Cuticle Chewers

[Lexy]

My son is a cuticle chewer. He bites his nails down to the quick and then starts in on his cuticles. It looks very painful to me, and I'm always asking him to take his hands out of his mouth.

Does anyone have any good ideas to get him to stop? Any idea why he'd do it?

I used to be just as bad as he is, but then I realized (at about 13) that I was never going to be able to paint my nails if I never had any. Somehow I don't think he'll have the same motivation.

[LiLi]

I wish I could help... I'm in my 20s and still a cuticle/nail biter. I actually use my cuticles as nail "replacements" -- I can have some white while still biting daily. It's a terrible aweful ugly habit that, for some people, is just impossible to stop.

At least he's not smoking, right?