2 year old biting nails- how to stop?

[CRWx]

Hi!

My 2 (almost 3) year old has started biting her nails over the last few months, apart from it being a bit of a gross habit (with dirty hands in her mouth) it’s not really something I’ve paid much notice to until this weekend.

Yesterday she complained of a sore finger, looked a bit red but otherwise didn’t bother her. This morning she’s woken up with a blistered, infected thumb that’s yellow and generally yucky and causing her pain. Took her to the walk in and they’ve given her anti biotics for the infection and have been told if the blister doesn’t drain/gets bigger we will have to go to hospital for them to drain it.

Obviously, this has been a bit of a nasty experience for her but she still bites them out of habit. Does anyone have any tips for stopping her or anything tricks you’ve done on your LOs? Really don’t want her to have anymore pain or anything like this again! My poor sausage!

 

[Babybump87]

Aww poor girlie that looks really sore ! Hope it gets better soon . My DD1 always picked her nails , no reason for it . She’s recently stopped and her nail have grew beautifully !

Could you maybe get that nail varnish that leaves a horrible taste in their mouth ? . If you see her just say something like take your fingers out your mouth don’t draw attention to the fact she’s biting her nails ! I bite mine when anxious . I hate it but like your DD just can’t help it ! I usually wear false nails to stop me doing it.

Maybe you could paint your DDs nails if just for a few days when her finger gets better

 

[_Meep_]

Mine did it around the same age for a while but I never mentioned it and she sort of stopped on her own.

That being said, I was an awful nail biter until I was about 18, and nothing worked for my mother, not even the stuff that tasted bad as I'd just carry on.

In the end, I realised how manky my hands looked and forced myself to stop. I'm still a compulsive finger picker however! An anxiety thing for me I think.

I'd keep ignoring it to see if she just quits on her own but if not, I think the pp's ideas are really good.

 

[CRWx]

Thanks girls! She likes having her nails painted (kids polish) so maybe I can do something with that once she’s healed.

See, that’s the thing- I obviously don’t want to give her a complex or make her anxious about it because she does pick up on these things quite easily... and I’m a hypocrite! I bite my nails when I’m nervous/anxious (have been having acrylics/gels to stop) and pick them like crazy

So hard to navigate these random things!