The habit of biting your nails will remain for life if you do not pay attention to it in time. Over time, it can bring a lot of troubles and problems. For this reason, parents need to think about how to stop children from biting their nails, what measures should be taken and what to do.
Why do children develop this habit?
Before you wean your child off a habit, you need to find out what causes it. There is an opinion that nail biting is due to psychological problems. We can agree with this, but besides this, there are several more reasons:
- The child has nothing to do.
- Self-doubt, low self-esteem.
- During the process, aggression comes out.
- Untimely hand care. The nails are cut, but the hangnails remain, so the child himself has to finish the work started by his parents.
- Childhood stress and experiences.
- Genetic predisposition.
If you notice that your baby is biting his nails, try not to make any comments to him. This does not mean that you should not pay attention to this behavior of your child at all, you just need to determine the reason that causes this habit. Only after this should you begin to take action and decide how to stop children from biting their nails. Of course, you can leave everything as it is, but in the future this habit can make life difficult for your baby.
Why you shouldn't ignore the habit of biting your nails
Some parents believe that there is nothing wrong with a child biting his nails. This opinion is wrong. Now let's look at why you shouldn't bite your nails from a medical point of view.
- You can damage the cuticle, and this will lead to infection and a disease such as paronychia. In addition, this injury causes severe pain, suppuration and swelling of the finger.
- The habit can lead to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract. How many times a day do you touch different objects in public places? A large number of germs remain on your hands and under your nails. By biting your nails, you allow these microbes to enter your body, which often leads to infection with E. coli or helminths.
There are also aesthetic reasons why you should not bite your nails:
- In society, this habit will not add advantages.
- Bitten nails look very ugly.
This is why you should not bite your nails: the consequences, as you can see, can be unpredictable. Sometimes a bad habit can lead to years of treatment.
Some statistics
Many children develop the habit of biting their nails. Parents should think about how to get rid of it, the main thing is not to miss the moment. Indeed, at the age of three to six years, a very small number of children like to play around with their nails; by the age of ten, their number increases, and in adolescence, the number of people who like to bite their nails, according to some data, already reaches forty-five percent! Remember, parents, it’s easier to wean kids away from biting their nails. The older the child gets, the stronger the habit becomes, and the more stress appears. And if you do not want to see your adult child biting his nails in the future, then start fighting this disease from the first days, as soon as you saw that the baby pulled his finger into his mouth. After all, this habit is called “onychophagia” and is considered a disease. If the baby continues to bite his nails, the consequences for the child can be disastrous, and this fact should worry parents. You must use any of the following methods to help your baby.
Observation is one way
Observation is one of the points that will help you find the answer to the question of how to stop children from biting their nails. Set aside some free time in your daily schedule and watch your child. Determine in what situation he begins to pull his fingers into his mouth. Most likely, this will be the moment when the baby has done something wrong and is worried about it. This is a stressful situation for him. Calm him down, have pity on him, tell him that nothing bad happened, that this happens to everyone, the main thing is to try to get him out of stress.
If you notice that your baby starts biting his nails without a stressful situation, distract him, give him a toy and play with him yourself. Remember that at this moment you cannot scold the baby, and you should not constantly tell him that he is doing something wrong, or reprimand him. The child will soon understand that in this way he can attract the attention of his parents, and will begin to bite his nails specifically so that mom and dad will take a break from their activities, play with him, tell him a fairy tale, or simply caress him.
Aggression turns into sport
If the cause of onychophagia is aggression, then it is best to get your child involved in sports. Let him train, and along with physical activity, let the excess energy splash out and the desire to bite his nails disappear. The best sport for these purposes is karate or wrestling. If the habit of biting nails arose for psychological reasons, then try to do everything so that the child can change his attitude towards the situation that causes aggression. Figure out what provokes it, distract the baby, switch all his attention to something else. Offer him a toy or read him a book. You are parents, you should know what will interest your child. If, on the contrary, the baby begins to bite his nails at the moment when he is worried, then cheer him up and introduce him to the new team with the help of a variety of games. If you can’t, seek the help of a psychologist, kindergarten teacher or school teacher.
A moment of coercion, but not pressure
From the very first minute you notice that your child is biting his nails, you should think about to your baby. It is much easier to wean a small child from this bad habit than when he gets older. One way is coercion. Parents understand that they should not waste time, and they strive to quickly wean their child from a bad habit. Only this can end badly. Remember: when using this method, try not to overdo it. Act calmly and confidently. Try not to punish your child, just tell him why doing this is bad. Otherwise, he will not give up this habit, he will just hide it in front of you, but not in front of strangers. It’s even worse if, having stopped biting his nails, he turns his attention to something else, more harmful and ugly. So before you choose this method. think a few times and decide whether you can act confidently and without haste.
The game helps the cause
An excellent way to avoid biting your nails is to take care of them. Parents should constantly monitor their condition. As soon as the nails begin to grow, hurry to trim them, then the baby will not be tempted to chew them off. Punishment is unlikely to help get rid of this habit. It is better for you to show your child everything clearly, in the form of a game, and tell him everything. Explain to your child why you should not bite your nails, show in the picture how ugly and deformed they may become in the future. Perhaps this argument will make a greater impression on girls, but boys should also pay attention to it. Don't forget to tell your baby that bacteria live under his fingernails and will penetrate into his tummy and grow there, causing him pain. It is unlikely that a child will want someone to live inside him. You can also come up with a fairy tale where the positive character did not bite his nails, but the negative character had this favorite habit. And all the children wanted to be friends only with a neat child.
Folk remedies
If you have tried all of the above methods, but the question of how to stop children from biting their nails remains relevant, then use folk remedies. There are a large number of them, and some have already been tried by many mothers. Some people recommend sprinkling your fingers with pepper. The child will feel a bitter taste in his mouth and may not want to bite his nails after this.
Another remedy that helps you break the habit of biting your nails is the use of mustard. It is applied in a thin layer to the surface of the child's nail. Its smell and unpleasant taste can once and for all discourage the baby from putting his finger in his mouth. You can also use varnish, which is sold at the pharmacy. It appears to be a colorless liquid, but has a bitter taste. The child will think several times and, most likely, will refuse to put his finger in his mouth. After all, he will understand that it will be unpleasant and tasteless. So gradually over time the child will forget about his habit.
Let's sum it up
The question is worries not only parents who have such a problem with their children, but also some adults whose problems their parents did not pay attention to at the time. Try to watch your baby. Be wise parents, remember that prohibitions are not always effective. Speak to your child in simple language, prove to him that this habit only brings harm. Maintain composure, use a variety of methods so that your child’s problem of how to stop biting his nails is reduced to nothing. Help your baby cope with this habit, but not by screaming and indignation, but by walking in the fresh air and reading books. The child himself must understand that biting his nails is harmful and ugly. And you should just push him to this thought.
