bit of an odd one, and difficult to describe, but.... anyone seen this before? (2.5 yo tensing all muscles and/or jumping)

[Tutter]

(this is going to sound strange i know)

ds1 (2.5yo) has always had a thing about wheels and balls. nothing unusual there i know, but over time we've seen him get more and more involved when he watches them move

it started with him tensing his arm muscles e.g. when watching a ball roll down steps

it has progressed so that now he spends much of his time - in fact most of his play time - either with all his muscles tensed (so he's shaking slightly) and sucking air in through his mouth, or, jumping up and down over and over again

you can see it's when he's concentrating, or imagining soemthing

e.g. he just walked into this room, put his train on the desk, stepped back, sucked in air and jumped several times while frowning at his train. picked it up and walked out normally

he's very skinny and i can't help but wonder if his jumping has anything to do with it. he must jump thousands of times a day

My dh has a habit of screwing his face up and twiddling all his fimgers together in a bunch under his chin, or down by his waist, sometimes making a sort of crow sound. It's difficult to pinpoint precisely what triggers this 'tic', but he might do it exactly as you describe your ds having done his jumping. It's definitely connected to concentration and a sense of completion. Eg, after hanging the first strip of wallpaper and getting it just right, when he steps back and has a look at what he's done, he willl often do the finger-twiddling thing.

It used to freak me a bit, especially as he used to do it a lot in the early months of our relationship, and after ds1 was born, but then I learned that it indicated a positive state of mind for dh, rather than a nervous tic, IYSWIM.

Oddly enough, my accepting and even joining in with it seems to have reduced the frequency and overwhelming intensity of the tic. When we've done something that pleases us - generally together, but not necessarily - I willl often bunch up my fingers and we will 'twiddle' our fingers on each other's fingers. It's not a tic for me, but when we do this dh seems to get it out of his system more easily, and it is somehow even more enjoyable. And I laugh too .

For some people the sense sort of cross over, so they 'feel' in more than one way. Eg a purple smell. Maybe for your ds and my dh some thoughts and emotions are felt physically, or need to be expressed physically - where you or I might give a little grunt of concentration, they jump, or twiddle.

DS does the tensing-so-shaking thing, but very occasionally (more like once a month or so). It sounds like perhaps it's become a sort of tic for your DS, but I don't know to what extent that's a normal 2yo phase or to what extent it's something to keep an eye on.

that's interesting roman(pretty?)candles - i wonder if your dh has always done it?

i'll mention it at his developmental review, but was sort of hoping someone would come on and say "oh yes, ds just the same and is fine"!

Tutter - got to go to work so can't write much now - but my ds used to do pretty much was Romancandle's dh does. Absolutely tensing all over , it seemed to be a build up of pressure then he was fine, but it became a habit or a tic. It was from 3ish till about 6 I think.
He was also skinny to a degree that I worried. He had a few other issues (has since been dx dyspraxic) but this tic worried me and his teachers enough that he had several tests and assessments etc with an edpsych, I thought it could be tourettes or even a brain tumour at one point, it was almost constant! But he's nearly 13 now and hardly ever does it any more.
Will come back to this thread tonight.

I've known lots of children do this sort of thing.

I knew a boy who would spin on the spot, stamping his feet, when he saw a plane or a helicopter.

I knew a girl who would tense and shake all over when she was v excited - she spent most of her third birthday in a state of trembling rigidity!

I knew a boy who would give a round of applause to trains - but only when they went right past us on a level crossing/bridge/if we were also on a train.

The sentence 'he must jump thousands of times a day' is one of the most delightful I've read on mn.

I think it's worth mentioning at his next check (I'm in childcare, I'm not medical) but I wouldn't be worried.

All the above children were between 18months and three-ish, btw.

that's reassuring, thanks WT - esp re the trembly shaky girl!

his 2.5yr check is in a fortnight...

My neice used to twiddle her fingers like crazy in front of her face when she was excited or stimulated by something. his carried on until she went ot school and it gradually got less and less as she was better able to express and process her emotions and feelings. I think it's probably just an exaggeration of a normal process for young ones and he'll grow out of it.
Worth mentioning to the HV for peace of mind though.

bump for afternoon-ers

I have watched this in a number of children and have seen it often in children who are entirely fine.

But if it is persistent and extended or intense i personally would check it out as it is a very common behaviour in kids on the autistic spectrum. My son does it all the time when watching activities that he finds highly stimulating - like watching things spinning or watching fast water from a tap. He is actually fabulously shaped from tensing his whole body hundreds of times each day.
DS is at a school for kids with ASD and most of them do it. It is part of a group of behaviours called "stimming" or self stimulatory behaviour.
But please note , with kids like my child it is extended and intense and they cannot be distracted out of it. AND the same behaviour is observable amongst NT kids. Some kids can just do that.
So if you child has no other ASD type issues then it is nothing. But if they do it a lot and you are seeing anything else that cncerns you ( poor eye contact, no pointing, poor speech, ritualised behaviours etc)then check it out

pagwatch, it has occurred to me in the past that it may be realted to autism

he has poor language skills - at 2.5 he has only a few recognisable words

i would say it is pretty much impossible to distract him or get his attention when he is stimulated in this way

what is NT?

and, interesting that you mention water from a tap. ds1 has to be allowed to watch all the water and bubbles go down the pughole after his bath - he lies there, almost rigid from his tensed muscles, watching intently

he gets very upset if he is removed from the bath before the bubbles are gone

I used to tremble with my mouth open with my lips forming a perfect 'O' shape whilst watching my dinky cars roll down the ramp on my FisherPrice garage.....
Sheer excitement causes it I believe...

have just read up a little on possible indicators of ASD and am concerned now

he does line toys up a lot
poor communication skills
and the self-stimming thing as mentioned earlier

tutter
nt means neurologically typical (spelling?) - it is a polite/medical way of saying normal.

i would raise your concerns with hv and gp but please don't be too concerned until you have checked these things out.
the thing about asd behviours is that they nearly all appear in normally developing kids - which is why diagnosis is so hard. the internal focus/ excitement thing he is displaying may just be exaggerated because he has trouble communicating iyswim.

It could be something or it could be nothing. But I am very pleased ( 8 years later) that i did check out my little concerns and find out that my son has asd - because it has meant that i am able to help him. And the kids who absoloutely do the best are the ones who get the help the earliest.

at the risk of pissing peole off...

bump

to see if anyone else experienced anything similar

Hi
did you child got a diagnosis? ❤️