Why does the baby gnaw at the nails?

When the baby grows up, along with useful skills, it also acquires bad habits. So, often mom and dad are tormented by the question of why a child constantly and stubbornly chews his nails, and no shouting and punishment on him especially do not work. Let us consider the main causes of this phenomenon.

What is due to the persistent attention of the baby to your nails?

Children's doctors and psychologists identify several factors that contribute to the appearance of nibbled nails:

  1. In infancy, a child often liked to suck a finger or a nipple. Attempts of parents to wean him from this habit often lead to the fact that he begins to bite his nails.
  2. If in the family any of the adults mechanically gnaws the nails, there is a great risk that the baby will repeat it after him. After all, children are very sensitive to examples for imitation.
  3. One of the most important reasons why children nibble on their nails is a prolonged stressful situation. Moving, frequent quarrels of parents, authoritarian upbringing, any psychological trauma often leads to the fact that the kid unconsciously puts his fingers in his mouth.

How to help a child get rid of a bad habit?

At the moment, there are many ways to wean a child from biting nail plates. Very often parents ask about why a child gnaws nails and what to do with harmful addiction. Experts recommend the following:

  1. You can grease your nails with aloe juice or hot pepper, but most likely, the result will be short-lived.
  2. Try to create a calm, harmonious atmosphere in the house, where the child will not be in an anxious or depressed state. Gently talk with the baby, if age already allows, and try to call him to a frank conversation about what's bothering him. Do not prohibit, but explain that the nibbled nails look very ugly, because there is a gradual deformation of the nail plates.
  3. Finding out why the child gnaws the nails on your hands, try to also follow in the future, so that they are always cut in time.
  4. Take the kid's play activity, in which he will actively use his hands: let him mold, draw, collect a designer, fiddle with board games.
  5. Sometimes light sedatives, which eliminate excessive aggression and nervousness, help.
  6. In order not to wonder why a child gnaws his nails with zeal, pay as much attention to him as possible: communicate, walk, hug.