This seemingly not too harmful habit is not so harmless, and its nature, most likely, lies in an increased level of internal anxiety. In any case, if you began to notice this quite often - is it time to think about how to wean a child from biting his nails? Children who bite their nails (in addition, they can begin to constantly lick their lips or suck a finger, etc.) are actually trying to soothe themselves. When a similar situation is noticed for children who are not experiencing any stressful situations, for no apparent reason - it's time to turn to a psychologist, because you can skip the onset of childhood neurosis.
This action should not be left to chance and hope that everything will pass by itself. It is urgent to take action, make every effort and wean the child to bite his nails as quickly as possible . Which way - depends on the cause of occurrence, age and other important conditions. The main thing - in no case do not scold the child and even more so, do not beat on the hands. Otherwise, the habit may become even worse, and it will take longer and much more difficult to deal with it.
Most often, according to statistics, a similar problem arises in babies, starting from 3 years old, half of the children are not able to part with it in their teens, for some it remains even when they become adults. This habit does not cause serious harm to health, however, in addition to aesthetic ugliness, there is a risk of some infectious diseases and inflammation of the periungual surfaces. That is why it is necessary to decide how to wean a child from biting his nails. Along with this, children with such a problem are usually emotionally constrained, have low self-esteem.
From a medical point of view, onychophagia (the scientific name for nail biting habits) begins to appear in children amid stressful situations and, as a result, psychological trauma. The impetus may be the divorce of parents, quarrels in the family or a conflict with peers, and any other reason that an adult may not notice, for a baby can mean a real tragedy. In addition, a three-year-old man is most often sent to kindergarten, therefore, he begins to worry about separation from his mother. From the teachings of Sigmund Freud, it follows that a child may have a feeling of insecurity as a result of forcibly taking his dummy nipples or weaning from his mother’s breast at an too young age. Remembering that wonderful feeling when it was so comfortable in the mother’s arms during feeding, the baby tries to calm himself, distracting from the "grief" that befell him, seizing him in this way. How to wean a child from biting his nails, so that the habit does not stick to him completely?
A child should not suffer from a lack of attention, it needs to be caressed and hugged more often - mother's hugs are truly capable of performing real miracles. According to psychologists, even teenagers suffer if their parents do not touch them at least eight times a day. Children should feel contact, hugs for their poise and calm. Yes, and this is not at all difficult, the more the connection with children is not lost, they come to the confidence that they are loved, need them, and this is so important for a person growing up! This is an excellent prophylactic and a guarantee that in the future you will not have to look for the answer to the question: "How to wean a child from nail biting?".
When the problem arose, it simply needs to be eradicated at an early stage. First you need to find out what causes the craving for biting nails. To do this, you need to observe the baby, perhaps in this way he relieves nervous tension when he is worried or afraid of something, or maybe he feels a sense of insecurity. Having learned the reason, the first thing is to talk with the child, tell him about the consequences of the habit. However, one should take into account the fact that often the kids themselves do not control themselves, they do it by itself.
How to wean a child to bite nails? Psychologist's advice
- Together with a specialist, help the baby cope with a bad habit, while not humiliating him, not reproaching him, but conversing kindly.
- Eliminate a possible lag in the development of the baby by visiting a psychologist.
- At the “critical” moment, take the child’s handles with a new toy, dryer, candy, etc. Make a kind of "distraction maneuver."
- Putting the child to bed, do not be lazy and give him a light massage, again, this is a contact touch in combination with relaxation under pleasant words. Praise the baby, tell us how you love him, how wonderful and unique he is.
- Explain to the baby that you are on his side, that together you will surely cope, no matter how difficult it may be. Only attention, love for the child, peace and harmony in the family and timely actions will help to overcome this bad habit.