Parents of a child who has 'tics' - come and remind me what to do

[Chooster]

DS1 is 6 and since the age of 2 or 3 he has had a tic on an off. We've had shoulder shrugging, excessive swallowing, making noises, excessive blinking... All last about 3-4 months. But he's not had anything for about a year so I hadn't been giving it any thought. He's just started in P2 a week ago and over the last few days has developed a new one. He's licking / biting his t-shirt at the shoulders (both sides), so his shoulders are wet and now his face is getting red on his chin from being rubbed on wet cloth.

Its driving me mad and I have to confess to shouting / bribing / threatening to get him to stop it. I've always used to be able to ignore the others which I think is the right thing to do and let him get it out his system but with this one for some reason I'm struggling with that. His chin looks so sore and his clothes are getting ruined.

Please remind me the best thing to do. This one is only a few days old and I want to try to nip it in the bud if I can....

Have you seen a GP
My friend's son has been diagnosed with Tourettes and they advised she should ignore the tics, as drawing attention to them causes stress to the sufferer, increasing the frequency.

His tics also have a lifespan of around 3 months, before one tic is replaced with another.

I have no idea what is the 'best' thing to do, but I can tell you what I do.

My DS is 8 and has had various 'tics' starting at the age of about 3, mostly around some kind of licking or chewing.

My instinct tells me to make him stop and nip it in the bud before it takes hold. I don't shout at him, but I do tell him to stop every time I see him. Sometimes I'd say 'don't do it for 10 seconds', then 20, 30 and so on, and he eventually breaks the habit.

Each tic has only lasted a few weeks, as you say, and now I think of it, I can't remember the last one he had. I won't say he's grown out of it, though, for fear of tempting fate.

Thanks both, no not seen the GP. I had done some looking up on tourettes but it says that a tic had to be in existence for up to a year before its considered to be tourettes. This info could be wrong as it was just some digging around on line. Maybe the GP would be a good call, although I'm reluctant to have him labelled at such a young age when he can go a year without any tics.

I have a ticker here too. Dt2 is 9 with some sensory issues. Over the years we have had finger flicking, licking lips, whistling, throat clearing , blinking, probably lots more. Nothing that lasts more than a few weeks at a time but they come back again, sometimes with slightly different. I try and get him to stop or at least become conscious that hes doing it so he can stop himself. In later years his abilty to control them has got better. Overall his dislike of loud noises has a greater impact than the tics though. I try harder with the licking lips one as I hate to see his chin red and sore

Thanks paranoid2 - do you consider our DS to have a named 'condition'? While I think he has tendencies towards tics / nervous behaviour, he is actually a confident little boy. I'm loathe to label him as having a condition but not sure what to do for the best. I've been paying a lot of attention this weekend and he does it in bursts and its almost once he's started he can't stop it and does it every minute or so. But he can be watching telly / eating / on his bike and not do it for ages...

Well he has attention problems too as well as some co-ordination issues. He has a vague sort of diagnosis of DAMP which is deficits in attention , motor and perception, ie a mixture of ADHD and dyspraxia symptoms. Everything he seems to have always seems to be called traits of .... He doesnt fully meet the criteria for anything and thats where I see the tics, not really bad enough to do anything with. However at the next paed meeting I have I am going to mention it as well as his other sensory issues. However I am not hopeful of anything being available on the NHS to treat it

DD used to tic- so badly, we were convinced it was Tourettes.
She has OCD and when she was very stressed, she would tic. She could stop it at school, but then would be worse at home.
CBT and hypnotherapy has helped- it occasionally comes back (always in a different form) and we have to be firm with her- "stop doing that " etc.
We had blinking, shrugging, noises- I used to walk out of the house sometimes as it really got to me some days.
I would see the doctor by yourself, or call him- better than saying it in front of dc. Then you can go together when the dr has some idea of your concerns.

DS aged 7 has tics - in fact, I posted about them a while ago here

He is currently shrugging and still has the tail end of a throat clearing one. DH and I try to ignore them for the most part, sometimes gently drawing his attention to them if they get too agitated (sometimes he will shrug very rapidly for a sustained period). We are currently hoping he will grow out of them. We have mentioned them to the doctor but he was very unhelpful so we are just monitoring them for the time being.

I'm treating my dd for delayed reflexes because they are definately linked to how stressed she is so am trying to reduce her stress levels - will let you know if it helps!

deadai, can I ask how you got CBT/hypnotherapy for your dd? Did you get a diagnosis first and then get offered it as a therapy or did you cut out the diagnosis and seek it yourselves?

oops should have read deaddei!!