Nose Picker and Nail Biter

when I catch one of my 3 1/2 yr old twins picking his nose, he has to go wash his hands because now they are covered with dirty germs. It doesn't matter if we are at at home or Wal-mart. He spent a weekend with her. When I picked him up he was real sad. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn't get enough time with her because he was always washing his hands. Haven't had a problem yet. The other twin is a thumb sucker, we struggled for a long time and finally found that if we caught him with his thumb in his mouth, he had to put on a glove (the kind where he can still use his fingers but not real well. He was only sucking his thumb because he was used to it and bored. Once doing that wasn't an option, he stopped doing it. Stickers as rewards for being caught NOT doing those things also help. Let them pick out the stickers from the store and get to put the sticker on a piece of paper on the fridge. KIDS LOVE STICKERS!!!

Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. My 5 year old is a nail biter and nose picker (& he eats them). I have tried making him wash his hands and brush his teeth every time I catch him picking his nose. He doesn't care. Sorry no help there.

I have learned that if I keep his nails trimmed he doesn't bite them.

The child has to deveolop a sense of shame about it, otherwise they just try to hide it.
I will say this, it is probably an exceptionally sensitive and intelligent child. Try to keep the child occupied and challenged, the less zoning in front of a tv the better.
S.

I'd love to hear the answer about how to stop nose picking! I have a 9 yr old stepdaughter who STILL picks her nose... and eats them! <gag>

I am in the same boat w/a 4 yr girl. I have no clue on it either, I have tried everything I can think of. Bugs are in your nose, I will not be able to paint your nails until you quit biting them. I'm at the same point you are. If, you get any good tips would you please forward them to me also, I would love the help. I really don't want her to continue when she starts pre school next year. My email is: ____@____.com,
Thank you,
S.

There is a book about the nail biting that my son just loves. It is a berenstain bears book. Not sure what to do about the nose picking. Hopefully that book can help you. My son brought it home from the school library not to long ago. Good luck! Shannon

S.,

I know this sounds gross but I had a friend tell me to tell my son that picking his nose and eating it( they all do this)was eating nose poop, and the finger nail biting can be stopped by buying stuff that is really sour to paint on the nails themselves at CVS or any of those kind of stores. You can also look at herbal health stores.

My son was biting his nails nonstop.......my husband and I told him "OH NO......YOU HAVE TO STOP DOING THAT OTHERWISE YOU WILL GET BUGS IN YOUR BELLY" Well...that night he had a nightmare...waking up saying "Get them out...get the bugs out of my belly" and we said "Well...have you stopped biting your nails?" and he said yes...I won't bite them..I promise....and we said "Well they are probably gone now...as long as you never bite them again." ---it's been 3 weeks and he hasn't bitten them again.

I haven't had to deal with nail biting yet but whenever my kids are caught picking their noses, they have to go wash their hands. I did this when I was teaching 2nd and 3rd grades as well and it really worked. I just explained to everyone that it was a major way of spreading germs so we need to wash. They very quickly get sick of going to wash so they stop.

I haven't tried this, but there is a clear nail polish you can use that has hot pepper in it (I don't know the exact namae or where to get it). My neighbor used it with her son to get him to stop biting his nails. It just makes it so it's very unpleasant to put their nails in their mouth. I bet it wouldn't be too pleasant in the nose, either. She said she had to apply it while he was sleeping because he didn't want it on. Good luck!

Since having fingers in nose and mouth can spread germs, try having tehm wash their hands each time. I would encourage you to explain why it is important not to spread germs!!! We call the germs BUGGYS!!!!LOL
I have 4 children 8,6,4 Boys and one 11 month old baby girl
I have a tumb sucker and I had to do that to stop the tumb sucking!!! Trust me it will work if YOU STICK WITH IT!!!!!

C. D

I'd like to know the answer to this, too! I agree with the other response that they learn this behavior from seeing others do it. I have a 5-year old daughter who does it, too, but some of her problem is itching from allergies that turns into a pick. She has a weekly responsibility chart, and one of the line items is "keeping fingers out of nose and mouth", in addition to her household chores. The more check marks she gets on her chart, the bigger her allowance for the week. I also paint her finger nails when she does not chew them, which she loves. It does eventually go away. I have always worried about the germs, so when I explained this to her, and at school they saw the germs on their hands and under their finger nails under a black light, that REALLY sunk in.

S.,

I can totally relate!! My four year old did this for quite some time. When she picked her nose it was almost like she didn't even realize she was doing it. We would quitely say to her, "nose", and she would stop. Eventually she stopped that but then started the nail biting. I talked to her about what was under her nails... dirt, germs, little worms... I found some stuff on the internet to show her. She did NOT like it at all and has stopped. Not sure if you have a boy or girl, but if it's a girl, bribing with pretty nail polish, etc. always helps, too! Good luck!

Hi S.,
I haven't had much of a problem with nose picking, although it does happen, but I have had an experience with nail biting. Is your daughter uncomfortable or nervous about something? When my son was two, he would bite his nails. After we had his tonsils removed he stopped. I think he was uncomfortable which made him nervous. I am not a professional, I just found it interesting that he stopped almost immediately after we removed the stressor. Just a thought. Good luck with both!!

K.

My son is a HORRIBLE nailbiter which seems to increase when he is anxious. I am a habitual nail biter also, so I know he gets it honestly and I have had to watch myself closely so as to be an example to him. We finally broke down and bought the stuff they use for thumb suckers, which can be bought without a presecription at any pharmacy. It really seemed to work, and all we have to do now is threaten it and he starts to monitor himself more closely to be conscious of NOT biting since the biting is such an unconscious thing. His daycare/preschool teacher actually taped his fingers one day because none of the kids wanted to hold his hand when walking to an activity because they were so wet from biting. SHe said he didn't bite at all the rest of the day (even with the tape off)! SO that threat has helped considerably at school.

My daughter is a nose picker, and we have gone to threatening to use the nose sucker (like for infants) on her if she keeps picking. She hates that thing, so she has cut back significantly. The threats seem to work, especially when we've only had to do it a couple of times. She knows we mean business!!!

Good luck to you!

Begin with one habit at a time. Teach your son the word nasty, show him what is nasty and everytime he starts to pick his nose say to him nasty yucky, eventually he will learn this is a nasty thing to do. My daughter also bit her nails constantly, she eventually out grew the habit.

N.

No help here- just know you are not alone!
My 5 yr old loves the salty taste!(that's what she tells me when I ask her why!) Fear of her friends & teachers finding out has helped us some. Now she's a closet picker.

Try not to stress over it- could be worse. She could be a butt scratcher! I've been blessed w/one of those, too.

Good luck-
A.

My oldest was a nail bitter until her dad stuck her finger tips in lemon juice a few times. It was something natural that we knew wouldn't hurt her. And for our youngest daughter i offered to paint her nails if she would quit biting them once they were long enough to paint. That did the trick. They are now 9 and 8 and have lovely nails

My son used to bite his nails so bad that they would bleed. We tried the nail stuff that you put on to make them taste bad and he wouldn't bite when it was on but if we didn't put it on he'd bite. We stopped that. When we asked our pediatrician about it she told him about the germs he could get. I went a little farther when we got home and he started asking about it, I told him he'd have to go to the hospital to make his belly feel better and he'd have to stay there overnight by himself and they'd use needles. The scare tactic worked! (What a mean mom, huh!) He stopped biting and no more bleeding. A few of my friends have used this tactic and it's worked. Good luck!

S.,

My 2.5 y/o was just going through this and so I asked our Ped. He said just ignore it. He learned the nail biting from somewhere as well as the nose picking. He said that the more attention we bring to the behavior the more he will do it. So sure enough after letting it go within about a week the nail biting stopped (fingers and toes - yes, gross!!) and only sometimes does he pick his nose. Hope it works for you!
A.

I don't want to alarm you, but this is often a symptom of pin worms. Don't be alarmed, most children have them. Most children do not wash their hands after playing or using the restroom. If you have access to a Medical Book, or maybe you could find something online, you can look up the symptoms of this. Or you can contact your childs Peditrician and they will advise you as to what to do.