Can a toddler have OCD?

cowhands

Morning everyone,

Feeling a little bit stupid writing this but I have a small concern. My 22 month old girl has some strange behaviour traits that are starting to make me wonder.

She HAS to close EVERY door / gate thats open
She HATES being dirty and has a freak out if even a small amount of dirt gets on her
She constantly says "oh no" to things that are out of place - toilet seat not down etc
Everything has to to exact all the time
She has to sit in the same position on the couch all the time
She will watch the same episode of Peppa Pig over and over again and get really upset near the end
Also she is very clever particularlly with numbers, she can count to ten for a few months now, which surprised us.

Now I know toddlers can have control issues and thrive on consistency and routine (she has a very good solid daily routine) but Im just wondering are these "normal" toddler behaviours or is there something I should be worried about?

kmick

This is called the terrible twos and can happen well before two. Its just their way of trying to make sense of the world and to push the boundaries of what they can get away with. It is typical behaviour. Have seen all these behaviours in both my kids. It does pass.

cynder

good morning

Yes they can have ocd, if you are concerned speak to your public health nurse, Or mention it at her next developmental, Which should be soon.

It could also be a phase she is going through.

Can she come and clean my house????

pinkyponk2

My daughter is 2 and 3 months and is the exact same as you have described (apart from getting upset when peppa is over).

I've never had any concern about it. Will be interested to see what people say. Thanks OP.

silja

My girl had that too, especially the doors, watching the same TV show (Clifford here) and the sitting in the same place. She also wanted to brush her teeth lots, and had an obsession with no frogs or lions coming into our house. We indulged her with some things (teethbrushing, closing all dors before going out or going to bed, telling her there would be no frogs because our dog would keep them away), and gently distracted her from other things (bubbles are always a hit when I don't want her to watch more TV, or explaining that Clifford needs to go for a walk, and so should we, and we might see him at the park).

She is now 33 months and slowly growing out of it, I do think it's a developmental p[hase, as they grow more independant yet have little control over what happens. Strangly my boy (same age- twins) never had this.

littlebug

I think it's a developmental phase that a lot of children go through, more to do with taking some control of their little world than anything else. Both of mine would have had phases like that and the youngest still would to an extent. I wouldn't worry unduly about those behaviours.
(Mine once threw a wobbly because I touched her cheese which was on the plate with her toast which was in triangles rather than squares because it had to be )

stovelid

My boy (28 months old) loves repetitive stuff like closing/reopening stuff ad infinitum. Also one of his favourite games is 'cooking' which is (endlessly) either filling containers with water and emptying them or filling same (using spoons and ladles) with dry pasta and emptying them.

I always assumed that this stuff it was normal for his age and just symptomatic of fully exploring his environment? Maybe I'm wrong?

BostonB

I think theres a difference being a kid being a fusspot and OCD.

Theres online tests you can do, which ones, I dunno. I was wondering about one of ours and when I ran through some of the tests, it became obvious it wasn't OCD. Theres a vary wide range of normal in kids. But no harm in checking with the public health nurse.

Susannahmia

I don't know if your toddler could have it but it is possible in general. My cousin developed an obsession with washing his hands when he was 2 1/2. Used to wash them until red raw etc doctor said it was ocd.

coffee_cake

Hi OP
as a kid I was obsessed with making sure all the cupboard doors were closed I'd scold anyone leaving them open!
Obviously now I couldn't care less

So it's possible, but it's also possible it might be a phase

Victor

bluewolf wrote: »

as a kid I was obsessed with making sure all the cupboard doors were closed I'd scold anyone leaving them open!

I imagine a lot of it is learned behaviour based on only a few incidents. I wonder if you once saw / heard someone being given out to for leave a door open. You may have just been copying that.

Even adults have these problems. They hear their parents say "Vote XYZ" as a child and do so for the next 80 years.

Bicycle

You are obviously concerned, so I would suggest you have a chat with your GP or your public health nurse, next time you are visting them.

Some children do develop obsessions and grow out of them. Others may not. On the off-chance that there is a problem, an early intervention is best.

Whatever you do, don't do any of the on-line tests. Many of them are highly spurious (I came across one recently that was a colourblindness test masquerading as an intelligence test - absolutely ridiculous and potentially dangerous!!). Others direct you to sites that want to charge you.

BostonB

You have to apply a bit of judgement and common sense with anything online. checking stuff out online is useful for educating yourself before talking to a professional. But common sense would tell you its not a replacement for it. You can't have blind faith in professionals either. Medical advise is against the rules of Boards. People here can only tell you to talk to a professional. The public health nurse, and the local health clinic is where you go with this.

DM addict

I really wouldn't be too concerned. (Not claiming expertise, but currently studying child development, FYI)

Your child is, as other posters have said, at the age where she's discovering rules about the world and applying them to everything. This, like most phases kids go through, will pass. The more attention you pay to it the more likey she is to repeat it. If she's putting herself at physical risk or never doing anything other than cleaning, then worry. Otherwise let it be, perhaps say "sometimes it's ok to leave the door open" every once in a while.

padr81

If your really worried get her checked but those aren't really scary symptoms imho. Kids love routine and thrive off it which is more what your problem sounds like to me.

They expect every day to be the same, do the same things etc... and whatever rules they take a liking too they will enforce like a dictator, (My daughter for example, has to make sure that no door is left open in the house at her bed time and makes me our her mom lock the front and back door, close up the kitchen etc... before she goes to bed, which all has to be undone 5 minutes later).

My son last year used to go mad if all his clothes weren't the same colour, if for example green top and bottoms weren't accompanied with green socks there would be a fight. All his toy cars used to be parked in a straight line all facing the same direction and again all the reds together, all the blues, all the greens etc... (I used to just be happy, he wasn't colour blind). He had his own spot on the couch and God help anyone who took it and without any sense of time his routine was so perfected he could tell to about 15 minutes when Handy Manny was on despite having little or no concept of time.

That said I'm no professional and you know your child better than anyone so it might be no harm to give your public health nurse and phone call if your worried.

metrovelvet

I know a toddler who was given a bowl of cheerios. His mother mixed up the real cheerios with aldi cheerios and he was able to tell the difference and picked out every single aldi cheerio and put it on the table because he didn't like them.

stovelid

metrovelvet wrote: »

I know a toddler who was given a bowl of cheerios. His mother mixed up the real cheerios with aldi cheerios and he was able to tell the difference and picked out every single aldi cheerio and put it on the table because he didn't like them.

:pac: