Kids who pick at their cuticle skin:
Help please.
My 7, almost 8 year old daughter picks the skin around her nails, the cuticle (ish) area.
As an adult, when I hurt that part of my nail/skin/finger it hurts like heck.
Most of her fingers are red raw, and 2 are currently infected. They are swollen to double the size. Due to the infection.
She doesn't bite her nails.
We are obviously seeing the dr, but in the meantime we are doing a salt water routine and pushing the puss out. 🤢
How the heck do we stop her from doing this?
She says the only time it hurts is when we push the puss out.
We have tried keeping bandaids on her fingers each day, nothing seems to help.
Most of the time she doesn't realise she's doing it.
Any helpful tips would be very appreciated!
2 Replies
I used a very thick nappy rash cream like bepanthon. It keeps the area very slippery and it makes it really difficult and unsatisfying to pick. My son loves to pick and this has worked in loads of places including his cuticles.
Maybe she needs something else to fidget with, I've seen key rings that simulate popping bubble wrap, fidget cubes and spinners, I'm sure there's loads of little tools like this to try and redirect this behavior to something less painful! You could even try wooly gloves?
Do you think this is associated with anxiety/stress, or is it more just an unconscious habit? I think how you approach this will depend on what's causing it, for example if it is anxiety causing it then I think it'd be a good idea to see a professional to help teach her some new coping strategies. If it is just a really bad habit maybe you just need to be really persistent and really drum into her how serious infections can be. My son has always been ridiculous about brushing his teeth, he'd throw massive tantrums, hide and carry on. One day I'd had enough, so I googled pictures of tooth decay in children and showed them to him and explained that's what happens when you don't brush etc. I didn't do it to scare him but rather to teach him its importance.
I know that's a bit extreme but if you're at your wits end maybe this is something you could try, perhaps if she sees how awful infections can be it might be an incentive to stop.
Best of luck x