What should I do to help my child break a bad habit?
My 5 year-old has developed some anxiety. My first observation came after we moved from my parents house, this is strongly related.
Since moving I have observed the following symptoms in my child: night bruxism (grinding teeth), nail biting, and shirt sucking/chewing.
I am extremely concerned about the nail biting, she practically has no nails and she even bites the nail plate. Her little fingers look especially dreadful.
She has not been able to stop this habit on her own or with my help, even though it causes her pain.
To date the following attempts have been unsuccessful:
Manicuring - with the hope she would not want to bite because her nails looked good.
Incentivizing - designating (using a bandage as a reminder) one nail at a time as "protected" and promising a reward for not biting. With the intention of adding another nail each week.
Anti-bite nail polish. This works for her, but not for me. She touches my lips when she's falling asleep (she likes the texturs so that soothes her), and the anti-bite nail.polish was all over my mouth.
Professional help.
Substitution (e.g., pencil)
(2)2 Comments
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Dave has good points, and Nicole you stated it is anxiety in your post - but then asked about nail biting. Focus on the anxiety and not the nails. Therapy does address anxiety, but so can you. There isn't anything abnormal about being sad from leaving a home, and with some effort you can learn how to address it - then with time and patience you can exercise what you've learned. Paying someone else to do it shouldn't be the first attempt (in my opinion - not that you are doing that). Love her and let her know her feelings are okay. Who she is as a person is OK!
Biting her nails is only a symptom, so 1, 2, and 3 are not getting to the core issue. Indeed, it is also quite possible that you drawing attention to it is increasing her anxiety.
Solution 5 might save the nails, but it doesn't address the anxiety.
Solution 4 or some variant of it is the only way to go, addressing the anxiety. Possibly some way of increasing her self-esteem could be the way to go.
Reference.
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