Depending on your child's age, biting, hitting and scratching can be a normal behavior, a behavior to be monitored, or a cause of concern. Children who start behaving aggressively and continue a pattern throughout their school years tend to develop problems as teenagers and younger adults, although to most children, these behaviors are a passing phase.
Deliberate cheek or tongue biting falls into this category. There may be a physical cause for this or it simply may be a nervous habit. In some cases, children bite the inside of their mouths accidentally. In these cases, a cha...
Biting feels good to a child. It is a primal instinct that rears its ugly head early on. The very young child does not understand he is inflicting pain on a human being. He simply enjoys the physical sensation. This is the firs...
Fascination with bodily fluids and functions is a phase many children go through. Thumb-sucking, nose-picking and nail-biting all are common behaviors in young children. A child with special needs may continue playing with spit...
About 25 percent of parents say that their kids between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6 bite their nails, according to Carolyn Schroeder and Betty Gordon in "Assessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems." To keep your tyke from this...
Between 30 and 60 children and teenagers chew on at least one fingernail and some children even chew their toenails, according to KidsHealth, part of the Nemours Foundation. Your success in taming your child's nail biting will ...
Children develop many habits, such as nose picking, thumb sucking or nail biting. These habits can drive parents crazy. You probably tell your child to stop over and over, but eventually, he usually goes back to the habit. Acco...
The black widow, which National Geographic identifies as the most venomous spider in the United States, is one of the few exceptions. Even though the black widow's venom is 15 times more potent than a rattlesnake's, its bites u...
One out of every 10 children between 12 and 36 months old bite, says the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Your child may be biting for multiple reasons; he may be trying to communicate frustration, may ...
Children pick their noses a lot of the time strictly due to curiosity. Unlike nervous habits such as nail biting and thumb sucking, nose picking often eventually stops by itself. Through support and decreased pressure, parents ...
It is estimated that approximately 30 to 60 percent of children and teens bite their nails, according to the Kids Health website from the Nemours Foundation. Nail biting is a habit that often develops from boredom or anxiety. A...
These habits are often harmless and temporary, but sometimes the child does not outgrow them. They persist and cause visible physical effects. Hair pulling is one such habit that can become a compulsion in some children. It may...
Bacteria readily enter small injuries caused by nail biting or picking at the fingers. Thumb sucking can cause paronychia in small children. The area of infection turns red, swollen and painful, and pus may be visible. Several ...
Kids bite their nails for a number of reasons: because they're stressed, because they are bored or sometimes because it provides an escape from a scary situation. Whatever the reason, nail biting is not only unsightly but it ca...
Nail biting is a behavior children resort to when they are bored, excited, stressed or need to be comforted. Once nail biting begins, it can be a difficult habit to stop, because a child may not always be aware he is biting his...
Nail biting is a habit that occurs in individuals of all ages, including toddlers. Nail biting may cause infections in the nail bed, states Lawrence E. Gibson, M.D. of the Mayo Clinic. Additionally, nail biting can make toddler...
Kids may outgrow the habit on their own. There are several reasons a kid should break a nail biting habit. Biting and chewing nails can cause the skin around the nail to break, and germs can enter the breaks and cause infection...
Nail biting in children is a common occurrence and is often a sign of anxiety or insecurity, according to Dr. William Womack, of the Department of Child Psychiatry at the School of Medicine in the University of Washington. Whil...