Tips for parents to stop their children from biting their nails

Advice for parents on how to prevent their kids from biting their nails

Do you worry that your youngster bites their nails? Then look into the causes and advice for stopping youngsters from biting their nails.

Like other habits like head pounding, body rocking, and thumb sucking, nail biting is particularly prevalent among kids. Nail biting, however, can endure much longer than other behaviours, potentially for the rest of one’s life, if it is not treated. Children typically spontaneously develop these kinds of self-soothing behaviours. They may bite their nails for various reasons, including boredom, stress relief, habit, imitation, and curiosity. The teeth and nails of your child could be harmed by nail-biting, which is often unpleasant to witness. Therefore, if your child bites their nails particularly violently, it may be important to bring up the subject with their dentist.

Lina, a foot health specialist, claims “Children experience their own anxieties, uncomfortable situations, negative emotions, etc., just like adults do. These issues are significant, challenging, and even distressing for children given their age, unlike us adults who find them to be immature and incomprehensible. Like us, they believe that children want to resolve these problems but frequently lack the skills to do so. There are numerous indicators of a child’s stress, anxiety, or unhappiness. They frequently begin to tangle or pull their hair, grind their teeth, have trouble falling asleep at night, and, in rare circumstances, even wet the bed. However, the most prevalent behaviour is what is referred to as a “nerve habit”: chewing one’s nails.”

There are various kinds:

When your youngster nibbles his or her nails while watching TV or out of boredom, it’s known as unconscious biting.

When a person’s fingertips are covered in cuts and blood, the nail appears damaged, the cuticles itch and hurt, there are visible wounds on the nail, and the nail is uneven, bumpy, peeling, and otherwise appears unhealthy, you should start paying attention.

Dr Sami and Dr Ana, two paediatricians, posted advice on their Instagram accounts about how to stop children from biting their nails.

Don’t penalise them or call attention to it; doing so could exacerbate the situation, increase stress, and encourage them to engage in the behaviour even more. Be patient and try to ignore it.

Keep their nails as short as possible to reduce the surface area under them and make biting more challenging.

Find a replacement; you may try using a wholesome snack in place of biting your nails. To keep them occupied, you might also give them a stress ball, chewing gum, or a fidget toy.

Keep your youngster busy; otherwise, they may become bored and turn to nibble their nails. Provide your children with fresh activities to keep them off of this bad habit.

Behaviour modification: If it continues, try this strategy. if you can determine their motivation. Try to watch their behaviour to determine whether they are tense, fearful, irritated, stressed, or simply bored. After identifying the root reason, you can assist them in resolving it.