Can 3 Year Old Children Have OCD?

Question

My sister shared with me that two nights ago Jadin (my 3 year old niece) woke up crying at 4AM. My sister turned on Jadin's light and when she did Jadin asked her how her Care Bares looked. My sister told her that they were fine, but that wasn't good enough for her. At that point Jadin got up out of bed and went over to her Care Bares and began straighting them. Jamie then told me that earlier that night before Jadin went to bed she had spent about 20 minutes trying to get her Care Bares perfectly lined up and the exact same distance from each other.

She told me another story about Jadin being obsessed with the amount of milk in her sippy cup. Jadin wants her sippy cup to be filled to an exact amount and Jadin loses control if Jamie or her husband go over that amount. Jamie said that they aren't allowed to pour out a little bit of milk to get it at Jadin's desired level. They have to pour ALL of the milk and start over with an empty cup. More stories, but not enough room.

Answer 1

It is doubtful that a three year old would be diagnosed with OCD. If these behaviors persisted into adolescence, with the same intensity, than we might be talking OCD. At three years of age children may become obsessed with order and rhythms as a way of coming to understand their world and their place in the world. They will perform the same actions over and over. In infancy, the Swiss psychologist Piaget called these types of behaviors circular reactions because they are performed over and over. The performance of these tasks repeatedly, according to Piaget, is a way of assimilating certain actions and procedures into the behavioral repertoire.

Answer 2

It's very possible she's developing some sort of OCD, but it also could be some signs of Asperger's syndrome. She would need to be seen by a child psychologist so they could get a better understand of Jadin's behavior. I recommend a psychologist because they have almost all the same info that a psychiatrist or doctor has, but they won't give the child any medication, which doesn't sound necessary.