# Developmental Question: Twitching Toddler?



## rainy32 (Apr 27, 2004)

Yesterday, ds starting doing this weird twitching thing with his head - its like he's flinching to the left - rapidly, a couple of times in a row, every once in a while. He did it a couple of times and both dh and I noticed it -- then he didn't do it for hours; then before bed he did it 5 or 6 times in a row, a couple of times within a really short span, then nothing else. This morning he did it a couple of times, but nothing again for hours.

In every other regard, he seems just like his usual self.

DH thinks this might be a developmental thing -- like how some kids twirl their wrists or ankles as a way of figuring them out; ds used to clench his hands rapidly and tightly the same way, and then just stopped.

Should I be worried??


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## AidansMommy1012 (Jan 9, 2006)

My ds does the same thing! Only, as far as I know, he doesn't do it quite as frequently as you described. I wasn't overly concerned about it, as I noticed that he seemed to do it more often when he was excited, so I figured he was just expressing his excitement. Dh was a little more bothered by it than I was, so we described it to our FP at our last prenatal appointment before we left. She said it was likely an expression of excitement and that a lot of movements can still be kind of jerky for children that age (ds is 15 mos). If it really bothers you, though, I wouldn't think it would hurt anything to have him looked at, just to make sure nothing else is going on.


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## peilover010202 (Nov 1, 2005)

My ds (2.5 yo) does this weird shoulder-roll thing. It's always his right shoulder. It drove me crazy, but I think I've figured out what it is. MIL does this very same thing, it's a nervous "twitch" and I think he subconsciously picked it up from her. I notice when he's around her a lot less, I rarely see him do it. but, if he spends a lot of time over a few days with her, the frequency really picks up.

Have you noticed, does anyone in your family have a nervous twitch? A family member your dc spends a lot of time with?


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## rainy32 (Apr 27, 2004)

I did a little looking on-line and learned that 25% of children will develop a minor twitch or tick at some point in their young lives, and that the majority of those are boys. It seems to happen with ds mostly when he is tired -- right before bed, or right when waking up -- and in the last day and a half its barely happened at all. I'm going to just keep watching it. he goes in for his year old well-baby soon (we're late







), so if its still bothering me (its not bothering him) I'll ask about it.


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