It’s one of the most common “nervous habits,” a category that also includes hair-twisting, nose-picking, and thumb-sucking. Formally, it’s characterized as a body-focused repetitive behavior. While some kids bite their nails because they are fidgety, others don’t know what else to do when they feel anxious. Fingernail biting can be self-soothing. In addition to being unpleasant to witness, nail-biting could do some damage to your child’s teeth and nails. So, if your child is particularly aggressive when they’re gnawing on their nails, it may be important to address the issue with their dentist.
Strategies for Stopping
Since most kids eventually outgrow nail-biting, some parents find the best approach is to simply ignore it. But for other parents, looking the other way is just too hard to do. If nail biting has started out of the blue, consider whether your child might be experiencing anxiety or stress. Keep in mind that some positive events, such as being promoted to a new reading group or getting a new pet, can be stressful for kids. If biting their nails seems to be a bad habit, there are a few ways to work with your child to discourage the behavior:
Avoid Making the Habit Worse
Calling too much attention to your child’s bad habits is likely to backfire and their nail-biting may get even worse. Punishing your child or embarrassing them for biting their nails also won’t be effective in helping them change their habits. Help your child manage their nail-biting but don’t get too wrapped up in making them stop. Yelling or telling them that they’re “gross” won’t help. Helping your child put an end to biting their nails will be much more effective if they’re on board with the plan. If they’re not particularly motivated to quit, your efforts aren’t likely to be successful. So, be patient with them and if they’re not interested in stopping, you may need to wait until they are. You might broach the subject from time to time by saying something like, “I notice you bite your nails a lot. Do kids at school ever seem to notice?” Mentioning that other people might see them doing this might make them a bit more aware of others perceive them. Similarly, you might ask them, “It looks like your fingers get sore sometimes when you bite your nails so much. Do you ever wish you didn’t do that?”
Be Patient
Nail-biting may get better at times and then get worse again. That’s often part of the process of getting rid of a bad habit. However, over time, your child’s nail-biting is likely to subside. Bad habits are hard to break. If your child gets down on themself for biting their nails, remind them that you are in this together. And before you get too frustrated, remind yourself, too—this is probably only a phase.
