There are ways to stop a child from biting their lips. First you should try and figure out why they may be doing this. If it is because of anxiety, nervousness or stress you should talk with them about what is going on in their life at the time as well as talking with them about how it actually makes the condition worse instead of better. You can also give them something else to put inside their mouth such as a lollipop, pencil eraser at the end of a pencil or even candy if they need to taste something sweet.
You can also have a friend or family member distract your child either by engaging them in another activity that will take their mind off of what is causing the anxiety/stress/nervousness or you can try to play a game with them, draw together or even read a book.
If you are trying to stop your child from picking their lips by yelling at them and giving them negative attention this will not solve the problem. This only makes the problem worse as now they feel like they have to do it so they can get what they want which is usually more attention or verbal responses from another individual. If you coax your child into doing something else instead of biting their lip for attention then you will soon find that they will pick their lip less and less until eventually it is no longer something that they need to do anymore because there is no reason for it any more.
Children who bite their lips often don’t realize just how much damage that they are actually doing to their mouths. By biting their lips they are causing open wounds which are allowing germs to enter the body, especially once the blood starts to dry. This can cause colds, strep throat and even possibly lead to more serious problems such as Pneumonia if not treated properly.
The best thing for you to do is talk with your child about what they can do instead of picking their lips when they feel stressed or anxious. If there is a reason that it only occurs at certain times in their lives then this should be addressed specifically so that everyone knows why it happens in order for them to help out when needed most.
Suggesting that your child wears chapstick daily will also help in stopping this bad habit because by using chapstick it will give them the moistured lips that they are looking for. This is a double edged sword because of course not using chapstick can be a cause of lip biting but this new craving will decrease the desire to bite their lips due to dryness.