MISSION: FINGERNAILS TO NUBS!

Lori and I are always looking for ways to help us raise toddlers.  That’s where our friends come in:  the collective wisdom will, hopefully, produce a generation of geniuses.

E and K Einstein has a ring to it!

I’ve been having some issues with my KD biting her nails.  I am not exaggerating when I say that the crunch of a nail being bitten is nails on a chalkboard to me.  Seeing a WOM mission, I turned to one of our closest friends, Steph:  FIND OUT HOW TO PUT AN END TO NAIL BITING!

MISSION SUCCESS!

Steph is a Hot Thrifty Mama to AK and, on June 26 or sooner, to Baby K.  We grew up blocks from each other and cheered together at WHS – that’s right, same squad.  Steph is a fashion guru, my go-to pal for internet research and celebrity gossip (Ding Dang, Y’all), is the Girls Trip planner (yep, she is in that special club) and a darn good Mom.  Oh, and did mention she’s absolutely gorgeous?

Steph and AK

So here’s what we learn from our Special Guest:

“I probably would have thought nothing of my son constantly nibbling on his fingernails and yes, toenails, but my daycare provider told me that he had nearly bitten his nails down to nubs.  Wanting to avoid raising a compulsive nail biter and risk nail infections, I got right to work nipping this in the bud.”

Easy-Mac the Hand Model

According to Steph’s research, nail biting is a common behavior among kids in general, so she asked herself, “the world wide web must have some ingenious remedy, other than mandatory mittens?  As a kid, my mom threatened to make me wear the bitter tasting nail polish.  Do they still make it and is it safe?  Better question, can you get your toddler to sit still while you paint their nails and wait for it to dry? That’s easy.  Not a chance.

“http://www.parents.com/ addressed the bitter nail polish, but suggested that it might come off as punishment.  The site suggested a toy or manicure, putting band-aids over the nails, or smoothing lotion over their fingers.”

Princesses - E and K might bite just to get one!

Steph tried a hybrid approach for AK – and it worked! 

“The threat of putting polish on AK’s nails, or getting the polish out of the drawer sent a clear message: no more nail biting.  [Though, one night I felt I had to follow through with my threats after I caught him red handed (literally).  I put the tiniest amount of lotion on each nail and though he was upset about it, it’s made a noticeable difference.]  After about a week of watching and warning, ‘polish!’, my remedy worked.”

Now KD and Easy-Mac like getting their nails polished, so the threat of ‘polish’ won’t work on them.  But I think I can make this work in my favor.  I commit to giving the girls manicures in the color of their choice whenever I see them trying to bite their nails – positive reinforcement!

'Vodka and Caviar' in the center - my fave!

We’ll keep you posted!
~Ethne