Children’s repetitive habits

Key points Many children have repetitive physical habits like nail-biting, thumb-sucking or nose-picking. Although they can be annoying, they may help relieve stress, and they usually go away by themselves. To help your child break a habit, use gentle reminders when your child does the habit. Praise your child when he doesn’t.

What are repetitive physical habits?

A habit is a behaviour that your child does over and over again, almost without thinking.

Often children’s habits might bother or frustrate you, but usually they’re nothing to worry about.

Children’s habits usually involve touching or fiddling with parts of their faces or bodies. Sometimes children are aware of their habits, and sometimes they aren’t.

Some common habits in children are:

  • sucking a finger or thumb. 
  • biting or picking at nails
  • twirling and pulling hair
  • picking their nose or sores
  • picking at their lips or the insides of their cheeks
  • chewing objects like pencils and clothing
  • grinding teeth.

Why do these habits start?

Habits can be comforting for children.  For example, as toddlers leave behind the baby stage, habits like thumb-sucking can be a way of soothing anxiety.  And sometimes habits start because children are bored.

Note: some toddlers seem to get comfort from some common but slightly unusual behaviour such as body-rocking or head-rolling. Most children stop by the time they’re five years old.

Some behaviour might look like a habit but have a medical cause. For example, if a child suddenly starts pulling or hitting an ear and is also cranky, it might be because she has an ear infection or is teething.

Gently breaking habits

Most habits go away by themselves. But if your child’s habit is getting in the way of everyday activities, has become embarrassing, or is even causing some harm, you might want to take action.

For example, sucking thumbs or fingers is normal. But your child might be sucking fingers all the time. If this is getting in the way of talking or eating, or your child is being teased by peers because of it, it could be time to gently break the habit.

Some tips for breaking habits

  • Praise will go a long way towards stopping habits. For example, you can say, ‘That’s great. I can hear your words clearly when your fingers aren’t in your mouth.’
  • Remind your child about the habit. For example, if your child sucks on a sleeve, you can say, ‘Please don’t chew on your sleeve – it’s a bit yucky’.   But don't make this a battle.
  • Try to encourage your child to do something else during idle times. For example, you could encourage your child to play with a toy that has moveable parts while watching television.

When to get help for habits

At about three years of age, thumb-sucking and finger-sucking can become a problem for children’s teeth development. If your child is still finger-sucking beyond three years, talk to a heath professional about how to discourage this habit.

Also, if you think a new stress or anxiety in your family's life may be causing your child to develop a repetitive physical habit, you might perhaps talk with a health care professional about these reasons.

Repetitive physical habits in children with additional needs

Children with additional needs (for example, a child on the autism spectrum)  might have more, or more intense, habits than typically developing children. A psychologist or other specialist can help if you’re looking for more information.

Habit or tic?

Tics aren’t habits. Tics are muscle spasms that cause jerky movements that seem out of the child’s control. Examples include repeated blinking, face twitches, and arm or shoulder jerks. Sometimes tics are caused by conditions like Tourette syndrome.

A child might be able to stop a tic for a short time, but it will come back when the child stops thinking about it. If you feel a tic is distressing for your child, it’s best to seek help from a health care professional.