Repetitive blinking/ tic?

[ej23]

My 8 yr old dd has just started repeatedly blinking. I noticed yesterday and it was really noticeable this evening after school.

Contd... (Oops posted before I'd finished). On Sat after swimming she said she'd got conditioner in her eyes in the shower and they'd stung but didn't complain that much afterwards so I'm not sure if this is related. Watching these spasm type blinking episodes this evening was really alarming as her eyes old then roll back and to the side and she clearly had no control over it. She said she had been doing it a lot at school and couldn't stop and looked away so people couldn't see her. I'm going to call GP in the morning. Anyone experienced this?

If it's not an actual eye health issue, this kind of thing is really common in kids… both my boys developed 'tics' around this age and again at around 13/14. they both did the blinking and one did a nostril flaring thing - most weird!! My friends son used to hummm very low and constantly … annoying! Anyway, I would not worry and would definitely ignore it as they tend to stop before you know it (went on for about 1-2 months each time).

Hi, and thanks for reply, it's comforting to know this is common. I'm really beating myself up at the minute as I'm thinking tics are stress related. I told dd off several times this weekend for various things and now can't help thinking I've caused this. Also have ds age 6 and baby dd 4 wks old so things have been quite hectic recently.

My ds had the same about this age, a weird blinking thing. It went away after a while, then later he had a clearing throat thing, (which was really annoying). I mostly tried to ignore it and it too disappeared after a while. Strange, but it seems to be normal. Though I know what you mean about feeling guilty, its horrible to think that your child is worried or stressed, but my boy always said he wasn't, he just couldn't stop doing it.

Took dd to GP today and she said she thinks it's like a nervous tic that should just go and best to ignore it and discourage her from rubbing her eyes. Thanks for comment nestee- reassuring to hear of other experiences that have gone away.