I managed to stop many years ago with a mixture of nasty stuff painted on my nails and bribery, I wanted a record player and could only have one if I stopped biting my nails for 6 months.
Now Grace is biting here we’ve tried the nasty stuff on her nails, and out right bribery but nothing working. I do feel for her because she does it without realising its such a habit.
Any ideas welcome.
As a life-long nail biter, I feel for you. My wee 5 year old granddaughter is starting to bite her nails too and, as you point out, she does it without realising.
The in toy at the moment here is a squishey which is a type of stress relief toy which comes in many appealing forms and I have sent for a couple - one for her house and one for here - that she can play with when she is reading or watching a movie. We’ll see if that has any effect.
In addition, it is her birthday next week and one of her presents will be a couple of bottles of shiny nail polish as an incentive.
Good luck at your end.
Nail polish was what stopped me
Theres one thing more ugly then bitten nails imo, thats nails that are painted and chipped
So a bright colour which drew the eyes to my nails stopped me biting and started me looking after them
I bite my nails too, have done since I was very small. My Father bit his as well until he had to have his teeth out & then he couldn’t. I did manage to grow my nails for a while, but they split easily & I only have 4 proper nails now, though one of those is short because it broke, the others are still bitten. I don’t realise I’m doing it either.
My Son bites his, but Daughter did & stopped & now she has lovely nails, but hers split easily too, she no longer bites them.
I have bitten my nails since I was a kid, and find it a satisfying habit. My mother used to paint stuff on my nails in order to get me to stop, but it never worked. Maybe she will grow out of it when she is older and wants to look her best to attract the male of the species, if she is so inclined.
Well she’s gone to bed with gloves on, we’ve got stop and grow to paint on before she goes to school and I’ve written a note for them to allow that as they are very anti make up of any sort.
So fingers crossed.
I had the bad habit of biting my fingernails from as far back as I can remember. My paternal grandmother told my mum to put Bitter Alum on my nails…which she tried more than once to no avail. When I was about 13…mum promised me that if I stopped nail biting she’d take me shopping for a whole new wardrobe…and again, she and I were both disappointed in me. Couldn’t even stop for my wedding day when I wore a gorgeous ball gown…
Fast forward to my daughter’s wedding…I actually stopped about six months before and by the nuptials…my nails were absolutely lovely… That was in 2004…and I’ve not bitten them since… I love going for manicures now… Wish I’d done it for mum…
Neither of my children picked up on that nasty habit…
Well done it’s not easy stopping as I well remember, once I had though I could never understand why I’d ever done it as I love nail colours so much.
Me too, Julie…a whole new world opened up for me. 
I don’t think it right to coerce a child to stop biting their nails. I enjoy the habit it never did me any harm. As I said your child might stop of her own accord when she is older.
I’m not forcing her she asked me to help her, she doesn’t want to be only one can’t wear lovely nail colours. She enjoys painting my nails and is getting quite artistic about it with the nail art she’s copying off the internet. But she can’t do her own because they are so short.
It’s a filthy habit and looks so common 
I think most people that do it really want to stop if they are honest. I certainly hated my nails when I was biting them.
Oh well I am the weird one then. As I have said I enjoy biting my nails, although I do ensure my hands are clean first, and don’t do it in front of others.
Are you saying you wash your hands and then closet yourself away from others so you can have a good nosh on your nails? Any condiments with that 
Yes I do with black pepper and a bit of vinegar!
I’ve always bitten my nails - I find it hard to understand those with perfect looking nails who use clippers.
I think bitten nails look awful.
Someone told me that nail biting was a form of self harm.
Well it is a method of self harm I enjoy, good job I have no vanity about my appearance. My hands are covered in scars too, from the cooker.
