I’ve got a nail-biter, and I always worry about the germs she is putting in her mouth. I’ve talked with her about it, but it’s a habit. She doesn’t even know she’s doing it. I even told her if she would grow her nails out that I would take her to the nail salon. She is interested in that, but the habit persists.
Then a friend of mine told me her daughter stopped sucking her thumb. Sweet! How’d she do it? She bought one of those nail polishes for nail biters. WARNING: If you do your research on this (and other products like it) you absolutely will find lots of people advising against it. So this is one of those where you really must do your homework so you can make an informed decision. The one my friend got is called Mavala Stop and they bought it online. It’s a foul tasting chemical that is designed to stop kids from biting their nails/sucking their thumbs. I have not used this product on my daughter, but my friend used the ointment only once and her daughter stopped sucking her thumb for a couple of months. She has since resumed the habit, so they are planning to use it again.
I found this article on a website called babyzone that has some advice on thumb-sucking. The tactics would apply to a nail-biter, too.
Have you had success breaking any bad habits? What worked for you?
Ha! I have that Mavala nail polish in the medicine cabinet. I’ve applied it several times to my oldest girl’s thumb, and it did deter her as long as the polish was fresh. The problem was, though, that I had to keep reapplying every night, which I always did after she fell asleep. After a few nights of that, life got in the way, and I lost the battle with consistency. I was thinking it’s time to start again, as school is starting in a few weeks.
We also have several Berenstein Bears DVDs, and there is one about Sister Bear’s “Bad Habit” of biting her nails. It was a cute little story where Momma Bear tries to help her understand what a bad habit is.
Good luck with Molly’s nail biting. The Mavala will probably nip that in the bud.