Tics in 3 year old

[foreverhopeful1uk]

Hi all, I've written before but I'm still worried so hoping others can help- my 3 year old had a blinking tic for 2 weeks when he was around 2.5 years and then he had another episode of sniff/head jerk and blinking tics for 9 weeks 9 months later (that was a scary time) now just short of 3 months after that he developed a blinking tic again. He did do a mouth opening tic but that stopped after 4 weeks but the blinking tic has continued and we are now on for 7 weeks and I'm worried it's going to be a permanent thing? Does anyone have any advice or experience with this?

thanks
x

My DS had tics from about the age of two. I took him to the GP initially who was quite dismissive and said it's common and he would likely grow out of them. He's 17 now. Over time they have changed and reduced. He still has them very occasionally though, generally when he is very stressed. He is autistic but I'm unsure if that is the reason for his tics.

My DS, now 20 developed tics - mouth opening, dhoulder shrugging, blinking.

I am convinced it was due to stress (divorce) and he is totally fine now. I never had any form of diagnosis on it, I didn't want to pathologise it and draw too much attention to it. I do think it is one of those things that is probably best not talked about, made into a thing, even though it is incredibly upsetting to see.

Thanks for your reply- how long did they last for?

Maybe a year.
I know it’s really hard but I’d recommend not getting too hung up on it,
its less obvious to other people and the less attention on it the better

i would instead try and work out if there are stressors in the environment,
how are things in the home?

Was that a year constantly? Things are good at home- we travel a lot so maybe it's that and currently he's on the summer break before he starts his new school. I kept saying maybe it's because he's tired but now I'm not so sure it's just because of this x

Thanks for the reply- was it constant or just on and off every few months etc x

On and off, and the gap between them is much longer now. I noticed recently that he's making a whistling noise, which is one of his tics, but he's also under a lot of stress at the moment. When he's less stressed I expect he will have months and months without anything. Also, they don't distress him and when he's with others he seems to do them less, although more in the run up if he's nervous.

I agree with this. When he was having lots of tics I told everyone that I was aware and that they were not to make an issue out of it. He left school in year 5, but he never mentioned anyone saying anything about his tics, so I don't think there was any bullying or anything.

Yes it's frustrating because I mention it to family and they say no I haven't seen him do any blinking or when he scrunches up his face and then when I sit and watch him I see him do it quite a lot so it sometimes makes me feel like I'm going insane x

Ds had a time when he had tics, they would come and go and I found it really stressful tbh, it was at primary school. They're often anxiety related and generally don't last more than a year, he was later diagnosed with ASD.

Thanks for replying- how long would they usually last? And how long do you think he had them for in total? Have they all gone now- sorry for all the questions. X