Question
My child has been biting their lower lip lately, and it’s even caused blisters! They do this even when they sleep at night. What should I do?
Answer
If you want to quickly correct your child’s habit of biting their lips, the best approach is to ignore the behavior and redirect their attention at appropriate times. Avoid criticising or scolding the child. It’s possible that during infancy, the child’s oral needs were not fully met, which may lead to habits such as biting lips, sucking fingers, or licking clothes later on. Once such habits are formed, they can be more difficult to correct. Pay attention to whether the child shows signs of cracked lips, lip deformation, or tooth misalignment. If there are no such special changes, there is no need to worry too much and the habit can be corrected gradually. Correcting too quickly not only has no effect but can also put pressure on the child. During the day, it’s appropriate to engage in activities to make the child feel slightly tired. A warm bath and full-body massage before bedtime can help the child quickly enter a deep sleep state (these bad habits often occur before bedtime or in the early stages of sleep). Before bed, you can read a story to the child and massage the child’s lips with your hands; sometimes this may have a better corrective effect.