help! my 2yr old DS is chewing his toe nails

[Anonymous]

he started bitting his nails at night, I saw him in the monitor, and I guess is his soothing thing before going to sleep, but today I found him bitting his toe nails, he ripped almost half of one, I had to cut it so short, I'm afraid he'll continue, I put socks, he takes them off and hate to have him with shoes in the house, is hot, and he walks better barefoot. my DH wants to put iodine, not so sure is safe on toddlers, what a nasty habit, please HELP!

[Anonymous]

Oh, my. I'd ask your ped. I know there are products to discourage nail biting, but I'm not sure about using it for a child that young. My DS (age 3) sometimes bites his toe nails too...but he's never bitten them that bad. I swear it's usually to get a rise out of us. Can you just keep them trimmed too short to bite (without them being TOO short)? When my DS does it, the nails do usually need a trim.