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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

My Son's constant blinking and Eye Rolling

21 replies

Hunty · 22/01/2010 15:52

Please help if anyone can, my son has developed an eye blinking and eye rolling habit, to the point it is is making his eyes red raw. I have tried ignoring it, giving him pretend eye drops to make it go away and talking to him in depth about it and what may be bothering him. He is a shy little boy at times and sensitive, but is happy at school, have spoken to the school about it, and I would say happy at home.......so why has he started this behaviour?????? He gets upset when we do talk about it saying he can't help it, but why suddenly start it. To be honest it is making me feel so anxious I feel I am missing something, although I feel have approached it at all angles. Any advice or pointers will be gratefully received. Thank you in advance.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hunty · 22/01/2010 15:54

I should have pointed out he is 5 years old, don't know whether that may be a key point. Thanks

OP posts:

belgo · 22/01/2010 15:55

How old is he?

I would take him to the doctor's and get his eyes thoroughly checked out- there could be something physical causing this behaviour.

Original poster

Hunty · 22/01/2010 16:01

He has just recently had his eyes and they were fine! So I feel confident that health wise his eyes are OK.

OP posts:

belgo · 22/01/2010 16:04

Checked by a GP or optician?

Have you spoken to his teachers?

Original poster

Hunty · 22/01/2010 16:06

Optician and yes have spoken to school, they are laid back about it and say they have seen it before, so not worried, although that doesn't stop me worrying!

OP posts:

CuppaTeaJanice · 22/01/2010 16:06

I've had this at various points in my life, usually when I've been tired or stressed. I can't explain why I do it but it becomes a habit quite quickly, almost like a compulsion to do strange things with my eyes. The more I think about it the stronger the urge becomes.

In my experience the best thing for him to do would be to close his eyes and count to ten while breathing deeply and slowly. Hopefully the urge will pass, and once he's broken the habit and isn't constantly thinking about his eyes, he shouldn't have so much of a problem.

But as Belgo says, prob best to take him to the doc to make sure there are no other problems.

QueenOfFlamingEverything · 22/01/2010 16:07

DD (6.10) goes through phases of doing something very similar to this and we have come to the conclusion it is a nervous habit. Her sight itself is fine.

The strategy we have adopted is to completely ignore it. The more attention drawn to it, the worse it gets. I was v worried about it a first and would ask her if she was aware of it, and if there was anything bothering her, but it just made her self conscious. We don't mention it in front of her any more.

Anyway she isn't doing it atm - she had another phase of it a few months ago that lasted maybe 6 weeks. It coincided with her being upset about not seeing her dad.

CuppaTeaJanice · 22/01/2010 16:08

I mean close his eyes and count whenever he feels the need to roll his eyes.

Original poster

Hunty · 22/01/2010 16:09

Yes I guess a visit to the doctors won't be a bad thing.....I was just puzzled to why a seeminly happy little boy of 5 would suddenly start with this!

OP posts:

krispygarnish · 04/05/2017 09:46

Hello, how did you get on at the doctors? Is the tic still going on?

I found this thread as my son ( 5yrs) recently started doing the same thing - blinking and eye rolling constantly. The optician didn't think it was an issue, a month down the line he said his eyes were watery so I took him to the doctors. The Doctor seemed to think it's something to be investigated, and prescribed an antibiotic eye ointment. 1 Week on, he's hardly doing it at all. I feel terrible as I was convinced it was a tic, but it's looking like it was actually an infection. Going back for follow up appointment tonight.

BlueChampagne · 05/05/2017 13:43

Could it be hayfever related?

hollygolipo · 05/05/2017 13:53

Queen's advice is right; our son does this every so often, it lasts for weeks and drives us crazy, but - having ruled out eye problems etc - it is honestly best to ignore it rather than draw attention to it, imo. One day we just noticed it had stopped (and then started again six months later!).

Northumberlandlass · 05/05/2017 13:56

I was about to mention Hayfever! My son did this for ages, rather than rub his eyes he would blink a lot ! He didn't mention his eyes were itchy ....

monkeywithacowface · 05/05/2017 13:58

Sounds like a tic and a very common age for them to develop. DS2 had one where he used to squint and screw up his face a lot. We didn't draw any attention to it and it just phased itself out.

BillyDaveysDaughter · 05/05/2017 14:05

My brother did this a lot as a kid - more like 8 or 9 though. His were more nervous tics, general anxiety related. We both had anxiety issues actually, not sure why.

But it went away and didn't last long.

mortificado · 05/05/2017 14:11

Was just about to comment but realised this thread is 7 years old !

monkeywithacowface · 05/05/2017 14:23

Ah so it is. Ho hum

BillyDaveysDaughter · 05/05/2017 18:01

OMG how did I miss that

Aquamam · 05/05/2017 18:11

Try some dry eye drops from the chemist
Sounds like he might have dry eyes which is causing them to go red & sore 👀

butterfly198615 · 10/05/2017 16:27

My son used to do this and the eye rolling, he has had eye test and his eyes sight is perfect but the school was still concerned as the he did look tired all the time. I took my son again this year and my son explained in more detail about his eyes and the optician did a test for dry eyes at this appointment and she said he's got dry eye. So we got some drops from the chemist and since we have been using them no more blinking or eye rolling and looking warn out. There brilliant. The optician wrote on his sight prescription what these were eye drops were called hypermelous or something like that. Wish they had tested for dry eyes a few years ago when the problems first started.
I did see drops for dry eyes in bodycare but don't contain the same stuff so the chemist would be best and they were only £1.69 .

SweetoothTKC · 29/09/2021 05:20

I am 37 and recently started rolling my eyes to help me sleep. When your eyes roll back while you sleep, it releases a chemical that helps keep you out. Its also released when you blink rapidly for a while. I figured out when I was always tired when looking at my computer screen in the morning. I traced it back to the squinting. I think most of these kids stumbled onto this phenomenon on their own and have essentially become “addicted” to it because they feel like they can’t control it. Once it’s identified, it’s not scary and should be easy to stop.

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