To ask how to stop DD’s vocal tic??

[MysticalMe]

DD makes a sort of sudden inhale sound whilst watching TV. At times, every 10 or 15 seconds. This has been going on a number of years. She is otherwise a happy child, and has no other tics. I did the whole “ignore it and it’ll go away” thing, and it hasn’t worked. I wonder if we could work together with her to help her with it, as I know she actually doesn’t want to do it anymore, but doesn’t know how to stop. Should we give her something alternative to focus on whilst watching tv? It can occasionally happen in other scenarios, but she basically has to be zoned out for it to happen.

Any advice is much appreciated.

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DD is 12.

Chewing gum?

Hmmm, I can see that this could work, but would ideally prefer her not to be chewing gum. Simply because she is one of those kids who’ll probably end up with it somehow tangled in her hair or stuck to her clothes! 😂

Have you taken her to your GP? Not that there’s a lot they can do but they may suggest something.
My eldest DS had various tics (non vocal) until he went to university. They were gradually reducing but disappeared completely by the time he was 19.
My DGS has Tourette’s and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Does she breathe normally when asleep? It sounds like a kind of apnoea. Is she overweight? Try box breathing exercises three times a day?

She isn’t overweight and breathes normally when asleep. It’s like an audible inhale, with a noise to it, if that makes sense. She has no awareness she is doing it, but she’s told me she wants to stop because a couple of people have commented on it, so I do want to help her.

I think you’d be best served by starting with medical advice.

When my daughter had vocal tics, CBD oil really helped. Maybe try gummies?

My DD is 11 and has a number of different tics (fits every box for tourettes), we find magnesium helps quite a bit. Also if you point it out she has a tic explosion for a while so ignoring is definitely the best course of action.

We’ve told a couple of doctors and the general advice has been not to do anything and it will pass. Just wondered if anyone else had had success with anything.

My daughter has Tourette’s and we’ve always found the best way to deal with tics is to just totally ignore them.

The more attention you give it and the more you comment on it, she gets anxious and the worse they get.

DD is always quite ticcy when she’s chilling watching TV or something, but if she’s focussed on something they’re not as bad. She crochets when watching TV, or origami, or she’s got a couple of those intricate pattern colouring books - keeping her hands busy and her mind half focussed on something seems to help.

Thank you so much @Springersrock. that’s really helpful. I will give those things a try with her. I think it’s so habitual now that anything that helps to break the habit will be helpful. Like you say, maybe doing something mindfully, whilst watching tv, could do the trick.

Ignore it, make sure she gets as much sleep as possible (often people with tic disorders struggle with sleeping) and to try and minimise stress (stress is a major trigger for tics). 1/3 of kids will grow out of all tics by the time they're adults, so fingers crossed, but they may not. If it's not bothering her then it's about you accepting they're part of her, for now.

My daughter used to stretch her mouth open it was very obvious and got worse when tired.
I don’t remember when she stopped, it went on for years and I was so stressed and now I can’t remember the last time she did it!
She is 16 now and cracks her knuckles.

*just to add we ignored it. Hopefully other children will be kind and she can grow out of it without any stress.

Both mine had tics. Ds2 (autism, ocd) was diagnosed with tourettes when he was young and prescribed Sertraline which helped enormously. Ds1 (adhd, pda) gradually grew out of his. They're a manifestation of anxiety.