Why a child gnaws nails - reasons, advice of a psychologist

Very often, even in childhood, boys and girls have the first bad habit - gnawing their nails. Putting your fingers in your mouth is already becoming something of a compulsive movement, which is difficult to get rid of. Parents, for the first time noticing that their child gnaws nails, are very worried and in every possible way trying to help the baby forever part with this unpleasant habit.

The excitement of parents is understandable, because gnawed fingernails are very ugly, and, moreover, unhygienic. Ranks on the hands and nails can cause suppuration and inflammation, they can get an infection, and this several times increases the risk of infection with worms. And most importantly, this habit is always a signal of the unstable and anxious psycho-emotional state of the child.

In this article, we will tell you why the child gnaws the nails, what are the reasons for this, and also give advice of a psychologist who can help in this difficult situation.

For what reason does the child gnaw nails?

Finding out why a child gnaws nails, you can quickly understand what to do in such a situation and how to help him cope with this harmful habit. Usually children gnaw nails for the following reasons:

• stress - often the little one starts to poke his fingers into his mouth when something is afraid or worried;
• internal aggression - occurs when the child is unhappy with himself;
• heredity - perhaps, the kid copies the actions of the mother or father;
• physiology - it is possible that the nails interfere with the child, and he tries to get rid of them;
• banal boredom - some children gnaw their nails just "from nothing to do."

Tips for a child psychologist: what to do if a child chews nails?

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to cope with such a problem on your own. If a child gnaws nails, you need to first understand what it means to choose the right tactics of behavior. Quite often, parents are forced to turn to a child psychologist who can understand the reasons for this behavior of the baby, and give useful recommendations.

Depending on the reason for the child's bad habits, the advice of a psychologist can be as follows:

• You can not scold the crumb; on the contrary, be affectionate and patient;
• teach the baby to remove the tension in other ways - tightly squeeze and unclench the fists, count in the mind and so on;
• Do the child a manicure, drawing his attention, how handsome the well-groomed hands look;
• before going to bed, offer the kid a glass of milk with honey or a weak tea with chamomile, mint, motherwort, valerian.

In addition, the child psychologist can recommend the use of various homeopathic medicines, as well as medications that reduce anxiety, stress and eliminate increased excitability, for example, such as Fenibut or Pantogam.