Childhood Habits You Should Help Your Child Break

Parenting your kids can seem challenging enough. Helping your children break bad habits can be especially challenging though. One of the best ways to help children break bad habits is to know the signs of one forming and then to stop it before it becomes too serious.

Nose Picking

Nose picking is one of the most common habits that children develop and it’s essential to help them break it quickly. According to Develop Good Habits, not only is nose-picking unhygienic and can spread germs, but it also tends to be a major turn-off for a lot of people. Because shaking hands is such a common form of greeting, recognizing someone as a nose picker makes certain common conventions of interaction uncomfortable.

Help your child learn to use tissues instead of their hand. You can also help prevent this issue in the first place by giving them saline drops to use in their nose. Saline drops will keep the nose moist which prevents uncomfortable boogers from developing in the first place.

Sucking Their Thumb

Sucking their thumb is a habit that kids tend to develop when they’re really little. Usually, children develop this habit while toddlers as a way to cope with the end of breastfeeding and as a form of comfort. Sometimes parents fail to stop children from becoming attached to this habit because they see it as somewhat cute or enduring.

But sucking your thumb can have really bad issues down the road. According to Stellar Family Orthodontics, sucking your thumb can cause teeth issues, which may require treatment to fix.

Biting Their Nails

Nail-biting is a common habit that kids can develop young. Unfortunately, it is a habit that can stick if not stopped early on.

According to Kid Companions, one of the best things you can do to help your child stop biting their nails is to help them recognize what makes them feel stressed or nervous. Then talk about how that prompts them to bite their nails. Helping them identify the cause of their stress may help them figure out how to cope with it differently. 

These bad habits are just a start to some of the negative habits that your child may start to develop. And while preventing these habits is typically the best way to avoid the pain and problems that can occur as a result, it’s also important that you have a plan to address bad habits if they arise. Be vigilant about recognizing when your kids start to adopt new quirks and help them learn to cope with stress and strong emotions healthily.

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