Can a toddler have OCD? (obsessive compulsive disorder)?

Question

My daughter is 3 and she shows sighs of OCD such as...if her straps on her high chair are laying over the arms she wil put them in the seat and then lay them on the arms herself before getting in, if I shut a door she will scream until I open it and let her shut it, the other day I saw her stepping on stones and if she lost her balance she would get frustrated go back to the first stone and start over. I used to have OCD as a child but not a toddler....is it caused by anxiety or is it hereditary or what?

Answer 1

If she is a toddler you have a better chance of breaking her habits of this before it gets out of hand. Just firmly tell her to stop what she is doing if you do not want her to continue this. But it could also be her own way of showing early independence and detail to being successful. Just do not let it get out of hand or else it will turn into compulsory behavior. With the straps on her chair try and break her of that, for the door let her open and close the door (I always did that as a baby and toddler I wanted to be an 'adult' and open and close it myself). For the stones just tell her keep going and you do not need to start all over for something like that just get back on the last one and keep on going. Do not talk about your OCD as well for the whole monkey sees monkey do syndrome. She hears you talk about it she might want to imitate it.

Answer 2

It's possible for a toddler to have OCD, but this doesn't sound like it to me. Toddlers are constantly struggling with a desire to have some controll over their own little world, and also to try out these new skills they are aquiring. It sounds to me like she just wants to do things on her own. OCD would involve more of a contant checking on things, like going back to the high chair a couple times just to make sure the straps really are in place. And it is both hereditary and anxiety driven. It's basically a fear (obsessive thought that interrupts normal activity) that "harm" will come if things are not precisely right, and the compulsion is the irrepressable urge to check that things are how they should be so as to calm the worry/fear. If you are really worried you can take her to a developmental pediatrician, but she sounds okay to me. Good luck ^_^

Answer 3

Yes they can. Most kids about this age go through a phase so it is hard to tell if this is Pediatric OCD unless you wait it out or have her see a DR, who at first will try to dismiss it as a phase. I just researched this because I have had the same thing with my DD who is 3 years and 4 months.

Unless it is effecting her quality of life at this point I would let it go and see if she grows out of it in a few weeks. Try giving her choices. The phase is generally is spawned by the lack of control in their own lives so they control what they can. If she has more choices she will crave control less.

As long as the 2 choices are fine with you and effect no one else on earth let her decide. If she takes longer than 5 seconds(or what ever you decide) to chose then you chose. Hope that helps.

Good luck

Answer 4

I honestly do not think anything you have described would indicate OCD or even OCD tendancies. She sounds very typical and normal for a child her age.

Whereas if an adult fixated on having things a certain way or doing them a certain way, that would definitely be OCD, for a toddler, her actions are more about having control over world as well as learning how things work.

Answer 5

My son had OCD as a toddler so I know it is possible. I'm not sure of the cause but my husband and I both have a touch of it ourselves and so does my father-in-law so I suspect it runs in families. I would speak to her pediatrician. The door thing sounds like it could just be a power thing. The dr. should be able to help you sort it out. They can give children drugs for OCD but they only do so if it is really disrupting their life. My son took a small dose of Zoloft for it and his intense desire to wash his hands stopped.

Answer 6

All the toddlers have OCD. This is actually an part of their development. They are trying to make sense of the world and look for patterns and rules. Don't worry yet.

She is trying ot exert control over the kinds of things she can control. Let her. If is continues for over a year or if she starts to exhibit a lot of frustration I would ask you pediatrician. But I wouldn't worry too much.

Answer 7

maybe...i watch this a girl whos 2 and she seems like she has OCD at times. She will pull out a tiny kids chair and sit on it, then she will go to a book shelf (the tiny kids kind) and get a book. She then sits back in the chair and puts the book on the floor. Then she gets another book and does this all over again until she has like 20 books. Its weird, she HAS to be sitting down b4 she sets the book on the floor.... If i start putting them back she freaks out and starts crying...its kinda cute. lol

Answer 8

Ocd is nothing More than an addiction to a certain brain stimuli, being a feeling, a sound, sights, etc. usually a combination of all three. It is a habit that the brain forms and latches on to. I do not know the technical studies on age of diagnosis, but it is possible.

Answer 9

To me this is very normal. My daughter is 20 months old and do most of the above things. She would keep repeating a sentence until i would reply her, i think this makes them sure that we heard what they said and they are not ignored. She loves trying shoes and would walk around the house with shoes on. I don't think there is something wrong with that, they are very curious at this stage.

Answer 10

Yes but it itsn't common. Children (toddlers especially) thrive on routine. So while they do things that are strange to you they are comforting to them. I wouldn't be concerned at this point. If they get to preschool age and are still exhibiting the same type of behavior the get them checked out.