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Nail biting, nose picking, booger eating 3-yr-old

Hi everybody, it's been a while. Haven't posted anything since the redesign.

Anyway, ever since we took away his pacifiers when he turned 2, my kid has been a huge nail biter. I seriously have only clipped his fingernails once or twice in the last year. I was hoping he'd just stop on his own, but he hasn't. Here's where I admit that I've bitten my nails all my life. So...genetic, learned, who cares? He's a happy kid, chatty, extroverted, funny, smiley. So I don't think there's a deep psychological cause (for him or for me). Anybody out there had to deal with this?

I bought some nail polish called THUM, but that didn't do anything. Tried it on myself and it was pretty much flavorless. So I just bought some new stuff called BITE IT, which definitely tastes foul -- poisonous even -- but I'm a little apprehensive about trying it on him.

Any suggestions?

And if you've got any tips for the nose picking, that'd be great too.

Tags: biting, habits, nail, nervous

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Permalink Reply by Jake on November 22, 2010 at 11:13am

An update: he pretty much stopped biting his nails on his own after I stopped hassling him about it. So there you go.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck on November 24, 2010 at 8:44am

our 3 year old is constantly biting/picking at her fingernails. Drives me crazy, along with a long list of other things she does. Can't wait for her to not be 3.

edit: wow didn't notice this was old thread.