Stop picking/biting nails - HOW?

[HulaHoop]

Hi.

My 12-year-old daughter has picked her nails into the quick, and ripped the skin around them, since she was 3. I'm thinking of trying to organize a 7 day Disney cruise and pay for the cabin of a nail technician to travel along and trim cuticles, apply moisturizing treatments, etc. DAILY, and manicure on the last day. We could focus on mental techniques and any physical aids that we can think of. Maybe working on this for 7 days straight, with Disney rewards for not picking, etc. might work. Any ideas?

 

[tiggerlover]

I wish I had advice for you as I have a DH and a DS (10) who bite and pick as well. I have tried incentives and threats to no-bite solution, nothing works. I am hoping someone here may have some helpful suggestions so I will be checking back.

 

[MAKmom]

It is nerves. I did this until I hit my 40's & chipped a tooth biting my nails.

I would try relaxation techniques like yoga & meditations. Keep the environment calm in your home. Are other members of the family showing signs of stress?

 

[antmaril]

I have been biting my nails for 50 years. I've tried many, many times to stop, but it is useless. It's nerves, plain and simple.

 

[Maude4Disney]

I've done this all my life, my mom tried everything while I was growing up... nothing worked. My oldest DS12 did this as well and I too tried everything to get him to stop. I'm not sure what happened, but for him, something overnight changed and now I'm on him about keeping his nails trimmed But we are going thru the same thing w/ our youngest DS6 now. I'm not pressuring him, just encouraging him and hoping he'll outgrow it as well and not turn out like his mom (I wonder if it's hereditary )

 

[iggbees]

i have bitten my nails since i was a little girl, but recently (within the last year) have stopped... well... except for my thumb nails for some reason. i don't know what made me stop... i think some of it had to do with my boyfriend scolding me for biting them. i'm also on medication for anxiety, which could also be a factor. now that i've stopped i try to keep them filed and painted and i bought a cuticle trimmer to stop me from picking at those too. i agree that it has to do with nerves. i've always been a nervous person and it's just my outlet for some reason. when i catch myself doing it i usually try to pick up something to stop me from going back.

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

I have/had two bad habits:

I sucked my thumb until I was about 14

and I have bouts of picking the skin around my nails.

My parents did everything they did to try to get me to stop sucking my thumb (hot sauce, bandaids...etc) and nothing worked. It ultimately just came down to me deciding that I wanted to stop.

As far as the nail thing goes, it's nerves. For me, it was bad always around finals time in college and now that I have a new job. Getting your nails done, however, does help.

Good luck!

 

[Timon]

I bit my nails from about 5 years old until a couple years ago. I just made up my mind to do it one day. That worked for me. Same as smoking, I just decided one day to stop and I did.

What helped with the nail biting was that for about a year I allowed myself to still bite my thumb nails but NOT the others. It worked cus I still had the urge to bite my nails, so I bit my thumb nails without feeling guilty. Then eventually I looked at my thumb nails and noticed how ugly they were so then I stopped biting them one at a time.

It's nice to have nails and not be ashamed when people looked at my hands!

Good luck!