You already know from the first part of this article that little fingers in the mouth can put the child connected to them at great risk.  You met up with 8 year old Ian McCarthy who spends a good part of his day eating.  On any given day he consumes minute particles of lead, sufficient enough to cause at least minimal brain damage & if continued could result in hyperactivity & reduced intellectual functioning. He regularly eats pinworm eggs, parasites & other potential diarrhea-causing  organisms, many that can live for years in his intestinal tract.  He also ingested a variety of virus, some related to measles & other contagious diseases, some of which can put his body in serious jeopardy.  
 
 
Most parents feel at a loss when deciding what to do with a nail biting child.  Some feel that the habit must be outgrown, but statistics show that 20-40% of adults still engage quite regularly in their nail biting behavior.  Others feel that the biting fulfills some basic unmet need & breaking the habit may have dire consequences.  The frustrated parent may directly or indirectly criticize the child & then offer no alternatives.  While the child may appear not to care, this type of personal attack can lead to self-image & self-esteem issues that can stay with the child for the rest of his life.
 
The child learns that he or she is not competent in taking care of his or her own body & therefore quite worthless.  This can easily be translated into guilt & shame, the child feeling guilty for not pleasing the parent & ashamed for not being mature & capable of what appears to be such a simple thing.  After all, taking one's fingers out of the mouth & not biting them should be an easy thing to do, so why is it so difficult, not only for children, but for adults as well.
  
The child is often left with a feeling of ambivalence to add to the nail biting problem & tends to block out the habit, making it even more difficult to stop.  It's quite easy to step into a self-hypnotic state & just not be with the problem at all.  This often brings even more criticism from the parents who truly see this as their failure in parenting.   
 
If parents are already highly stressed in their own lives, they may not want to even deal with this.  After all, Ian isn't eating his fingers off at the knuckles, he's just nail nibbling.  However, considering the implicit dangers woven through this article, parents may like to reconsider their attitudes & review some tools I've utilized over the years to help nail biters of all ages.
 
 4 Steps to Self-Management        
 
Whether the biter be young or adult, the steps remain the same.  It's important to become consistent with all of the steps, but in the beginning patience is a virtue, both for the parent & the biter, so it's important to impart this wisdom to the child.
 
High Level Nutrition -
 
Most children eat poorly & this causes food stress.  Parents must be role-models for children in the nutritional department.  Balance is key, as well as the timing of meals.  Children & adults alike need to eat every 3.5 to 4 hours & protein needs to be in  each of these meals to help hold the blood sugars stable.  Unstable blood sugars lead to the production of stress chemicals that lead to nail biting & picking.
 
Heightened Awareness -
 
No one bites their nails 24-7 & this is important for both parent & child to notice. Study your child's habit before discussing this, then ask you child to notice when there is no nail biting & then when there is nail biting.  Ask the child to tell you more about what he/she is feeling or needing then.
 
Self-Care -
 
Purchase a child manicure set & if the child is old enough, encourage the appropriate & safe use of this.  Each day or evening & especially in nail biting times, have the child slowly & gently massage each finger & nail bed with hand cream, especially one with good moisturizers. This is not a time to rush.  
 
This should become more of a relaxing ritual. It's important for your child to make friends with the nails, cuticles & fingers in general. Care needs to be given to these areas at least once a day by the child.  It's fine to talk to thechild, very gently of course, while this is being done, but the child must do the self-care, for the child is ultimately responsible for his or her fingers.
 
Interactive Self-Hypnosis -
 
Entering therapeutic images is very helpful for the child. The parent can assist in designing these & encourage the child to make up his own. Many children enjoy knowing that their fingers are alive just as they are & have personalities.  Some children name their fingers & see the nails as part of the clothing of the finger or part of the fingers
body.  
 
Suggest to the child that no one likes to be bitten & or to go into the dark mouth cave to be bitten.  Ask the child to ask the nail to yell out when the hand is taking the fingers up to the cave.  The hand can also be given the responsibility to keep the fingers & nails safe. Another suggestion is that the teeth don't enjoy biting nails & so they can refuse to do so.  
 
Keep these suggestions just between you & the child.  This is private business & not the business of other siblings who may tend to tease.  This will work to destroy the power of the interactive self-hypnotic suggestions.
 
I have designed programs for children who bite their nails & it's often effectual for the child to listen as he/she falls to sleep.  If you have any questions about habits in children or adults, please feel free to write to contact me on my websites.
   
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN is a Clinical Medical Hypnotist, President & Program Designer, Sarasota Medical & Sports Hypnosis Institute located in Sarasota, FL & online at www.hypnosis-audio.com & www.sugar-addiction.com.  She specializes in teaching self-hypnosis for health, disease management, habit control, self-improvement & sports enhancement. Her sites are interactive & educational, offering +350 CD programs for adults, kids, executives & athletes. She is the author of "Sugar...The Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Get Free".