Why does the child bite his nails: what to do and how to wean?

With the advent of the child, the newly born parents have their own responsibilities, which lie in the proper care, care and upbringing of the children. When a mother or father first catches her baby with fingers in his mouth, then do not pay due attention to this aspect. And in vain, because all this leads to the fact that the child gets used to biting his nails, talking about his psycho-emotional discomfort. For some reason, the child bites his nails, let's understand together.

The reasons why children bite their nails

Before taking action, identify the true causes that encourage the child to bite his nails. This list includes:

1. Hereditary factor. If the kid constantly monitors the actions of his parents, who are not against chewing on the cuticle or nails, he begins to repeat the manipulations at an unconscious level.In such a situation, there is only one way out - watch yourself and talk to the child.
2. Stressful situations. Constant exposure to stress, anxiety, nervousness, unreasonable anxiety - these and many other reasons spoil the psyche of the child. He is experiencing, therefore, unconsciously seeking ways to calm, which are manifested in the need to bite his nails.
3. Problems with self-esteem. One of the causes of disorders of psycho-emotional background is internal aggression towards oneself. If a baby has low self-esteem, he is constantly tormented by guilt feelings or lives in a dysfunctional family, he will bite his nails, again, as a way to calm down.
4. Boredom. Trite, but this reason is seen in 40% of children who were caught on the nibbling of the nail plates. When the child has nothing to do, he pays a lot of attention to what is on the body ... for example, nails. On a subconscious level, biting them, the kid finds such an occupation fascinating. Therefore, he resorts to it again and again in the hope of occupying himself. Parents in this case need to pay more time to raising the baby.
5. Physiological aspects. If weakness, brittleness, stratification of nails were noticed in the female or male family, this factor can be passed on to the child. If his nails crumble and bullet around the edges, causing discomfort, the child will try to get rid of the causes of the torment. He will always bite his nails if his parents do not cut them off in time.

Important!
Experienced psychologists who specialize in children's health consider the disorder of the psycho-emotional environment to be the cause of nail biting. If you do not find in the above aspects of the true reason, contact a specialist. Not always the problem lies on the surface, it can be buried deep inside. To save the child from mental problems, they need to be eradicated at the initial stage of birth.

Ways to disaccustom the child to bite nails

1. Onychophagy is a disease that manifests itself in the constant habit of nail biting. How can you help your child in this situation?
2. No need to shout at the baby, if you once again caught him on biting off the nail plates. Do not make an explicit emphasis on this "bad" habit. Gently hint that the child does not need to do this.If you strictly prohibit such manipulations, it can go in defiance.
3. If the child does not have an allergic reaction to essential oils and medicinal plants, perform aromatherapy several times a week. Bury in a special lamp lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, mint. Make aromatic baths and herbal teas. All this will help the child’s nerves calm down.
4. To bring the psychoemotional environment back to normal, treat your child with warm tea or milk with honey. Such a cocktail will help you fall asleep, will lead to the fact that the baby will calm down faster.
5. Teach your child to get rid of negative emotions on their own. Explain that you can not always be there. Emotional stress must be removed not by biting the nails, but by squeezing and unclenching the cams, deep breathing, and favorite music.
6. Children from an early age should be taught to look well-groomed. Regularly visit the master or do your own manicure. Prepare pleasant fragrant bubble baths. In this case, the habit of biting nails will disappear by itself.
7. If you are always near the baby, watch your hands carefully.As soon as he begins to bring them to his mouth, distract the child. Ask him to help you around the house or play with a cat (dog, hamster).
8. Do not refuse your child to display emotions. If he wants to cuddle and kiss, so be it. Take care of the child, all children from wealthy families more easily give up bad habits in favor of other addictions or affairs.
9. No need to solve problems with the help of a school psychologist, look for a way out on the side or try to wean the child from bad habits on your own. The school doctor is full.

Creativity as a way of dealing with habit

1. Creativity helps to take the hands, relaxes the psyche of the child and wean him from bad habits. Drawing, playing the piano or the guitar, and boxing to show negative emotions are good for children.
2. Record your child in the drawing section or to the music. Begin to attend sports classes together or workout at home.
3. Watch funny cartoons, do not turn on the child bloodthirsty movies and do not allow to play aggressive games on the computer. All this hurts the psyche.
4. Ask your child to draw a picture, for example, a flower or a landscape. If you notice in the picture too many dark shades and sharp corners, you should contact a psychologist. Perhaps the problem lies inside.
5. You can write an interesting story for children by yourself or find relevant literature on the Internet. For example, a fairy tale about how a cat or a bunny has learned to bite their nails, because it is a very bad habit.

Warm communication and positive

1. To cope with the problem, it is recommended to pay more attention to the child. Communicate and surround him with affection, care. Spend time with long arms. Such therapy is considered a cure for all ills.
2. Exercise regularly with your child. This procedure perfectly eliminates the effects of stress and feelings. The baby can be given to the sports section or to train independently, the latter is much more effective.
3. Try to remember at what point the child began to bite his nails. The spread of time can vary from a few days to a couple of months. Try to fix the start date of the problem.If possible, analyze why such a situation could happen.
4. Communicate with the child of positive things and information. Interest the child in the conversation. Attend museums and exhibitions with the whole family. You are more in nature and play joint games.
5. If you are already growing up as a teenager, it will not be superfluous to go together to a musical concert or theater. Engage in drawing, modeling and similar painstaking things. It is mandatory to adjust the mode of the day. Play at least 2 hours a day, sleep should last about 8 hours.

Mandatory rules for the whole family

The unpleasant situation concerns not only the baby, but the whole family. Therefore, under certain restrictions fall all. On the one hand, some things are simply abandoned, on the other hand, you will have to make an effort. Therefore it is worth adhering to practical recommendations.

1. It is forbidden to punish and scold the child for the fact that he bites his nails. In a sense, he does it unconsciously. Such a situation can be compared with the fact if you had a headache or an ulcer. Imagine that you would be reprimanded for such problems.
2. Analyze your own behavior, there are situations that you yourself occasionally bite your nails and burrs. If this happens, stop immediately, this behavior is unacceptable. A child can take an example from you.
3. If you follow all the rules, review the behavior and pay due attention, you can get rid of the problem in 1-2 months. It would not be superfluous to go to a specialist. The doctor will be able to establish the source of the problem and recommend ways to fix it.

Folk ways to deal with the habit

Nail care

1. Make sure your child always has his nails trimmed. If necessary, trim them under the root. Cut off excess skin and burrs. In this case, the child will simply have nothing to gnaw.
2. Such physiological difficulties will bear fruit. Perhaps the child will stop biting his nails. It should be borne in mind that there is always a "but." Offspring can switch to pens and pencils.

Beautiful manicure

1. This method is suitable only for girls. Make your child a beautiful manicure with a pattern or stickers.
2. The procedure is recommended on Friday evening. It is this time that is considered the best for strengthening the nail plate.

Spicy Spices

1. There are situations when the sparing measures do not help, in this case you can resort to the help of red pepper.
2. At a young age, this procedure can leave its mark. The kid simply does not want to chew on sharp and bitter nails.

In order for the baby to stop biting his nails, it is necessary to approach the situation very seriously. Find out the origin of the problem. Start practicing and follow helpful tips. Use some tricks. If necessary, visit the doctor.

Video: how to wean a child to bite his nails