14-Month Old Eye Rolling

My daughter is 14 months old. She recently started rolling her eyes. Not back into her head, but rolling them how a teenager would. She doesn't seem to do it intentionally, but she does do it very frequently (about 30 times a day, everyday). She does it whether she knows your watching or not, and even when she is playing by herself. She doesn't seem to zone out at all, and she is very with it. She just started walking and says about 25-30 words, so developmentally she is fine. I have tried doing it to her to see if she will mimick it, but she doesn't... which leads me to believe that she doesn't know that she is doing it to begin with. I have contacted her doctor today and am waiting to her from them. I'm hoping that it is just something new that she has discovered that she can do with her eyes. If anyone has experienced this with their own child, or has any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you.

[Rebecca Resnik, PsyD]

Hello,
   This sounds most like a Tic, though it will be important to have your physician confirm this. Tics are sudden, abrupt, involuntary movements that are not part of functional behavior. For example, winking is not a tic because it is done on purpose for communication, while uncontrolled eye blinking that the individual finds difficult to suppress could be a tic. Tics can be transient and harmless. In children they can come and go, and are sometimes assoicated with stress or anxiety. If the eye rolling is purposeful, it may be a self-stimulating behavior called a stereotopy or a behavior assoicated with anxiety or boredom.

      It is easy to confuse Tics, stereotopys,  and voluntary behavior so do consult your pediatrician to be sure. For a few days before your visit, keep a log of when the tics occur, how frequently they occur, and what you associate with their occurrence (boredom, anxiety, fear etc). Note any changes in alertness that occur before and after the eye rolling. Your physician will want to rule-out neurological conditions such as Tourette's syndrome (though there would have to be more tics, a vocal tic, and they would have to last for a long time) or absence seizures (what used to be called Petit Mal--often described as staring spells or zoning out by parents).

At her age, there is not much you can do to reduce this behavior, and there is a strong probability that like most things with young children, it will pass relatively quickly.

Best Wishes
Disclaminer: This Medhelp post is written for informational purposes only. It is never intended to replace face-to-face psychological or medical care. This post is not intended to create a patient-clinician relationship, nor to give or rule out a diagnosis.