Important Explanation for 5 Year Old

it is a nervous habit my daughter who is very smart bites her nails when stressed, she never puts her fingers in her mouth just bites her thumb nail. She is sixteen and can tell when she is stressed. I had tried to stop it but we stopped because she would start to do other things for the stress and biting nails is better than pulling on hair or other things that she could do.

T.,
Hello. I know with my own daughter she chewed on her hair for comfort reasons, when she was nervous or just thinking. A lot of times she didn't realize that she was even doing it. I realized she needed to have a re-placement thing. So, we talked about when she was a baby she use to love taking my hair and rubbing it on her cheek to relax/comfort her. She likes hearing stories of when she was a baby, so she agreed to just take the ends of her hair and rub her cheek with it. So, after that when I'd catch her with hair in her mouth, I'd just say "Are you rubbing it on your cheek?" She'd say, "Oh, yah" and correct it. That took a good 2 weeks of reminding, but that's what she does now. It's maybe still not ideal, but it's better than chewing on it. Find something to replace her habit with that you both can agree on (she needs a self-comfort thing). Hope that helps. Good luck.
~ J.

Hey T., i certainly hope you figure this out. I was a nail biter etc all of my childhood. My mom tried everything from hot sause on down and nothing worked. Don't mean to throw a bummer at you but that hand mouth thing just is sometimes. Might try getting her to chew on straws or some thing like that....cos it is truely a hand/mouth habit. Good Luck, i hope you find a "cure". R.

My sons preschool does a really great activity to remind the kids about germs. After reading and talking about germs, hands in the mouth, and washing hands; they have the children put lotion on their hands, then sprinkle glitter on their hands (to represent germs). The children can then touch a few things to show how germs spread. The kids then go to wash their hands and try to get off all the germs. It is a simple way to make germs "visible" to kids.

This is a persistant habit that takes a lot of attention to break. Is there anything that you do which is a habit that can become a funny competition for both of you to break? Both of you can try to "catch" the other one and that helps to just call it to our attention. You're right, this habit is one she probably doesn't notice she's doing. Don't make it more nervous for her to break, just simply move her hands down when she's doing it without saying a word. Paint her nails any color she wants them and that too may help her to want to keep them pretty. I hope you get some other working solutions for this issue. I think it's one we can all relate to with our children. Our daughter comes and goes with this issue.

My daughter does the same thing and is always biting her nails. Her pediatrician told us this is her way of calming herself down when she is worried about something. I have noticed she does it when she is waiting her turn for things like it helps her be patient. He said there really isn't anything you can do. I encourage her to think about it and to let her nails grow so I can paint them and it has helped a little bit. As for germs carry hand sanitizer around and use it often and encourage her to wash her hands everytime you think of it.

I'm not sure what all you have already tried to explain to her, but I know my daughter's preschool class talks about germs and how they are "invisible" & can make you sick, etc. Maybe there's even a book about germs that could help her understand?

I would also just continue to remind her if you see her doing it again. Just something calm, "sweetie, remember we talked about not putting your fingers in your mouth". And perhaps even direct her into doing something with her hands so that she doesn't have the chance to have them at her face.

Have you tried just ignoring the issue for awhile? As tempting as it is to say something, ignoring can actually work. I did this with my son when he was around your DD's age and he stopped on his own.

This isn't a way to explain to her the importance, but it is a way to keep her little fingers out of her mouth. Which I think may be tied in 1st place of importance! They sell this very bitter, nasty tasting stuff that you put on your finger nails. It helps people who bite their nails to stop. My grandmother use to put it on my nails when I was your daughter's age. It goes on like nail polish.

Try taking small green stickers and put them on the door knob. The stickers are germs that can make us sick. Then have her touch the knob while you put some of the stickers on her hands to show how the germs can jump on us. Then have her touch her face while you move stickers from her hands to her face. You don't want her to get scared, so show her that when you wash your hands the stickers (a.k.a germs) will come off. This may help her to understand how important it is to keep her hands away from her face and to wash them really good.
J.