5 year old developed stammer and tics

[Pam0077]

Hi my ds has had a stammer that previously just went away, but has since returned. This time along with tics such as eye blinking, shoulder shrugging and frowning. He is happy enough in himself, other than getting frustrated at times by his speech and eye blinking mainly. I spoke to my GP who said to adopt a wait and see approach and could it be anxiety. I really don’t think it is due to lockdown anxiety to be honest, he is sleeping and eating ok and if he is scared he usually does tell me. I have read tics can be common in childhood but I can’t help being concerned these won’t pass or he is left with tics long term. Your experiences of childhood tics would be much appreciated. X

My DS developed a tic when he was 2, it was just eye blinking and came out of nowhere one day.
It was very on/off and got worse the longer it went on but he'd have longer periods of not doing it. So for example when it first started he'd do it for a week then not for 3 weeks then it would come back for a week and disappear for a month. Then he started to do it for 2-3 weeks but it would go away for 3 months. Eventually he was only doing it a couple of times a year.
He stopped when he was 7 and although I cant be sure it wont return he is now 13 and developing normally.
I know how stressful it is, for both the child and parents. With my DS we completely ignored it, he never mentioned it and neither did I, miraculously he was never bullied at school and nobody really noticed. If your DS is very aware of it perhaps a discussion to reassure him its normal and that it will pass might help. Doing your best to ignore it will help as calling attention to it will only make him feel worse.