Majority of the parents are worried about the habit of nail biting amongst their toddlers. This is a very common habit that is often noticed among kids aged from 2-5 and there are lots of explanations behind. Kids bite their nails when they are nervous, sometimes they do it out of boredom. To relief stress or just out of curiosity, many of the kids keep on biting their nails. If not handled at the right time, nail biting can become a bad habit as the kid grows.
The habit of nail biting can lead to serious problems. As the kid plays, he/she touches hundred things. Their hands might be full of germs. In this situation, nail biting can lead to stomach infections or other health problems. As parents you may get tensed, but there is solution for stopping these habits. Try to ignore these facts, at first, as this habit usually goes along with ages. If it still does not stop, try adopting the following tips.
1. Cut the nails
Try to cut the nails of your kid regularly. Introduce this habit to your kid so that he understands about the healthy habits. Generally, kids try to bite nails while watching television; give some finger puppets or small ball in their hands. Give some squeezable toys which will keep his finger busy. At times long nails can be quite irritating and kids tend to bite it. Clipping nails regularly will resist your kid from biting it.
2. Wait and talk to your kid
If you see that along with the growing age your kid is not changing the habit, you can talk to your kid regarding this. Often, kids bite nails due to habit and do not concentrate about the fact. They even do not realize that they were biting nails for certain situation. Check your nearby drug store as they might have a stock of bitter nail drops. These products are designed for the kids to stop the habit of nail biting. Buy a pack of that and polish your kids nail with the bitter drop. This often helps them to stop biting nail.
3. Keep a regular check on your kid
Generally nail biting is a symptom of nervousness. But you should also keep an eye on this. Often, kids bite nails and tear the nail bed and also bite the finger tip on which he gets all bloodies; talk to your pediatrician. Most of the time along with nail biting he may engage himself in other destructive habits. Pulling hair and sucking thumb are some of the habits he may follow along with nail biting. This can be the symptom of more stress and anxiety. Doctors can get you some solutions for this.
4. Never embarrass the kid
Talk to your kid but never embarrass them in front of anyone. It may have some adverse effect. All kids are not equal and their way of thinking may also be different from others. Often, kids are very sensitive in these issues and punishing or scolding them really never works for this situation. Rather you can talk to them by showing some concern. Try to make them understand how the dirt available in the nails can affect their health. If she is a girl, you can always tell that you are not going to apply nail polish if the nails are bitten. Introduce the habit of nail clipping and also talk to them about the dirty germs that might be available in their nails which can be harmful for health. Never put on much pressure to stop these habits. Along with growing ages, kids keep on changing their habits and this minor habit also goes off with times.
