Excessive blinking

[hillbilly]

DD (5) recently started blinking excessively. I thought she perhaps had dust in her eyes but it continued for about a week. I took her to the doctor who said it was probably stress. DD has just started Year 1 which is quite a change from reception class. She seems totally happy and coping well though.

Could it really be stress?

yes, dd2 has developed this and scrunching her face up and other "tics" she loves school but I think subconsciously works hard to fit in etc etc and it all comes out at home in this way.

Ds1 did this around the age of 3 and HV suggested taking him to the optician as apparently it can be a sign of them struggling to see stuff at distance (sort of like when you squint to try and get something in focus). At the time he was very slightly short sighted but not enough to wear glasses. We monitored it for a while and then he suddenly deteriorated in eyesight around the age of 7 (year 2).

It can just be a nervous tic thing too, I'm sure, but might be worth taking them along to an optician just to be safe. The eye test is free for kids :)

Just wanted to update this. We took her to the optician who confirmed there is no problem with her eyes as such. Anyway it turns out she is being picked on by one of the other girls in her group in class. We have spoken to the Head who is monitoring the situation and we will see her again on Friday.