HELP, DS and his throat clearing habit

[lollipoppi]

Please help, it's driving me insane

I've not said a single word about it to him, I don't want to make it an issue, but honestly it's constant, like every other breath.

I have to keep walking away.
I've offered him a drink, tried distracting, asking him questions to get him to talk to me, but he just goes straight back to it

Any tips? Am I doing the right thing by ignoring it?

[ppeatfruit]

I said my GD and I used to help in her class it was in nursery and she's 7 now but she's never ill and has no allergies . Most of the others in her nursery class were drippy nosed etc.

Some people are ok with dairy but most are not IME.

[noblegiraffe]

So many children have runny noses because the common cold is quite common.

[BertieBotts]

DS goes through phases of things like this. Just as we get used to them he stops and we suddenly one day notice that he's not doing it any more.

He's doing it now with sniffing, that's easier because we can just gently remind him to blow his nose which just interrupts the cycle.

Another one he had for a while was when he was walking he had to stop and stand on one of his feet with the other foot between every step. Took ages to get anywhere and was ruining his shoes.

I think it is an anxiety related thing, he's very like me.

[ppeatfruit]

Also When i was little we had a vile bottle of free milk every day at school.I was always ill with sore throats etc.

A lot of women my age have osteoporosis now and if their daily third of a pint of milk had worked they wouldn't have brittle bones at my age now would they?

[ppeatfruit]

noblegiraffe it's common because we succumb to brain washing and peer pressure to give dairy when it 's not needed.

[MmeMorrible]

And back to the point...

OP it certainly sounds like a transient tic as others have said. DS has them from time to time, we've been through throat clearing, sniffing, coughing, blinking and palm licking (yuck) in the ladt few years. Each new one arrives gradually and last a few weeks, maybe a couple of months and then disappears again just as it arrives.

Best thing is to pretend it's not happening, but it's hard when it's something irritating like sniffing or gross like palm licking.

[bauhausfan]

My DS (aged 8) alternates between the throat clear and the loud sniff. Like others have said, it drives me nuts. I suspect he has hay fever (both DH and I have it) and my entire family have terrible sinus/ear problems. My sinus problems have vastly (but not completely) cleared up since I gave up dairy.

[GertrudeBell]

My DB had this and it signalled an allergy to cats. It was an irritation which sometimes signalled that an asthma attack was on its way.

[Flywheel]

Agree with others saying it sounds like a transient tic. Dd started with throat clearing at about 3 - lasted a couple of months. No cold symtoms or other health concerns. Then a while later this heavy sigh - less annoying. Also lasted a couple of months. Haven't had any for quite a while now. Incredibly common and most are grown out of fairly quickly. Iirc, there's nothing to be concerned about unless they last for ages (more than a few months) or if several are occurring at once.

[ppeatfruit]

bauhausfan Try getting your whole family to give it up too!

[ppeatfruit]

We use rice milk and organic soya milks also almond (it's much easier now).

[F1fichef]

I apologise for barging in on here but PPEATFRUIT I am so pleased to have found you. Am looking for the contributers to our bit on Are Supermarkets Getting too Greedy(5/10/10) Am going to try and add something to that or start a new thread. Please make contact!!