Idea for breaking my nail - biting habit

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I've been a chronic nail/cuticle - biter for eight years now. I started when I was 12, and I'm now 20. I would say it's definitely something that I do when I'm feeling anxious, which is a lot of the time. I've also noticed that I tend to do it when I'm deep in thought. I don't know if there's any chance I could stop completely, since I've been at it so long...but I'd like to try.

I had this idea several years ago that if I was able to hold a small plushie in my hands during the day (not as a "fidget" toy, but as something to squeeze/stroke in place of biting my nails)....like a Beanie Baby, or something, then my anxiety would decrease and my hands would be too occupied for me to bite/pick at my nails/cuticles. I'm reluctant to put this into action, however, bcuz all my life, I was made to feel ashamed of depending on stuffed animals for comfort - sometimes my favorite ones were even taken away from me as a punishment for bringing them around with me. But, if I'm 20 years old and an adult now, and it's something that actually helps avert self - harming behavior (yep, nail - biting and re - opening wounds, which I also do, is classified as self - harm) I can do it if I want to, and no one can say anything to me, right?

I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts on this.

Nasty tasting nail-polish broke me of this as a kid.

I used to bite my nails a lot too, but then one day I somehow realized that my nails looked disgusting and not socially presentable, so I stopped.
That, and my parents used to yell at me a lot for it.

I bit my nails for many years and would even tear pieces off resulting in cuts along the sides that would sting like hell. I got to stopping by making clipping them a regular routine so there was nothing to bite. I also hated how jagged they would get from the uneven nature of trimming that way

Put nail polish remover on them. It tastes DISGUSTING! I recommend putting it on after meals because it is so strong the taste can transfer to your food.

i found this helped me too. part of my problem was that they got long and uneven and started to break and get even more uneven and the unevenness bugged me so i would try fix it with my teeth so i cut my nails and i just stopped wanting to bite. my mum tried bad tasting liquid on my nails but i didnt like the taste so i stopped using it.

I've bit my nails since I was about four years old, and I'd love to be able to stop.

I've tried some stuff you put on your nails for just this problem, but it doesn't work. The main ingredient is cayenne pepper. While it does burn the lips some, I'm so used to spicy foods that it's not very effective.

If I could find a way to incorporate the nasty tar that builds up in my pipe into an odorless polish, I'm sure that would do it. Just a tiny, errant drop of that in my mouth is VILE!

My mom has used this incentive with my little sister to get her to stop biting her fingernails.

I stopped a few months ago, but I don't remember how I did it.

I don't know if you are female or not, but if you are then you might try some artificial nails. I use the full coverage glue on nails from the drugstore. I use the oval sport length, and they are longer than my natural nails, but not so long that they get in the way. They are much thicker than regular nails, and you glue them on with nail glue (superglue) and then polish them. I get the box of 100 different sizes and then file the closest ones to the size of my own nails. They stay on pretty well, and if you keep some glue around, then when one comes off you can easily glue it back on. The polish doesn't chip as easily on them either. You won't bite them because they will feel 'funny' to your mouth.