facial tics

[weeonion]

hi folks. our 5 yr old dd has a best pal - they have been best friends since they started nursery at age 1. They spend alot of time in each others houses with sleepovers etc. DD pal (lets call her Molly) is like part of our family and her mum, whilst not a close friend, is round quite a bit as we are helping her with her english. molly and her mum are polish.

Molly and dd both started school 5 weeks ago and we thought it all ok for them both. DD pal 2 weeks ago started "blinking' in her left eye - alot. It has now progressed to the whole left side of her face - which she twitches / scrunches every couple of seconds.

Her mum took her to the docs last week who has told her to reduce molly's stress levels and he will see her again in 3 months. her mum is confused.
It of course could all be just stress related but i am also wondering if anyone else here has had to deal with tics like this in kids??

They do often resolve...make sure the Mum knows NEVER to tell the child off or to punish her for her tic.

This will make it worse. It could be due to the stress of changing routines..she should also get her DDs eyes tested just in case. Let her know this won't cost anything.

Yes my DD2 has facial tics like this related to stress. We don't make an issues of them and they eventually stop or get replaced. She does experience extremely high levels of stress in school.

Keeping things feeling stable and low key at home does help her.

I think Molly's parents need to keep an eye on what's going on in school and see if she needs some support to reduce her anxiety levels. Even if she appears fine in school she may very well not be fine at all.

I remember having a similar facial tic to the one this little girl has when I was about 14. I desperately wanted to stop but couldn't. It went away by itself after a few months.

thanks folks. I'll have a chat with her mum about it tomorrow and if she needs some support to go to the school - then I'll do that. her confusion is on how to reduce stress when she really doesnt know what is causing it. Molly is doing well with the work at school but i know she has found it hard when dd has wanted to play with others.

It may be that, as she settles in, the stress will go away by itself and the tic will follow.

I would just suggest that the parents make sure the channels of communication with the school are effective so that they become aware of any issues quickly and can work with the school to resolve them promptly.

TBH I don't think there's a lot they can do except avoid making any changes which would unsettle her at home for a while.