My soon to be 4 year old daughter developed a habit a couple of weeks ago. Every now and then she would blink one of her eyes multiple times like a wink. It's as if she has something in her eye but she doesnt. I've checked and nothing is visibly wrong with her eyes. Her hairstyle has not changed so it's not that either. At first I thought it was a habit that she picked up from watching someone else do it but I've asked her teachers and they dont know anyone with this habit and I dont know anyone in our family friends with it either. When I ask her if it is itchy or it hurts, she says no. I'm thinking that occurs when she is self concious or put on the spot for something like if she is told not to do something. When we point it out to her, the winking habit, she seems to do it more. Has anyone experienced something similar with their child near this age and does it go away? Should we continue to point it out when we see her do it even if it causes her to do it more?
If you just ignore it and make no comment it will soon pass , my son went through a stage of clicking his tongue all the time , it was so annoying but after a few weeks it stopped.
Dear T.,
Little kids can do really strange things sometimes. Just because they figure out they can. My kids did weird little things and all I can say in honesty, is they must have gotten it from me.
I wouldn't worry about the winking. I personally deal with these things with humor. If it was me and I mentioned anything at all, I would probably say, "You might want to practice winking with the other eye once in a while or you're going to turn out lopsided." My kids would either crack up laughing or stop in astonishment and say "Can I really get crooked?" I would just say that I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't chance it if it was me.
For those of you who think that might have given my kids a complex of some kind, I assure you they are both completely normal, intelligent, creative and hilarious human beings. After all, I vividly remember doing some of the weirdest things when I was a kid.
For instance, and I'm not making this up.....
I walked around with my eyes half shut because I thought people would think I was Chinese.
I wasn't thinking the blonde hair and fair skin would be a dead giveaway.
Really, the winking might concern you or even drive you a little nuts, but it's not the strangest thing your daughter could do. Try ignoring it or throwing her off guard with the humor thing. It's my guess it's just something she's figured out how to do that gets your attention and it will go away.
Best wishes!
Dr. Brazelton talks about little "habits" like thumb-sucking etc; and says that if we point out these things, then they will persist. It sounds like you've found that out already, as she does it more when you point it out to her. The fact that she does it when she's self-conscious is a good clue. Dr. Brazelton's advice is to just let these things be, that usually a child will let go of little habits like that on their own, in their own time. I would ask her pediatrician to be sure that there isn't some other condition that this could be a symptom of, but if it's nothing then I'd just let it be.
My sister has Tourette syndrome and it manifested itself as a vocal tick around your daughter's age, though we didn't realize it til much later in life. Meanwhile, it caused a lot of problems that could have been avoided if we had known better. It is now vocal and eye "blinking".
It might not be, but check with her Dr. The "ticks" will get worse under stress, so pointing it out sometimes makes it worse.
Do a google search to learn more because Tourette syndrome (a neurological disorder, not mental disease) rarely is the only problem.
Have you taken her for an eye exam? My aunt used to ask me about why my eye was twitching all of the time (I was a little older than your DD, and thought she was crazy) after I got glasses it went away. It turned out that I did it when my eyes were tired and I needed a little vision correction.
I agree with what the other poster said - the more you ignore it the faster it will go away. Kids do stuff like that.
I would only be concerned if it continues long term and seems like something that she doesn't have control of because (as someone that has seizures myself) sometimes my eye twitches on it's own if I'm tired or stressed out.
It sounds like it may be a nervous tic. Does she seem to do it on purpose or does it just happen? Does she get it mostly when she is nervous or tired? It may just go away after a while, or she may have it forever. I have an uncle that has a winking tic and he is in his 50s and has had it since childhood. It is unvoluntary, it happens more when he is tired, nervous, etc. But he functions completely normally in every other way. You probably will want to keep an eye on it and also pay attention to if she has any other tics. Could be anything from a twitch-like movement to an involuntary clearing of the throat repeatedly. My brother had a winking tic as a child and then it would change to a coughing tic, then to an unvolutary eye movement tic, then to something else. He ended up having tourettes. It started to manifest itself at about her age. She probably doesn't have tourettes, but you will want to make sure.
Great advice so far. Just a few more thoughts. Twitches can also be related to a B vitamin deficiency. You could try finding a children's supplement or increase the bright orange veggies to see if that helps. I might also take her to a doctor just in case. Sometimes eye twitches can be neurological. Best wishes.
My daughter did this too. We ignored it (but kept an eye on her) and she stopped. It's one of those things kids realize they can do, so they do it and then quit once it isn't new anymore. The more attention you give it, the more likely the habit is to stick around. Just watch her, but keep all of your comments out of her earshot and see if she doesn't stop within a few weeks. If not, then maybe mention it to your pedi.
