What can I do to stop this habit?

i think if yer smacking yer kids hands so hard that yer wearing the skin off and cutting them up.. someone ought smack YOUR hands till they bleed!! crist!!

I was always told that it would cause arthritis when I popped my knuckles as a kid. I later learned that it is just not true. I still pop my knuckles. They actually hurt if I don't. My son is 9 and he has been popping his since he was about 5. Not all the time, but once in awhile.

You can't stop it, its here habit she has to do it. You can remind her of it when she does it. Does she want to stop and it has just become a habit? Its like any other habit, you have to set your mind to stopping and then doing it. Try not ot get upset with her, it will just make her do it more often. Be happy for her when she remembers and stops herself from doing it. Good luck, she doesn't want to have ugly hands and knuckles.

let her do whatever she wants, here's why... i think your daughter needs your attention because whenever she pops her knuckles she knows that you would give her attention and tell her not to do it. the best thing that you could do is that ignore her and let her stop on her own will. you did your part when you told your daughter that this is not good for her when she grows old, by ignoring your daughter when she does something stupid like popping her fingers, that's saying to her that you don't like what's she's doing and that would, i think, stop her from doing it. here's one more advice to you about your daughter: when your daughter does something that you like or good, appreciate what she does and convice her to keep doing good things.

I think you should ask a doctor. Maybe the doctor could talk directly to her and tell her the dangers of doing it. I have no other suggestions, sorry.

I don't know if it causes medical problems but there is no proof it causes arthritis. They say that is something made up. Doctors say its not true. I do it and it is a habit. I don't know how to stop it though. I pop my knuckles, my back, my toes, my neck. Just about everything.

Maybe you could offer her a reward of some sort if she will stop popping her knuckles. My daughter does this every now and then too.

Other than being a very annoying habit,i do not think it will hurt her any..I have popped my knuckles all my like,well i don't now ,that i am older but as a kid,teenager & young mother and i do not have artritis...Thats what bone doctors do is pop your bones,it supposs to be healthy..I was never aware that it harmed you any way,but i could be wrong......

I think MARYLEYESA's response above is perfect and it would be useful to give it a try so your daughter knows your listening to her and not just trying to 'nag' her (in her mind you may be just trying to bother her, she's a young teen).

Reminds me of my son. He does the same thing, and many other terrible things that hurts him more than helps him. It seems these days, kids actually rule the household rules. (I sometimes wish I was a kid again in this century, alot easier and much more saying power than during my times. My kids sometimes really ticks me off when he complain about the things he does not have, when he actually has more things than I did 90% more.) I suggest you can do some research online and show her what the physical appearance will be when she reaches a certain age and the constant popping will do to her over time. Girls are much easier to convince when you tell them about physical appearance. Boys are harder because they want to show off at their friends for being macho. Good luck and I hope it works.

Well, in my opinion, the harsh words and the smacking won't work in this matter. Sometimes when kids were scolded all the time it will make them stubborn and hard headed. Maybe you can use the reverse psychology, Instead of scolding her, let her do it and experience the result. A little suffering as a consequence of being hard headed would help a kid realize that it is wrong because she felt the result of it. nagging and scolding won't help sometimes. So, why not try the reverse psychology? Instead of saying no.. no.. no.. tell her to do it? and suffer the consequence. that would work most often.

You are not alon ein this! Both my 11 year old son and my 8 year old son do this all of the time. I have yet to figure out a way to get them to stop besides drawing their attention to it each and every time I catch them doing it. I have noticed a couple of things though. They both tend to do this more when they are either upset, nervous, or bored. Unfortunately, these are things we all deal with, so to try to stop them from being upset, nervous, or bored at times would be like trying to stop the wind from blowing. If you find an effective way to stop the knuckle popping, please, share the answer with me.

popping your knuckles does not give you Arthritis, it is just a myth. I know that it can be very annoying but there are no medical drawbacks to it. I suggest you just leave her be, I am a mother as well and I know that when my kids get old enough to do this they will. I do it. As a writer it is one of the ways that I flex my fingers. Now trust me as a writer I can't afford to get arthritis so doing something that would cause that is not something you will ever see me doing. I am sorry that it bugs you but I don't think that it should warrent you smaking her hands I think you are being a little overprotective about it. Sorry.