Kids with Tics...how do you manage? (punish, decent kid, parents)
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My daughter, who’s turning 6 soon, has a coughing tick that’s become more pronounced since last week when she had gotten sick. She had it before, but it stopped as it had somehow transformed into another less conspicuous tick in her right hand/arm. We rescheduled her play date with one of her classmates because of her illness from last Thursday to today, and when I went to pick her up, she was coughing quite a bit. She’s 95% recovered from her illness. There is clearly a correlation between the frequency of the coughs and her level of excitement/anxiety/stress.
She’s been to a neurologist, who said that it will definitely come and go, and at this point, in her mind, not severe enough to diagnose it as something that needs special treatment.
I convince myself that when she goes on the play dates, it won’t be that bad, but this time around, I think that it may have been my wishful thinking, and that the tick is more serious.
I just don’t know what to do. I certainly don’t want to not allow her to go on play dates and punish her (trust me that’s not my intent), but whether she is sick or not, it’s not fair to expose others to the coughing/germs/spit/etc.
Parents or anyone with experience: please give me some advice.
(BTW, aside from this tick, she’s a decent kid, does well at school and seems to be liked by her friends, and is asked back to play dates often. Since coming home 40 minutes, she hasn't coughed once.)
Tics are not uncommon in children. Sometimes they can result in teasing from other kids, especially in a school setting. That happened with one of my boys, and it was enough of an issue that we consented to medicating him under the advice of the pediatric neurologist. I would never, ever recommend that to another parent. I wish I had listened to my gut, and waited for him to outgrow the tics, as many children do.
Ignore it, to the best of your ability. I know it isn't easy.
Tics are indeed very common. Discouraging social interactions will only increase the anxiety IMO. Lots of sleep, lots of exercise, lots of play dates, and don't focus too much attention on it for now. See what happens.
Please don't ignore the ticks! You need to find out whats causing the ticks and figure out how to mitigate the problem. This is best done in a way to make your child feel like you are not focusing on the tick, but something else. I had tons of ticks that were never addressed, and now I am a 25 year old professional with ticks, its much worse than feeling a bit bashful as a child and having it fixed.
It breaks my heart knowing that it's not meant to be harmful, but it makes things somewhat complicated. Parenting sure is not easy.
It sure isn't easy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jameshardin
Please don't ignore the ticks! You need to find out whats causing the ticks and figure out how to mitigate the problem. This is best done in a way to make your child feel like you are not focusing on the tick, but something else. I had tons of ticks that were never addressed, and now I am a 25 year old professional with ticks, its much worse than feeling a bit bashful as a child and having it fixed.
25% of children have tics, and most outgrow them within 3 to 12 months. The OP took the child to a neurologist already.
Are you sure it's a tic and not asthma? Excitement can bring on asthma, and sometimes kids can learn to control excitement by sitting down, taking deep breaths and trying to relax.
It certainly could be allergies, my son gets all kinds of twitches from allergies, and tree pollens are around now.
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