Every time I see a child gnawing on his nails, I can't help but ask curiously:
Do nails really taste that good?
On Zhihu, there are various descriptions of nail taste:
The salty smell of duck eggs, the smell of stinky tofu, the smell of fermented, the fragrant aroma of rice, and the rich cheese flavor ......
The rich and diverse answers can be summed up as addictive and addictive!
It's no wonder that kids love to bite their nails, I guess their nails are covered in "cakes, chips, chocolate chips, melon seeds, candy......"Delicious!
However, it is not a good thing for children to bite their nails, there are so many bacteria in their nails that they can get sick if they are not careful!
What are the potential risks of nail biting? Let me tell you more about ......
01 How scary is nail gnawing?
Nail gnawing isn't just about "eating bacteria" in your stomach!
Look at the children who like to scratch their nails, are the hands that should be used to shoot have been broken?
1. Gnawing on your nails will make your nails ugly
If you keep gnawing your nails, your nails will be ruined, and your nail bed will be uneven, and even shorter and shorter, with only a little bit left.
In addition to destroying nails, children's hands are more prone to barbs than adults, and when combined with constant nail gnawing, barbs are even more difficult to heal.
Finger tearing barbs and lacerations** can easily lead to bleeding and infection.
In addition, gnawing on nails for a long time can also lead to paronychia.
Anyone who has had paronychia will understand that it is so red and swollen that it almost hurts to death, and in severe cases, the entire nail will be pulled out.
2. Nail gnawing may also affect your child's appearance
Don't think that biting your nails only affects the beauty of your nails!
Long-term nail gnawing may cause the child's teeth to develop out of shape, which in turn affects the oral structure and directly affects the overall beauty of the facial bones!
Protruding jaws, crooked teeth, swollen gums, etc., can all be caused by gnawing on your nails!
3. Biting nails can easily lead to oral and intestinal bacterial infections
The data shows that there are about 4 billion bacteria and molds in 1 gram of nail tar, as well as many disease-causing microorganisms and parasite eggs.
Children always like to touch each other, and their hands and fingernails are always dirty.
Now that I put my nails in my mouth and chew on them, my body is naturally prone to illness.
Mild ones are diarrhea, and severe ones may even cause digestive infections.
4. Nail gnawing may make children feel inferior
Children who chew their nails often do not have beautiful nails, and we always need to use our hands in our daily lives.
For little girls, their hands are their second face, and their nails are gnawed into potholes, and girls will feel inferior because of this;
For a little boy, ugly nails may also be ridiculed by other friends, and no one wants to hold hands with him.
5. Psychological pressure is increasing
Many children are actually quite conflicted.
While indulging in the pleasure of gnawing their nails, they begin to blame themselves and regret after gnawing them.
In addition, when I was a child, my parents always yelled at me not to gnaw my nails, the more I was afraid and the more nervous I was, the more I wanted to gnaw, and after a long time, my heart began to be entangled, and I became more and more sensitive and suspicious, and even got the obsessive-compulsive disorder of "I feel uncomfortable if I don't gnaw my nails".
02 Why do children like to bite their nails?
1. Children in the infant stage love to gnaw their nails
Babies and toddlers love to bite their nails, but don't worry too much.
A baby under the age of 1, although he has no teeth and can't bite his nails, he loves to eat his hands! At this time, he is in the sensitive period of grasping and mouth, and eating his hands not only represents a sense of security, but also indicates that the brain is slowly developing.
After the age of 1, most babies no longer bite their fingers, but some babies will still persevere, at this time it may be a habit.
At the age of 3-4 years, if the child still bites his finger regularly, it is a sign of "regressive" behavior, they gnaw their nails like a baby, desperate for warmth.
After the age of 4, if the child is still biting his fingers frequently, it is likely that he has a serious lack of security and some anxiety.
2. Older children bite their nails
After children enter nursery schools and kindergartens, the behavior of biting their nails is more like a means to cope with their own pressure and vent their emotions.
In the course "Correction of Children's Behavior Problems", there is an in-depth analysis of "nail biting", and Xu Zhenlei, a teacher from Peking University, analyzes it like this:
Children bite their nails, not only as a behavioral problem, but also taking into account their psychological condition.
When does the child start biting his nails and when does he bite more often?
In most cases, it is because of anxiety, stress, exams, scolding from teachers or parents, and even corporal punishment, and I feel uncomfortable in my heart, so I bite my nails.
For example, if the child's parents are not around and the sense of security is insufficient, they will eat their nails to find security;
The child may be criticized by the teacher or parents, and he is afraid, and biting his nails can relieve this tension;
Or when they encounter something that upsets them, such as sending out a report card, a teacher visiting their home, or a secret being revealed by other children, etc., sometimes they unconsciously start to bite their nails.
The simple and repetitive action of gnawing nails can quickly comfort and soothe their anxious hearts, which is also a way for children to regulate their mood and relieve unhappiness.
03 These two ways help children quit the habit of gnawing their nails
There are a variety of ways to help children quit nail gnawing on the Internet, including distraction, disgust** (such as applying bitter melon water to their nails), and listening to what they really think in their hearts, etc., I believe many parents have already tried.
But do these methods really work? I don't think so.
Your child may stop biting his nails right under your nose for a while, but once out of your sight, the nail gnawing habit will reappear.
Below, I will share with you the wise ways of two mothers to quit their children's nail gnawing habits, which have been tried and tested!
1.Put a cute band-aid on your child's finger that they often bite
In order to get her 5-year-old daughter to quit her nail biting habit, a mother took her to the pharmacy and asked her daughter to pick out a band-aid printed with a kitty cat motif.
When she got home, her daughter happily put a cute band-aid on her nails, and she was reluctant to take it off except in the shower.
Sometimes, when she focused on playing and unconsciously put her hand in her mouth and gnawed her nails, she suddenly tasted some strange taste of the band-aid, and immediately knew that her ** disease had happened again.
Slowly, whenever she wants to bite her nails, she will stop when she sees the cute kitty cat with a band-aid, because the kitty cat is exactly what she loves in her heart, and she is really reluctant to bite it!
Half a month has passed, and my daughter has never bitten her nails anymore.
In this regard, she has a feeling: just a small band-aid can stop the bad habit of children biting their nails!
Nowadays, there are endless styles of children's band-aids, such as kitty cats and red pandas that girls like, as well as trains and airplanes that boys like. As long as you put a band-aid with your child's favorite pattern on their nails, they won't be able to bite the tongue easily.
The purpose of using Band-Aid is essentially to remind children all the time.
However, there is an important premise of this approach, which is that the child has recognized that his or her fingernail biting behavior is wrong and wants to correct it.
Therefore, before taking this measure, parents must first do a good job of comprehensive guidance, otherwise some naughty children don't care at all, and when they want to bite their nails, they will directly tear off the band-aid.
2.Intervention in a novel way to target the child's weaknesses
Beta has also shared a way to quit your child's nail gnawing.
The mother told her son: you can't bite your nails anymore, it's a bad habit.
The son asked curiously: Why?
Mom patiently explained: Mom told you that if you continue to gnaw your nails, the little flower in your class will no longer be willing to hold hands with you in the future! (Xiaohua is the most beautiful girl in his heart).
The son immediately felt very uneasy: how can I do it! Then I won't bite my nails in the future, mom, you have to help supervise!
Today, although my son still occasionally puts his fingers in his mouth unconsciously, he eventually puts his hand down consciously in time.
I really admire this smart mother, the strategy of "winning by surprise" is really clever!
Instead of scolding her child or reasoning with her son at length, the mother adopted a novel approach to the girl her son liked.
This practice successfully touched my son's sore spots, and made him actively want to quit the habit of gnawing his nails!
Therefore, to ** the problem of children biting nails, blind coercive means will definitely not work, grasp the child's pain points, let them want to quit this habit independently, is the most effective solution!
I once heard the saying:
Lost in the forest, find the creek to find the way to survive;
When you are confused about your child's behavior, scientific knowledge and methods are the path to the truth.
If your child is biting his or her nails, all you need to do is figure out the cause and then "get the right medicine".
Pay more attention to the inner needs of children, always pay attention to their psychological changes, and do not use scolding methods to force children to correct, otherwise it is likely to trigger their rebellion, and the habit of biting nails will become more serious, and may even leave them with psychological trauma.