My 5.5-year-old peels his nails. He's been doing it for at least 9 months now. I don't know why he started but I regret not nipping it in the bud months ago. Really kicking myself for it b/c it's SO hard now. I started a reward system but maybe I was too aggressive and need to scale back. He's been wanting a specific toy for the longest time and so I printed out a picture of it and a calendar for the month of August and put it on the wall next to his bed. I told him that if he stopped peeling his nails for 30-days he could have it. Okay, maybe i should have started out with a week and then go from there because the longest he lasted was three days. 
And the worst part is that he also sucks his thumb so it's not as if I can put nail strengthening polish on it to make it harder to peel his nails. Any suggestion on what I should do at this point? My neighbor offered to come by and show him her nails b/c she's been peeling them since she was a kid.
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I still do it at age 35!
I will check back here for suggestions so I can quit too!
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@erwoo: I would scale back on the reward system but keep at it. my DS is 6 and we have been dealing with issues and I started with 3 days of success and then he got his prize and TONS of praise about how I knew he could do it! Arent you proud of your self? etc.
Then we moved on to 5 and 10.
We are currently at 20 days in a row - if he messes up we start back at 1 - he seems to be motivated to make it work!
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@autumnlove:
It's okay! My neighbor gets manicures (the gel kind) often to prevent from peeling. She says that's the only way she'll stop for a while.
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@Mamaof2: I know, that's why I want to scale back. I think 3 days to start is good and since that was the longest he lasted. What do you reward with? I need to find smaller rewards. I wonder why they start at such a young age? Nervousness? Boredom? He also peels his toe nails while he's pooping.
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@erwoo: for 3 days we got a special treat (frozen yogurt) - for 5 days he got a small lego set and for 10 days he got a day off from DCP with me and we did fun stuff. It was all worth it though for the stuff we have been dealing with -
For 20 days he wants a new backpack -
I have also implemented Lego Dollars that I printed online - he can earn them thru out the week for having good drop offs at DCP and staying in bed all night - then he can cash them in for a lego set. he LOVES opening his wallet and counting his lego dollars!
I think you need to find something he REALLY loves as a reward!
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@Mamaof2: Oh, I didn't think about mixing up his rewards initially. That's a good idea. And I like the Lego dollars idea too. We do coins for behavior and chore rewards b/c they have $5, $10, and $50 coins ($50 being close to $1 USD) here where we live in Asia. And he really enjoys filling up his piggy bank. Thanks for all your great suggestions!
It's okay! My neighbor gets manicures (the gel kind) often to prevent from peeling. She says that's the only way she'll stop for a while.
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