A child who bites his nails does not look very pretty. An adult who has retained this bad habit, looks even more unsightly - and even repulsive. The chances of "re-educating" an adult are slim. So, you need to take care of this in childhood. Dr. Komarovsky talks about how to wean a child to bite his nails.

About bad habit

Approximately 30% of children regularly bite their nails. IN adolescence almost half of the boys and girls do it. In 25% of them, the habit persists into adulthood.

According to Komarovsky, it is formed (like other bad habits) as a frequent and repeated sequence of certain identical actions. Gradually, this action ceases to be controlled by the brain and becomes a reflex. The child does not think at all about whether to start biting his nails or not, he just does it. From the habits that are formed in childhood, the character of a person gradually develops.

Parents quite often turn to pediatricians with the question of how to explain to the child all the harm of his habit. But this does not solve the problem faster, because it goes beyond the purely medical and becomes partly pedagogical, and partly psychological.

Different countries and social circles have their own ideas about bad habits and the norm. Yevgeny Komarovsky advises to consider those actions of a child that cause physical and other harm to him unequivocally harmful.

Biting your nails is harmful:

1. Regular biting of the skin around the nail plate can lead to to thinning of the skin, increase the sensitivity of the fingertips, to inflammatory processes in deep skin layers. This may change the color and appearance nails, they look unhealthy and also break.
2. Children who bite their nails frequently more at risk of getting sick after all, microbes that live in the oropharynx can enter the bloodstream through microscopic wounds in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe nail plates injured by the teeth and cause quite serious ailments.

Since the habit is actually considered pathological, doctors even came up with a completely medical definition for it, it is called onychophagy. The habit has its own number in the classification of diseases - F98.

Reasons for the habit

Regarding the reasons why children begin to bite their nails, doctors are still arguing. Some argue that stress, anxiety, depression are to blame. psychological condition. Others believe that the habit is formed in children whose mothers did not pay too much attention to educating hygiene skills in their children.

Yevgeny Komarovsky says that sometimes the reason for sucking fingers, and then the habit of biting nails, is an unsatisfied sucking reflex in early childhood.

Psychiatrists and psychologists agree that most often the habit of biting nails is formed in children aged 4-5 years. In more rare cases, children begin to injure their own nail plates with their teeth at 2 or 3 years old. If up to 5 years old parents do not think about urgent measures, then in the younger school age the bad habit will only get worse as the student's stress increases with each new term at school.

One of the most common causes of onychophagia is the personal example of parents.. If one of the adult members of the family bites his nails, then the baby simply begins to imitate, and then it is very difficult to convince him of the harmfulness of the habit. Every day he sees that dad or mom are doing it, and nothing bad happens to them.

Among the others probable causes the emergence of addiction, doctors and psychologists call the following factors: heredity, auto-aggression, the child's resistance to total control by adults.

Sometimes a child's nails, due to certain metabolic pathologies, exfoliate and break on their own - both on the legs and on the hands. Often children do not find a better way out than just nibbling on a broken plate.

How to wean?

The fact that the child is allowed once, says Komarovsky, what the parents once did not pay attention to, the second time is done by the baby as a completely legal action, for which there was no ban. For this reason, it is desirable to correct the actions of the child at the initial stage, while the habit has not yet become a reflex.

If nail biting is already a persistent habit, parents need to make a serious pedagogical decision for themselves. If you fight, then always and everywhere, without days off and holidays. Parents' demands must be clearly motivated. The child must know what exactly he is doing wrong, what it is fraught with for him.

At the initial stage, parents need to establish the true cause of their child's addiction at any cost. If you can’t find it on your own, you can contact the local pediatrician or child psychologist, but not with the question of how to eradicate the habit, but with the question of where the problem “grow legs”.

The worst thing that parents who decide to wean their child from harmful addiction can come up with is to roughly pull him up and beat him on the hands. This does not solve the problem, and the baby will soon understand that you can’t bite your nails with your parents, but alone, when no one sees, it’s very possible.

There is no miracle cure in the form of a pill or syrup for this scourge. It is also ineffective to smear nails with something bitter (mustard, pepper). Even worse is to start intimidating the child and frightening him with all sorts of horrors, because this bad habit can immediately be replaced by another one. The child will quickly begin, for example, to bite his lips or spit.

If the reason for biting nails lies in stressful situations, the excitement of the child, you need to teach him to express his emotions in a different way - for example, in words. To do this, there are many psychological techniques based on games that the child will be interested in doing.

Can you give your baby a sedative? Herb tea, do a relaxing massage , be sure to carry out daily water procedures, more walk with him in the fresh air and minimize the time your child spends in front of a television or computer monitor.

In parallel with the elimination of psychological discomfort, it is necessary to strengthen the nail plates, because a strong and resistant nail is more difficult to bite. To do this, after consulting with the pediatrician, it makes sense to start giving the child calcium supplements in the allowed age dosages. For nails, you can do strengthening baths with saline solutions, with essential oils (cedar oil is well suited).

If Small child constantly bites his nails, which he can do for various reasons, parents need to be patient and refuse to comment. This action is often unconscious, so children cannot control it. Only an integrated approach to solving the problem will help save the baby from this pathology. At the same time, for a complete recovery, it is necessary to influence not the habit itself, but to overcome its true causes, which are associated with the feelings of the baby.

By biting nails, a person gets rid of psychological tension, shows hidden negative emotions.

You need to make sure that there are more pleasant moments in the life of the baby. It is worth abandoning excessively harsh punishments and unreasonable prohibitions. If there are several children in the family, it is necessary to monitor their relationship, responding in time to their quarrels and misunderstandings during communication, teaching them how to resolve disagreements.

If the baby bites his nails, expressing his emotions, you need to teach him to do it in more appropriate ways. It is important to reward him for good, “adult” behavior, for example, with affectionate words, sincere praise for significant actions. Often hug, praise. You can do with him his favorite pastime. If age allows, talk about exciting issues. Maybe he needs some help.

The child may be aggressive due to the hostile environment in his environment, when adults often yell at him or swear among themselves, sorting things out quite violently. In this case, it is worth taking care of creating a friendly atmosphere within the family and showing the baby how to express their feelings correctly. An overly “peppy” child can be taken to the sports section.

You need to start fighting a bad habit as early as possible, gradually moving towards a positive result. In order not to cause even more tension, do not put pressure on the child. The main thing is to be patient and slowly but surely move towards the goal.

There are a number of tried-and-true tips for parents looking to do something to stop their child from biting their nails:

• The reason for many bad childhood habits, originating at the subconscious level, is often a lack of attention to their child on the part of parents. To wean a child from them, you need to show him more participation. For example, it will be useful to occupy him with some kind of game or useful thing. The attention of the baby will switch to a new exciting activity, and he will stop putting his fingers in his mouth every minute.
• Anti-stress toys with filler work very well as a "distracting" tool. At the moment when any stressful or irritable situation occurs, you need to give the child such a little thing in his hands and explain how to use it.
• In general, children are very receptive to toys. From all the variety, try to get those with which you can do a lot of interesting things, or are pleasant to the touch. The designer, plasticine, kits for children's creativity and many other similar useful fun will definitely distract your baby from a bad habit.
• Teach your child to do things with their hands. When they are busy, biting your nails becomes uncomfortable. Needlework, drawing and other similar pastimes will help the crumbs to occupy their fingers with more useful work.
• If the cause of the pathology is the increased nervousness of the baby, you should daily engage in simple gymnastics and proper breathing techniques with him. At the same time, it is very important to teach the child, if necessary, to cope with stress on their own. For example, advise him in moments of psychological "explosion" with an effort to clench and unclench his fists, or to inhale and exhale deeply.
• If the child does not have allergies, you can do aromatherapy with him using sedatives. essential oils.
• For little princesses, a manicure will be a great motivation. How to wean a girl from the bad habit of biting her nails, instilling in her nail care? Starting from the age of 5, you can paint your nails with colored children's varnishes, more often talk about how wonderful the baby's fingers are. Take the girl, if age permits, to a beauty salon, show how beautiful nails can be, teach how to care for them.
  
  
• Boys' nails should also be carefully monitored and cut in time, then there will be nothing to bite. If all else fails, there is a more cruel but effective method. It is suitable for older children who already understand everything, but cannot wean themselves from biting their nails. Each time the child puts his hand in his mouth, give him a light slap on the hands.
• Another one of possible means, in the struggle for healthy nails of the baby, a band-aid can become. Wrap his fingers with adhesive tape as shown in the photo below. But keep in mind that it is not uncommon when the baby begins to gnaw on the very ends of the adhesive plaster.
• Try to make the child aware of his habit. Agree with him, for example, about a secret signal (a word that you will say when the child bites his nails).
• You can show your baby pictures of harmful microorganisms that are under the nails, and talk about possible consequences their entry into the body. The fact that because of them serious complications can go to the gums and digestive organs. Talk about the worms that children get when they bite their nails and show the appropriate picture. As a rule, such motivation, based on fear, becomes an excellent means in itself so that the child does not bite his fragile nails.
• Some parents offer rewards for whole nails. It can be money, buying something desired, a long-awaited trip. But don't overdo it! This advice can only be an addition to the above.
• If no method helps, you should resort to medical supplies so that the child does not bite his nails. Now in the pharmacy you can find many different drugs for this problem. It can be both varnishes and simple ointments for weaning children who bite their nails from addiction. As a rule, they have a bitter aftertaste, after which the child will definitely not want to put his fingers in his mouth at all. By the way, products in the form of varnish can be found not only in pharmacies, but also in cosmetic stores.

If the efforts do not lead to success and the problem becomes serious, you will have to consult a doctor. The child will be prescribed soothing teas, medical preparations, behavioral therapy.

Bitten nails are not an easy problem, but with a correct assessment of the situation that is happening to the child (because of which it all started), it will not be difficult for parents to pacify the little “rodent”. The main thing is not to stop looking for the right approach to your child, to delve into his problems, gain his trust, be able to listen and bestow boundless love.

Spread mustard or red pepper on your fingers, buy bitter varnish - parents go to any lengths to wean their child from biting their nails ...

How to stop a child from biting their nails

From this article you will learn:

• why do kids bite their nails- reasons, advice from a psychologist,
• how to stop biting your nails
• how to stop a child from sucking his thumb

biting nails- is the most common of the so-called "nervous habits", which include thumb sucking, hair twisting and pulling, teeth grinding (not while sleeping), etc.

The most interesting thing is that, having arisen in childhood, these habits most often persist into adulthood.

Your child may bite their nails for a variety of reasons: out of curiosity or boredom, to relieve stress, or out of habit. Very often, the reason is precisely the child's attempt to relieve tension in an alarming situation, for example, learning something new in kindergarten, experiencing embarrassment or inconvenience from something - can encourage the child bite your nails.

If your child biting nails especially at times like this, it's just his way of coping with stress, in which case you have nothing to worry about. It is likely that your preschooler will eventually stop doing this on their own. But if the nail biting goes on longer than you want, that is simple ways to fix it.

Important : You also need to keep in mind that the habit of biting your nails many times increases the risk of developing rotavirus infection. Indeed, if a child does not regularly wash his hands and clean his nails, then a large amount of infection accumulates under the nails, which (during biting nails) enters the mouth and is swallowed.

How to stop biting your nails

If a child bites nails- a child psychologist will first of all look for the cause of a possible increased anxiety and stress in a child. Think about what might be causing your child's anxiety. These can be: a recent move, a divorce in the family, a new school, a new kindergarten, conflicts with other children, caregivers ... Try to make special efforts to help the child express his concerns. Do not nag or punish him.

Nail biting habit(as well as other nervous habits) occurs in most cases in an unconscious state. That is, your child does not even know that he is doing this. Therefore, shouting and punishing for it will be quite useless. Adults have a terrible habit of breaking the psyche of the child, while they themselves have a lot of bad habits of the same plan. Be honest: do you touch your ear with your free hand or twist your hair while talking on the phone?

What arises at the unconscious level cannot be overcome by coercion. All you can do is find the cause of the anxiety (if there is one, of course), and talk to the child about it, trying to resolve the cause of the child's anxiety. But! If your preschooler just doesn't want to stop biting his nails, then there's nothing you can do about it. Many children just enjoy doing it, and then there is nothing left but to just put up with it. In this case, it is important to teach the child to wash their hands and keep their nails clean.

Important : if the cause of nail biting in a child is stress, then any attempts at pressure, i.e. forbid, shout, scold - will further increase the stress of the child. And you will not only not achieve what you want, but also worsen the situation. Moreover, the use of special nail polishes (with a bitter taste) is also perceived by the child as a punishment.

Remember that the less your child associates with this habit, the more likely it is that he will stop biting his nails on his own. The child needs your help most of all in those moments when he himself wants to stop, but cannot. If your child's friends tease him for this, then the child will most likely be ready to stop, and this is where he will need your help. Even if it's special nail polishes with a bitter taste - the main thing here is that you must obtain the consent of the child for this procedure.

The child bites his nails: what should parents do ...

It's not just about how to wean a child to bite his nails, but it's important to start doing it right. You can be a psychologist yourself, and develop in a child a sense of dissatisfaction with the fact that he bites his nails. So, for example, if the child is teased for this habit, then try to ask the child questions about how he feels at these moments. Talking about it will increase the child's dissatisfaction with the habit, and quite possibly influence the abandonment of it.

• Start a conversation with your child about what nervous habits are and how you can get rid of them. Good idea– reading together a booklet on bad habits, such as: “A toddler’s guide to overcoming nail biting habits". If the habit is unconscious, then help the child learn about when he bites his nails, drawing his attention to it.
• Agree with the child that you will draw his attention to the fact that he began to bite his nails - having come up with a code word or movement with him (for example, touching his hand). You can offer your child a distraction, such as taking a puzzle with you on a trip, or have the child hold an object while reading.
• Form an alternative habit in your child, say a less harmful one, and practice it with him for a few minutes before school or before bed. You can also (the child should allow it!) Use colored stickers on your nails or use specially designed for this purpose bitter-tasting nail polish, which is sold in pharmacies.

Different children prefer different methods, but in general, the more your child feels like you are your partner in this endeavor, the more likely he is to want to succeed. The only time you really need to worry is if child biting nails to blood or pain in the fingertips. This signals very strong anxiety and may require the intervention of a child psychologist.

Bitter polish to stop biting your nails or stop your child from sucking their thumb

A novelty in our pharmacies is bitter varnish so that the child does not bite his nails. By the way, if you are tormented by the question: how to wean a child to suck his thumb, then this varnish can also help you.

1. Bitter varnish "Belvedere"

Lacquer "Belvedere from nail biting" contains an active ingredient - "denatonium benzoate". This substance is the most bitter substance that exists in nature. Harmless and effective component. The varnish is applied to dry, cleaned nails 1 time in 2 days. The varnish can be applied in 1 or 2 layers. Drying time about 2 minutes. In our opinion, this is the best varnish that you can buy in Russian pharmacies so as not to bite your nails. Volume 8 ml. Production Latvia. The cost is from 160 rubles.

2. Lacquer "I don't want to bite smart enamel"

Varnish "I don't want to bite smart enamel", judging by the reviews, it does not have a persistent taste, it is easily washed off. Contains vitamins A and E, but in our opinion - this is what makes this polish the worst of all. The fact is that the presence of vitamins requires a large amount of preservatives (parabens and phenoxyethanol), which, judging by the composition, are more in this varnish than all other ingredients, because. preservatives come first on the list. Volume - 11 or 15 ml. Price - from 155 rubles.

3. Lacquer "Princess Nekusaika"

Just like Belvedere varnish, Princess Nekusaika varnish contains an effective and safe active ingredient, denatonium benzoate. However, in the composition you can also find such a toxic compound as phthalic anhydride, which irritates the skin and mucous membranes. Whether it is worth using such a varnish - draw your own conclusions. Price: 130 rubles.

We hope that our article on the topic: How to wean a child to bite his nails on hand - it turned out to be useful to you!

Alexandra Smirnova
Advice for parents "The child bites his nails - what to do?"

Why child biting nails?

Approximately 30% of children between the ages of six and ten have a compulsive bite your nails. This habit is rooted in psychology. medical science calls the addiction in question onychophagia. An unrelenting desire to bite nails girls are less affected. According to medicine, this phenomenon is due to the high stress resistance of the female, as well as the development of emotional intelligence. More often, the considered habit appears against the background of newly minted living conditions, with which the baby is psychologically unable to cope. That is why it is important for close relatives of babies to realize that a cherished child who is quite prosperous in appearance can have considerable tension inside.

Reasons why child biting nails

The violation in question is more often of a psychological nature than is a flaw. educational work parents. At the same time, the psychological factors that give rise to onychophagia are often quite deep. Therefore, the sooner they are exposed, the more reliable the chances of eradicating an unpleasant habit and the factors that caused it.

To understand why child biting nails on the arms and legs, it is necessary to identify the factors that have shaped such a need in the child. Some mothers are convinced that biting nails occurs on a nervous basis. This is partly true, excitable babies start quite early. bite your nails. It is very difficult for children to free themselves from this obsession in the future. However, nervousness is not the only reason that causes children's onychophagia. A common factor that provokes children to bite nails, is stress.

Also often, when kids begin to try on the role of a student, then they experience strong intellectual, physical and psychological stress. The number of guys nail biting at school age, much more than the number of kids suffering from this disease in the preschool period.

Why child bites nails and how to wean? Reasons why child biting fingernails and toenails, there are many. The habit in question may be a substitution of one weakness for another. For example, many mothers struggle with the addiction of babies to suck thumb. As a result, babies begin to bite nail plates. Lack of care for the baby can also cause the appearance of the described habit. When parents untimely cut nails crumbs and do not notice the interfering cuticle, then child independently eliminates the irritant in the way available to him.

Anxiety, stress, a state of fear, constant worries - all of the above can get into the habit of biting your nails. The punishment received by the baby at home or at school, the fear of answering to students at the blackboard, the fear of getting bad marks cause anxiety in kids.

Often the causes of the disease are rooted in parental behavior. After all, kids try to copy their parents. If adults or someone from the environment of the crumbs has the obsessive habit in question, then the likelihood of an addiction bite your nails the baby increases significantly.

Reasons why child biting nails, consist in next:

In the internal aggression of the crumbs (he may have a low sense of self-esteem or be dissatisfied with himself);

In physiology (perhaps the baby is the owner of weak nail plates, as a result of which nails are constantly peeling, break, ride up at the edges, which forces him gnaw at the disturbing);

In ordinary boredom, stimulating the child bite your nails(for example, a child may not be interested in lessons, as a result of which he will unconsciously look for another activity for himself, which will later turn into an obsessive habit).

It happens that the baby simply experiences physical satisfaction from the very process of biting nails.

Often pleasure gnaw nails The plate is a kind of replacement for inaccessible to the baby, but pleasant actions. To eliminate the addiction provoked by this reason, it is necessary to carefully, without imposing, offer the crumbs a more entertaining activity that can satisfy him.

Some experts consider biting nails, babies instinctively align, as if gnaw out own shortcomings, mistakes and problems. Often the reasons are visible to the naked eye, so identify them carefully parents will not work. However, more often the etiological factor lurks in the depths of the soul of babies, and in order to bring them out, the assistance of a child psychologist will be required. In advanced cases, understand why child biting nails, the advice of a psychologist will only help.

How to wean child biting nails

Constant biting nails It is considered a fairly common habit that affects not only the smallest members of society, but also adults. Often considered violation delivers parents have a lot of trouble. Not every parent able to successfully overcome this problem. First of all, due to the fact that they do not consider the described habit as a serious pathology. They are convinced that as they grow older, it will disappear on its own. This is a misconception, since onychophagia is often observed in adults.

Experts say that the described violation is not only an addiction, but can also often be a symptom pathological condition crumbs.

Statistical studies show that three to six year olds rarely bite nails. This pernicious attraction is inherent in more than seven - ten-year-old children (thirty percent of babies of this age suffer from the habit bite your nails).

Why child biting nails, What make mature by discovering this habit? The appearance of this ailment in a seven-year period indicates the unrest of the crumbs associated with educational activities and school. Difficulties with comprehending the school curriculum, completing academic tasks, poor relationships with peers - all these are stressors for kids, causing a feeling of dissatisfaction with their own person. The consequence of this is the emergence of the considered bad habit. Feelings of insecurity, reinforced by reproaches from educators and parental accusations, acute anxiety due to one's own failures - this is fertile ground, which is a solid basis for the emergence of the described violation as a means of complacency. Having not found support from relatives, the baby tries to free himself from tension and internal discomfort by biting off. nails. Physical or psychological punishments used parents, tense family microclimate, long-term TV viewing are also often a breeding ground for this disease. For some kids nail biting is a kind of protest or desire to annoy older relatives, as well as an expression of anger, hidden aggression.

Number of addicts to biting nails in puberty increases to forty-five percent. This is due to the increase in the number of problems and difficulties that arise in this period. Precisely because of this parents it is hardly to be hoped that the habit will disappear miraculously.

How to wean child biting nails? The psychologist's advice says that it is necessary to begin to eradicate addiction as early as possible in the age period and with the identification of the etiological factor.

Only a calm atmosphere and a favorable microclimate in the family, good communication of relatives, without shouting and raised tone, care, love and attention of loved ones will help to correct the situation and wean child biting fingernails and toenails. Screams and endless swearing can only aggravate the pathology in question. Harmonious relationships in the family and mutual understanding, better than other methods, are able to free the baby from harmful cravings.

Habit bite your nails has a number of complications, namely the distortion of the configuration nail plates, violation of the shape of the fingers, inflammation or suppuration of the bitten skin, pathogenic bacteria from under nail plates, penetrating into digestive system, cause intestinal infections, helminthic infestations due to entry through oral cavity when biting nails, peer ridicule.

How to wean child biting nails, psychologists recommend using the following methods. First, stop scolding the baby. Besides scolding child is useless, this creates additional tension for him, which will only exacerbate addiction.

The violation of the crumbs in question should not be taken as a tragedy. Since the excessively violent and restless reaction of relatives will become another stressor, generating an increase in the frequency of manifestation of the habit. Individual toddlers noticing that their addiction is annoying parents, may use it to express protest or for the sake of revenge. This will help to establish the habit. bite your nails for a long period.

Psychologists say that prohibitions, even for three-year-old babies, act differently from their own purpose. However, the point here is not the harmfulness of the child, but his pride and sense of self-esteem, which does not allow him to agree with parental requirement. In addition, the baby will begin to use addiction as a weapon for revenge. parents for their constant accusations and punishments. Therefore, to eradicate the addiction, parents First of all, you need to change your own behavioral response. They should understand that reproaches, threats and prohibitions are ineffective. And vice versa, the rejection of the listed methods of correction will lead to the desired outcome. After all, there is no more effective method for relieving children's stress and excitement than parental affection, understanding and love.

Also, you can’t insult kids, raise your voice at them, because children are vulnerable creatures who take everything too close to the soul. Therefore, it is necessary in a favorable atmosphere to try to talk to the child, find out what worries him, while trying to minimize the impact of stressors.

Parents you should try to form in the crumbs the habit of occupying limbs with something else. For example, a baby may, when an irresistible desire arises, bite your nails imperceptibly clench and unclench the fists several times. The same actions can do when an alarm occurs. This helps to calm down, eliminate tension, switch the nervous system to a different target.

In addition, adults need to control their own actions, because if someone is in the house chewing on nail plates, then the baby will definitely take an example from him. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to eradicate your own harmful addictions.

If the baby is unnecessarily hostile, often irritated, sometimes aggressive, then it is necessary to teach him socially acceptable ways of showing unfriendliness. For example, visiting wrestling sections, participating in competitions, active games will help the child to throw out negative emotional manifestations without harming oneself and others.

How to wean child biting nails? This can help joint needlework with the baby. So, modeling, painting, applique, folding constructor, laying out a mosaic, embroidering, cutting, knitting will fill the life of the crumbs with joyful minutes, use their hands, and also will not let him get bored. Creativity is an excellent method of expressing accumulated emotions, energy and negativity. Objects that are pleasant to the touch contribute to the elimination of tension. touch: balls, smooth stones, etc.

Children can be greatly impressed by the story of negative consequences habit bite your nails. Should be colorful possible complications, back up the story with facts, while trying not to intimidate child. So, for example, you can show your baby pictures of worms that may appear in the body.

To spare child from the violation in question, it is necessary to gradually accustom him to independence. Because provoke child biting nails there may be an unexpected separation from the mother, for example, if necessary, go to work. To kid you have to get used to kindergarten or spending time with grandmothers. Such a separation can cause psychological trauma in the crumbs if there is a close connection with the mother. Therefore, it is not recommended to sharply deprive child pastime during daylight hours parents.

Information source: http://psihomed.com

Photobank Lori

My parents sprinkled quinine powder on me. It helped in early childhood, then the habit returned. Husband bought baby teethers so that I would rather bite them than my nails, it works well.

Only bitter pharmacy varnish helped us. All the stories about bacteria, helminth eggs and other horror did not cause the desired effect. But it was at that time that the child became interested in the microworld and listened with pleasure to fairy tales about flagellates, looked at pictures and drew amoebas, ciliates and other chlamydomonas himself.

Photobank Lori

My younger brother bit his nails. Under zero, and managed to gnaw on his feet. Whatever they did! Mustard? Ate. Varnish? What a trifle! - and gnawed the varnish. Mom went to extreme measures: watching TV together is sitting in mittens. At first, the little brother smiled: what, they say, hehe. But my mother is strict, and she sent me to sleep in mittens. She said: if you don’t stop, then you will go to school in mittens, and spring is on the nose ... In general, with grief in half, but it worked.

Nail biting is one of the options for getting out of a situation where there is nowhere to put your hands. Therefore, it is best to offer the child other options to occupy his hands when he is nervous: you need to take something that can be twisted or touched. It can be an ordinary rosary, a small pillow with silicone balls. I sewed small toys with buckwheat - and the nerves soothe and stimulate the nerve endings at the fingertips.

The situation when a child bites his nails is not just a bad habit. This is always a symptom of some kind of trouble, and it is important to find out its cause. It can be organic, associated with a health condition: for example, neurological disorders. Or it can hide in the external circumstances of the life of the child and his family. It is no coincidence that many children begin to bite their nails amid some kind of stress: the birth of a younger brother or sister, entering school, etc. Watch how often and under what circumstances the baby begins to put his finger in his mouth - this will help to understand the cause of the difficulties. For example, if this happens in the evenings, consider whether the child is overworking during the day. If the baby bites his nails in the garden, he may have difficulty communicating with children. When the habit is permanent, obsessive, the child bites his nails literally to the point of blood - you can not do without the help of a specialist. It is better to start with a child psychologist: he will understand the situation and tell you if the child needs psychological correction or medication

Margarita Konchalovskaya

My daughter started biting her nails at a fairly “respectable” age, somewhere around 6-7 years old. So, in order to wean her from this habit, we began to go to the salon, where there was a "Children's manicure" service. When she had beautiful nails done for the first time, she herself said that it was a pity to spoil such beauty. What we didn’t do with her: glitter, stickers, and just a bright color in the summer. They spared no time and money, and gradually the problem was solved by itself. Now this habit has long been forgotten, but there is a habit and a desire to keep the nails in beauty and order.

Photobank Lori

I'll start with the background - I can't stand the liver, I can't stand it in any form at all. So, even at the gardening age, when I began to bite my nails, my grandmother told me that this would make a worm settle in my stomach. And not only will this beast live there forever, because it cannot be brought out, so he, the bastard, also eats only liver, and I will have to eat it! I stopped biting my nails. And then my grandmother and I were on the train, and I saw the boy biting his nails. And then the dialogue: “Do you bite your nails? Aren't you afraid?" - "No". “Do you like liver?” - "Yes". - "Ah, well, then gnaw."

Offered money, 100 rubles. in a day. I check on Sunday; if grown - receives 700 rubles. I don’t know how pedagogical it is, but it works well for a 14-year-old “baby”. The result was within a week.

Photobank Lori

Like all bad habits in children, nail biting is a consequence of neurosis and lack of tactile contact with loved ones, parents. Our son (5 years old) began to bite his nails when he appeared youngest child. Naturally, attention to him became less - all worries were about the younger. We went to a psychologist, she pointed out to us our omission. Tip: pay more attention to the child, more hugs and kisses, praise and care. And not a single bad habit will cling to your baby!

Nail biting is a neurotic reaction similar to thumb sucking or tics. Schoolchildren are more likely to suffer from this disorder than kids, because they experience great physical and emotional stress. In this way, the child tries to cope with stress, anxiety, excitement. If parents, instead of looking for a reason, scold and constantly scold their son or daughter, the situation only gets worse. Arises vicious circle: anxiety leads to the habit of biting nails, ugly hands cause the anger of parents, as a result, the baby's nervous tension increases, and self-esteem drops even lower. Often this problem is paired with other disorders. nervous system: hyperexcitability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (up to 75% of children with ADHD bite their nails), enuresis. And the physical consequence can be helminthic invasions, inflammation of the periungual tissues, periodontitis up to the exposure of the neck of the tooth. So the child needs help. There is no special medicine for children who bite their nails - bitter pharmacy varnishes do not always help and often only take the problem in a different direction. But sometimes doctors prescribe mild sedatives and nootropics in such cases.

Maria Ziborova

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