Why did I bite my fingernails right down to the bloody stumps for years and years? Simply put, they tasted good and I was orally fixated on the flavor of my own nails, not to mention the feeling of ripping them off.

I am sure I began biting my nails as a very young child. I doubt if it was caused by some deep-seated anxiety. I remember getting slapped into next Tuesday about that bad habit, but I'd rather be swatted than stop. The truth is that a fingernail biter will only stop when he or she decides to. It's like peeing your pants - you've got potty power over your parents and there is very little that a parent can do until the kid makes his or her own decision to quit.

Of course I paid some painful consequences when my sore little fingers were bitten way below the quick and they bled and stung and were sometimes puffed up with infection. I just switched to another nail with a sliver left on it that I hadn't gnawed off yet. When all ten of my digits were red and bitten too close, I switched to my toes. Oh yes, those were the days when I could reach them.

My mother threatened me, chided me, and pointed out my practically deformed hands to anyone who would look. She railed and gnashed her teeth. She painted my nails with noxious concoctions, including chicken poop. I cried and said I'd never do it again, but in fact I was addicted to the taste, the smell of wet little fingers and the heady feeling of that satisfying riiiiip of the nail.

By the time I was 14-year-old I started to notice that there were boys in the world. All the hot sauce and ranting of my mother couldn't match for a single second the siren call of the boys who might now see me as "less than" because of my stubby nails. Just what I needed - now I would be that girl with coral polish on my oval nails. I'd be a finger nail hottie!

Oh the horror when one of my nails was chipped and if one of them actually broke off, I considered going into the nunnery to avoid the shame of having to go to school with a broken nail.

In truth, today I have my nails done regularly and a nice acrylic layer painted on. Even if I do put a nail in my mouth, it doesn't feel or taste the same so I don't even get tempted, but candidly, if a nail covering fell off, I'd be back to worrying the ragged nail beneath in a heart beat. I rather understand other addictions because this one is mine.

Advice to parents who want to save their child from years of nail biting is to keep your child's hands scrupulously clean. Apply perfumed hand cream because that may block the enticing smell of his own fingertips. Keep them clipped short and smooth them with a file so that no little jagged bit calls to be chewed away. While having acrylic powder applied to my nails works very well for me, it is most likely too strong to paste over your child's tender nails. Clear polish might serve the purpose on that score.

Like me, your child will eventually become interested in his appearance and maybe in the opinions of others. Scolding and shaming is never going to work, unless you are trying to make your child resentful. Take good care of his fingers so they don't get infected and try not to make nail biting the focus of every day. Next time you visit your pediatrician see if he has some other useful advice.

In the great scheme of things, nail biting in a two-year-old may seem huge today, but in the end, it will be of very little consequence. Just love your little nail biter and be glad he isn't using his teeth on his siblings or the kids at preschool.