the remote for Mommy," and he will respond with "Yes" or "OK" and bring me the remote control. The other day I was tapping his foot with mine and he said, "Mommy, no kicking please." Small children are intelligent, impressionable little sponges - they can absorb much more than you apparently think they can.

The reason my son didn't understand my initial "talk" about nail biting is because he had no idea what I was talking about. He didn't connect "don't bite your nails" with the actual process of biting his nails. It's not his fault - I had never discussed it with him before. He is learning, however, since I have again caught him biting (this time his toenails - yuck!) and firmly told him "NO," followed by the reason why we don't bite our nails. He didn't try to bite his nails any more after that.

blktour, it's obvious that we have very different parenting styles, and I doubt we will ever agree on the appropriate way to end nail-biting. I say we just agree to disagree.

Thanks to everybody else that has given advice and shared their experiences. I very much appreciate it :)

yes we are very different and also I am not good at explaining myself online. =)

i mean they learn in pain may not only be physical pain. but getting sad because you said no in a mean toned way. thats all.

my mom tapped me on the hand and yelled at me when i was doing something wrong. I understood no meant no. she still talked to me, and explained things to me.

like i said, before. sometimes no is enough. I never meant to degrade your son to a "dog". I was just saying that with this, i would say no. and that is it.

just because I am speaking of this situation, (mainly because it is an opinion, and I have never dealt with it before. one tfper to another.) doesnt mean that I made a blanket statement about how to handle all situations with your child.

as for complete sentences: I do speak in complete sentences also, but with this, I would say no. yes you can say, "do not bite your nails, it is yucky." SOMETIMES no will suffice. that is all I am saying.

I never said to NOT talk in complete sentences, and never said to treat a child like a dog.

at 2 years old they can learn their ABC's and count up to 10. trust me, I see it everyday. I know they are sponges.

BUT with this situation I would just pull his hand away and say, no.

Not to be obtuse, but why is it that we do not bite our nails?

I don't want him to be a nailbiter for a few reasons.

First, it's just not a very appealing habit. I cringe when I see/hear people biting their nails. They may as well be pulling them across a chalkboard.

Second, it's an absolutely fantastic way to spread all sorts of diseases, especially if you're hanging out with a dozen other toddlers every day in daycare. He's past the "explore your world with your mouth" stage of his development, but now that he's shoving his hands in his mouth so he can bite his nails I'm sure he's going to be sick more often than he would if he could just keep his hands out of his mouth.

Finally, some people don't just stop with the nails will bite and pick their cuticles until their fingers are raw. My MIL does this to the point where she has open sores on some fingers, and Xepherys isn't a whole lot better (sorry babe).

I'd just rather he not bite them at all since extreme nail abuse seems to run in the family :p

When I talked to him tonight I said this: "Honey, don't bite your nails. It's bad and it makes your nails look icky, and it can make you sick."

But, like I said a few posts back, I'm not going to stress too much yet. Maybe it's just a passing thing that he'll grow out of after a while. *crosses fingers*

I'm 40. I bite my nails. My parents and my wife tried damn near everything.

My kid is very oral too. I try to reinforce hand washing. Lots of hand washing.