Stop Kids from Biting Nails

This is for those parents who may have children between the age of 1 -5 years, they may encounter one of 2 problems:

1. Child has developed the habit of Sucking on Thumb (fingers):

If your child has developed the habit of sucking his / her thumb(fingers) then you have something to worry about. This is a habit that is so hard to break at a later age that it is really important to break it at an early age. I have a friend who is currently in their 20s and still has this habit. Unfortunately, the person does not want to break the habit because that is the only way she can fall asleep.

However, this person does not understand that there are a number of reasons why it is important to break this habit. The biggest reason being germs. It is important that you stop your child as well as you have no idea what sort of germs are entering their mouth from their hands.

Due to these germs your child will find themselves sick most of the time. Do you want to be a parent whose child is sick because of them constantly sucking on their fingers?

For a child that small it is advisable to use some sort of polish that does not effect them in anyway. In the market these days there seem to be a number of products but can you trust them? especially on your little child. Check this site out in the embedded link, it will show you reviews of such products. This is the best way to Stop Kids from Biting Nails.

2.Child has developed the habit of biting his / her nails:

If your child is a nail biter then you are in for trouble. Children between the age of 1 - 5 are like sponges, if they get fascinated with biting their finger nails then it is going to be very hard to stop it. To top it all once they start biting their nails and bite too far you are going to be looking at your child crying because of the pain that has been caused by them biting too close to the skin. This could also lead your child's fingers to bleed. If he / she has bitten too close to the skin the possibility of bleeding is more.

This bleeding could lead to infections if not taken care of. For this reason it is really important that you kick this habit in the bud at an early age. Once again here is the link to a great product that has been proven to be used on children as a deterrent to nail biting. You can read about its reviews here at Stop Kids from Biting Nails

If you have kids who are between the age of 5 - 10 years then getting them out of the habit might be a little easier. Here are a few hints that might help:

1. Speak to them:

Take some time out and speak to them that biting nails is not good for them. Tell them about the dangers of catching diseases, of getting pin worms in their stomach and also how biting nails can damage their teeth. Give them a horrific glimpse of what this habit could cause them. If you are lucky it will break their habit.

2. Make them read about it:

Some children who are really into reading should be encouraged to read about the habit and how to break it. There are some great books for children that cater to exactly this. One of these is "The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit" by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain. Here is what one mother had to say about this book. "Once again Stan and Jan have made a complex issue simple for the child. I love the way they explain what a habit is and why it is hard to break. Sister's bad habit is biting her nails but we substitute whatever we want (nose picking etc.) and our children (age 2 and 6) roar with laughter as they learn that a habit isn't easy to quit...but you can do it with practice. We love this book. I even gave it to a college student who bites her nails and she loves it too". Check out more reviews of this book here.



Another good book is "What to Do When Bad Habits Take Hold: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Nail Biting and More (What to Do Guides for Kids)" by Dawn Huebner  here is a review of this book "Written by clinical child psychologist Dawn Huebner, Ph.D., the book is a handy, softcover consumable book with black-and-white illustrations designed to help young people ages six to twelve overcome hard-to-stop habits like nail biting, thumb sucking, hair twirling, scab picking, and shirt chewing. Highly recommended for parents to share with children to help them change their lives for the better". Check out more reviews of this book here.


3. Use Gloves:

This is not exactly the most effective process but try making them wear gloves for at least 3 weeks. After not being able to bite their nails for over three weeks this habit will be gone in no time.

If you have tried all of the above and all else fails then try hypnosis. I would suggest taking children 5 and above to a psychologist who is a specialist at hypnosis. They will use Hypnosis to re-program your child's behavior. This can be an expensive method but it is 100% guaranteed.

There are cheaper MP3 versions out there but using that on a child is not recommended. However, if Hypnosis is too expensive then I would recommend using the following method to Stop Kids from Biting Nails which is the most effective when it comes to them.