My 4 year old is peeling her nails all day!

amother

Sat, Oct 17 2020, 8:52 pm

Every time they grow a drop she picks them off... its not like I can keep them short enough cause she just keeps trying. I’m scared she’s going to end up hurting herself - or make her nails horribly short. Anyone ever deal with this?? I have no idea how to help her stop.
Thanks

amother

Burgundy

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 9:04 am

YUP. Mine does it too. Its a bad habit. Comes and goes.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 9:36 am

Has anything new happened in the home or at school? She may have a touch of anxiety.

Find something she can fidget with, to keep her hands busy. Some kids like puzzle rings, others like soft blankets or pieces of string. Let her try out different textures. Every time you see her picking her nails, you can gently redirect her to her comfort object.

amother

Taupe

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 8:22 pm

This was our first soft sign of pandas, months before the official onset. The first time I cut her fingernails in a very very long time was when we finally put all the pieces together and she was 3 weeks into a very long course of antibiotics.

Not saying this is the case for you, but non stop nail biting is a compulsive behavior often related to anxiety, ocd, dopamine deficiency etc. NAC, b vitamins, gaba can be helpful.

hodeez

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 8:24 pm

Maybe paint her nails and hype it up so she will want to keep her nails looking like that?

amother

Black

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 8:41 pm

My daughter used to do this at that age. She’s 6 now and she grew out of it. Her nails are a normal size and I cut them weekly. Just a stage.

momi

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 9:16 pm

I’m not sure if you would be open to this idea , however; I offered my then 3 yr old daughter, the chance to have nail polish on Erev Shabbat, if her nails were long. BH , it worked like a charm.
Good Luck!

soap suds

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 10:45 pm

Does she peel them really short? Like shorter than you would’ve cut it? If not, than why is it a problem? My 8 year old also peels her nails, and does such a good job that I’m actually glad that there are 10 less nails for me to cut!

Does she exhibit any other signs of anxiety or anything else that would be cause for concern? If this is the only issue, I wouldn’t worry about it.

lilies

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 10:51 pm

momi wrote:

I love this idea!

amother

Oak

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 12:11 am

I myself have this problem and it's not just my nails. I also bite my skin to the point where it looks gross and soemtimes bleeds. I have tried a while bunch of things including gel polish and can't quite figure out the trigger. Its almost constant, but I do notice there are times I do it more than others, but still don't know why. I can't stop and it's gross!

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 1:55 am

I have this with my 12 year old son and I'm at a loss how to help him kick this habit. The gross tasting polish doesn't help since he doesn't do it with his mouth. He just fidgets with his nails till they come off. His nails are really really short now.
For a while we were able to get him to grow them in by promising something he really wanted. But once he got that and the novelty wore off he's back to tearing it once again.
He feels horrible about it and knocks himself down for it but I don't know how to help him!
No advice op, sorry.

amother

Red

Mon, Oct 19 2020, 4:18 am

I've been doing this since age 2 but it's not as much as a habit as I just have small nail beds so ny nails break easily and after they break I peel them off. They never get too short etc. Many people pick or bite their nails it is a bad habit but not worrisome and some ppl say it is genetic go figure. 25-30% of kids do this and most will outgrow it.