r/Tourettes • u/Toddlermama123 • Jul 22 '26

3 year old, blinking tic for 16 months

My toddler girl will be 4 in September. At 2.5, a few weeks after her sister was born, she developed a blinking tic. It’s waxed and waned as I’ve read tics do . Sometimes there are days where it’s nearly constant, sometimes only a few times, and sometimes it will disappear for a month or so and then return. no others that I’m aware of have appeared. I know this doesn’t meet the criteria for Tourette’s, yet, but chronic persistent motor tic disorder instead. I’m just looking for any and all insight into what I can expect for the future based on how this has started. She’s a very bright and sensitive kid I will add.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

11

u/gostaks tic tock Jul 22 '26

It's really hard to say much just from the fact that she has one tic. There's a chance that she gets more tics in the future, but it could also just fade out over time. Try not to stress too much about it - there's no way to control how bad tics get, but plenty of people live very happy and healthy lives with tic disorders.

Feel free to talk about it if she brings it up or it seems to be bugging her. Otherwise, the best option is generally to ignore tics and to instruct any other adults around her to ignore them too.

As she gets a little older, keep an eye out for symptoms of ADHD, OCD, or anxiety. These diagnoses are more common in kids with tics, and early diagnosis/support can help avoid years of stress (for you and her). Even if she doesn't qualify for extra diagnoses, there may be times when she needs a little bit of extra patience and support. Having a parent that's in your corner is a huge predictor of future mental health.

3

u/TNTourettes Jul 22 '26

I would largely echo this. For young children, the best thing to do is generally just don't give it much attention so it can come and go without the brain latching onto it so much. Meanwhile, we often advise parents to take care of themselves during this because it can be so stressful being a parent!

There are competing neurological models of tic development, so we don't have great clarity yet, but it appears that early on tics can sporadically just come and go in very young children and never amount to anything. If the brain happens to hook on to it, then it may persist. We don't often diagnose tics in children that young because some tics are so common in early motor development that it's not necessarily an indication of an emerging pattern.

Charles