my 6 yr old keeps twitching/shaking his head?????

[jellebeans]

over the summer holidays ive noticed my son keeps shaking his head side to side every so often. i did ignore it up until this week as its got more often and bigger shakes!! im not sure whether to describe it as shakes or twithching.
ive asked him if he could try to stop doing it but its now a habit hes got into.his dad is furious with him when he does it so my little boy keeps getting upset,and i must say its making me cross and i dont want him going back to school with this habit. im trying to be patient with him but i dont know what to do for the best, do i ignore it or pull him up on it when he does it?
we are going away tomorrow and im dreading it as if he keeps doing it in public and the hotel etc his dad will be angry with him and i will be stuck in the middle!! please any advice would be great.

[kdel]

Is he taking any medication? I ask this because 3 days ago I started giving my son some cold medicine-he started to do this thing with his tongue-sticking it out and moving it over his lips very fast and constant (he's 5) when I asked him about it he said he would stop. After a while I could see he didn't even realize he was doing it-he said he couldn't help it and was getting very upset that he couldn't seem to control it. Anyway,I stopped the medication (he was also very restless and could not sit still) and he stopped the tongue thing.

[jellebeans]

hi ,no my son isnt on any medication. but hes the same as your son as he doesnt even realise hes doing it! i have actually been on medication for headaches a few years back and that made me twitch ! not good!
i think im going to try to ignore it and hope its just one of those things and it will go away soon!

[whiteluluflower]

my nephew does the same thing. I didnt know why he was doing it, i ask him, he apparently didnt either.

Finally after watching him for a couple days. I realized he was cracking his neck. I asked him about it. that is also when he realized thats what he was doing (his uncle cracks his neck once in a while)

He has now stopped. only doing it the odd occasion

[mitpatsmom]

Six is around the age where children (boys, mostly) start showing signs of tic disorders. My son has transient tics, which is a mild form of Tourettes. He twitches his eyes and mouth and he can't tell he's doing it.

You and your husband need to have a talk with your son's pediatrician. One in four boys develop some type of tic and getting cross with him will only make the problem worse. If he has this disorder, HE CAN'T HELP THE TICS! My son is on medication (Tenex) and it helps for the most part. It's been worse this past week because he went back to school and was excited.

He has never had a problem with the kids in school and most of his friends don't seem to notice. The neurologist suggested having a sense of humor if someone asks him about it. He tells them, "Everyone has a habit, this one's mine. It's better than picking my nose."

I'm not saying that your son for sure has tics, but he fits the profile. Is he on any ADD medication? Tics are a side effect of some of those. Also, is your son a little OCD about anything? My son has always been a little germo-phobic. Obsessive-compulsiveness can also be a clue.