Kicking the Bad Habits: Nail Biting and Picking

If your child is about to start preschool or daycare, it’s time to start breaking some of their bad habits. In this series, we will cover some tactics that will help you kick those bad habits to the curb. Today’s bad habit is nail biting and picking. 

Nail biting and picking is the most common of the bad habits. Your child might bite her nails because of boredom, stress, or even just to imitate you. Nail biting is a bad habit that is also likely to continue into adulthood, so you should try to break this habit now while your child is still young. To nip the nail biting habit in the bud, try applying the following tips:

Address the anxieties.

Oftentimes nail biting can be a sign of stress. Figuring out what is causing your child’s stress is important so you can help him ease his anxiety. Sometimes it’s something as simple as the thought of growing up, or it could be a big change like moving into a new house or switching schools. You can help your child by talking him through his worries and reassuring him.

Keep their nails trimmed.

Long nails are almost always more tempting to bite and pick on. When they grow too long, they also have a tendency to catch on to things with their ragged edges. To reduce the nail biting or picking temptation, keep your child’s nails trimmed and filed down.

Offer crunchy snacks.

Chewing on food can be a good substitute for biting on nails. Offer your child crunchy foods like raw carrots or cucumbers to munch on.

Set goals.

Setting realistic goals with your child can also minimize their nail biting or picking habits. Set a goal of 24 hours without nail biting. If your child meets this goal, then you can reward her with something special, like an extra bedtime story.

At Cranium Academy, our goal is to build character and leadership in every student. To provide consistency between school and home life, we work hand-in-hand with parents to help children break their bad habits. If you’re working on kicking the nail biting habit, let your child’s teacher know so that we can help you with the process. One less bad habit is one step closer to building good character and being a leader!

More in this serious: Thumb Sucking, Hair Pulling, Nose Picking