Fingernail Bitting at age 17 mths

[SuzanneD]

My son bites his nails.  How can I help him to break the habbit at such a young age?  He is 17 months old.

[Miss brat]

i know what its like im 15 and still bitting my nails its a habit and if you dont break it soon than he/she could be like me at 15 and still at it

[Sluice]

Our 26 month old also does this. Even chews his toe nails

I asked his doctor about it and her response was "isnt it funny how we all have certain bad and yet we try to stop those of our children".

She said we should not be concerned unless we know that there is some sort of new stress in his life.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Children of this age are very much focused on their mouths, so it's not unusual for children to have their fingers in their mouths. Now, biting nails at this age is often a tension-reducing behavior. Discuss this with your son's pediatrician, who knows his disposition and can consider this aspect of tension reduction. If there are circumstances that are contributing to tension, try to address those. Also try to have things available for your son to play with, so that he is occupied. Children will often go to their mouths when there is nothing available to them. There is a preparation available to apply to thumbs, fingers to discourage such biting, but talk with your doctor before deciding to employ it.