[Quantum_Leap]

Charlie has been doing this non-stop lately! He didn't used to have this habit, but it seems like he's started just since we moved to China. (I think that the move made him feel anxious and he started doing this as a way to cope). It drives me crazy, because he goes outside and plays in the dirt and gets his hands all dirty, then immediately starts biting on his fingernails. He's been sick at least three separate times since we got here, and I'm sure this is part of the reason why. (There are TONS of germs in the dirt around here, seriously, it stresses me out way more than it would at home). But I'm at a total loss as to how to get him to stop. Every time I tell him to stop, he'll stop for two seconds, then immediately his fingers go back to his mouth again. It's like he's not even thinking about what he's doing. Help! Does anyone else's LO do this? Any suggestions?

[Alexa5]

He doesn't do that but he has gone through other phases like that where it drove me nuts...like for a while he had this habit of constantly wiping at his mouth, and I would get paranoid about the extra germs, etc. But the only way to get him to stop was to just ignore it, as the less attention brought to it he gradually stopped doing it. It was hard, but I just tried my best to ignore it. The other thing is that he gets these dry spots by his mouth and then would lick at them all of the time. What helps that is ignoring it, but also making a point to put aquaphor on the spots to heal them (and then tell him to not do it while that is on there), and then once they heal he stops some.

Not the same thing as yours, but the same idea, and it is hard. I am wondering with yours if frequent handwashing would help....kind of like saying, if you are going to do that we have to wash your hands more often to keep them clean?

[babyDamico]

hmmm Payton doesn't bite her fingernails, but she peels her toe nails... ALL THE TIME... like to the point where she will have almost no nail left..
The only thing that helped was making her wear socks.. she hates anything on her feet, so having to wear the socks when she would mess with her toenails discouraged her from doing it..

not sure what to tell you about the fingernails... Hope its just a phase that he gets over quickly!

[Zoostergirl]

Joey bites hers and to be totally honest I don't mind because then it's one less set for me to keep trimmed.

I get what you're saying about dirt and germs though. What I'd do, or at least try, is explain your concern and then anytime you catch him biting have him go wash his hands. Then if he continues to bite, at least you can be less concerned about it.

[Quantum_Leap]

Originally Posted by Zoostergirl

Joey bites hers and to be totally honest I don't mind because then it's one less set for me to keep trimmed.

I get what you're saying about dirt and germs though. What I'd do, or at least try, is explain your concern and then anytime you catch him biting have him go wash his hands. Then if he continues to bite, at least you can be less concerned about it.

Yeah, part of me wonders if I had just been trimming Charlie's nails a bit more frequently to begin with, if he might never have picked up this habit in the first place.

We have been doing our best to explain about the germs, but Charlie's latest strategy whenever he hears something he doesn't like is just to assert the opposite, even if it's obviously not true. "My hands aren't dirty." (when they are) "I'm not chewing on my fingers." (said over a mouthful of fingers). etc. I've got a contrarian on my hands!

[Alexa5]

Nicholas does the same thing sometimes--when it is time to clean his hands after a meal-- "they are not messy!!". Or when it is a diaper change--- I didn't pee!

He honestly is driving me nuts these days.

[KrystalB]

Nathan's a finger and toe nail peeler. He's TERRIBLE for doing it. I wish I had an answer to your (and my!) problem about this.