Nose-picking, thumb-sucking and more: Readers share tips for breaking bad habits What's a parent to do when you've got a die-hard nose-picker? TODAY Moms readers have some ideas. By Kavita Varma-White Thumb-suckers, nose-pickers and nail-biters, oh my. Any parent can relate to the frustration that accompanies getting your child to quit that annoying, bad habit. So how to quash it? Advice abounds. TODAY Moms Facebook readers recently chimed in on their tried-and-true habit breakers. Sucking thumbs (and fingers) Tonya Maier-Scheel says three of her sons were thumb-sucker so she warned them that when they each turned 4, they had to stop. She continually reminded them that the time was coming. Says Maier-Scheel: By the time they turned 4 they were ready. So we took athletic tape and wrapped their thumbs and they stopped! Michelle Wagner Barbeau's daughter was still sucking her thumb when she started preschool, so Barbeau told her that she should do it in the privacy of her bedroom. Eventually she got sick of going to her room and only did it at bedtime. To get her to stop sucking her thumb in bed, I told her that if she stopped I would buy her anything she wanted. She loved the idea of getting anything she wanted and stopped so I asked her what she wanted and she said "mini M&M's." I was thinking she would ask for a Barbie house or a big toy so I was pleased that all I had to do was buy her a little thing of chocolate," says Barbeau. For some moms, nail polish does the trick. Tina Harden Stephens" son sucked his thumb so bad that it would bleed. Says Stephens: We bought clear nail polish with bitrex in it and would paint it on his thumb nail at night when he was sleeping. He would stick his thumb in his mouth and pull it right back out and spit and make sour faces and ask for drinks. It took about 3 weeks, and he quit sucking his thumb. He never knew we were putting it on there and it worked like a charm. Jennifer Tucker Nichols used blue polish on her youngest child, who was a 24-7 sucker. Says Nichols: We talked to her about it consistently and then one day bought her blue nail polish (favorite color) put it on her and she was afraid it would come off. No more thumb-sucking!! Adriana Luna recalls how her own mom solved the thumb-sucking: "My mom put chile, just a little bit, on our fingers. That's how we stopped. Lori Wilson Gannon didn't have to deal with thumb-sucking... but she did have a finger-sucker. Her daughter used to suck on her "bowling fingers" so badly, they would blister. In fact, the dentist said that the sucking had caused her daughters jaw bone to shift. Writes Gannon: I told the dentist that we have tried everything for her to stop. Came for her visit and the dentist told my daughter that if she didn't stop she would have to cement the roof of her month. Well she didn't like that too much and managed to stop sucking her fingers. Biting (fingernails...and others!) Naomi Diamond's oldest son bit his nails until he was about 10 years old. He finally stopped. Diamond's advice: Wait it out. Sometimes you just need to play things out. My baby boy pulls his hair when he's sleepy...There's really nothing I am going to do to stop it. Having gone through the frustration of dealing with my oldest son's nail biting just to find out it would stop in due time with out me pestering him just taught me not to seat the small stuff. Honestly, it's not worth it. Lynnette Gist had a 2-year-old biter, and everyone advised her to bite him back. At first, Gist couldn't bring herself to do it. But then... One day he bit me on the inside of my arm, just below the armpit. OMG it hurt!! I took his hand and bit his finger just hard enough to hurt. He was shocked it hurt! He never bit again," says Gist. Jessica Weisenberger has 2-year-old triplets and one of them is a biter, who does it for attention, lack of verbal skills and out of frustration. Her advice: When we were able to identify the reasons why she does it then we could help her find other ways of 'coping' to avoid biting. We knew she couldn't say much so we taught her to say 'Evie's Turn' so that she could tell whomever was in her space that instead of getting mad and biting. We also use time out and do NOT reward negative attention seeking behavior. Adds Weisenberger: It's hard being a triplet and having to share everything and compete for attention so we try to ensure she 'gets more than her fill' of love and doesn't feel she needs to resort to biting.  Nose-picking Dana Debelak Parciak wrote about her then 5-year-old's insatiable booger diet and how she solved the problem. He would pick his nose constantly and, as disgusting as it is, would eat the boogers (I know there are lots of kids out there that do that). It became so routine that we told him hair would grow on his tongue if he continued to do it. Worked like a charm. And his self esteem wasn't damaged - he is a perfectly happy kid. Karla Benedict O'Brien told her kids the Boogie Monster lived in their nose. She writes: If they picked it he [the Boogie Monster] would bite them.. (hence a bloody nose). They stopped...LOL. And then there are...snappers? Tracy O'Mara Whitney says her oldest son was a snapper. He'd snap his fingers all the time, says Whitney. So to kill two birds with one stone, when his snapping interfered with our school work (we home-schooled him that year) I had him run laps around the perimeter of our yard. Gym class and quiet, all in one response. And now? He's a self-taught drummer with a serious sense of rhythm and style. And he's air drumming all the time. Which is much quieter. Kavita Varma-White is a contributing editor for TODAY Moms, and broke her kids' pacifier addiciton by bribing them with gifts from the "Binkie Fairy."