Sahail AshrafThe Obsessive Compulsive Toddler
January 31st 2007 04:13
Cheese and bread will only be eaten separately. No cheese sandwich for me! A broken biscuit? There’s no way I’m eating that! Water in a blue cup? Where’s my green one?
Sound familiar? No, it’s not the echoing of someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s your toddler. And no, there’s nothing wrong with it. This type of ritualistic behaviour is not a sign there’s something wrong with your toddler, rather it’s all completely normal and a sign your child is developing well.
When I first noticed signs of this with my daughter we all had a good laugh about her behaviour. I too thought it was a cute nuance of hers until I understood that most toddlers go through this same phase.
Princess Toddler’s fastidiousness became evident a few months ago. She began wiping up every bit of leftover food and picking up any scrap of dirt on the floor. She’d routinely stick out her hands, and with a look of great horror, say ‘crumb,’ ‘crumb,’ until the offending piece of bread was removed with a cloth. One day I was in a clothing store when Princess Toddler found a tiny piece of cotton on the ground. She picked it up between thumb and forefinger, showed it to the sales assistant and said ‘yuck.’ I could just picture her running her finger over the mantelpiece looking for dust next!
But luckily, this is just a big developmental milestone. At Princess Toddler’s 18 month old check up the health nurse actually asked me if she picks up tiny pieces of lint and shows her disgust at them. Knowing the nurse was unlikely to be psychic, I said ‘yes’ with surprise, and retold my shopping story. I discovered all kids of this age do and should engage in this type of behaviour.
The next phase was the broken biscuit phenomenon. We were at a restaurant and I had brought the rest of the dry biscuits I had along for a snack. Princess Toddler was happily munching away on them until all the whole biscuits were gone. Then, alas, there were only broken ones left. Thinking nothing of it I handed her one of the broken ones and Princess Toddler suddenly became quite upset. It took me a while to realize it was because the biscuit was broken that she was so distraught. A bit of quick distraction did the trick, but from then on only Mum got the broken ones!
So next time your toddler appears a little over the top you don’t need to worry that she’ll be washing her hands fifty times a day by the time she’s three. It’s all part of finding her place in the world and is perfectly natural. And make the most of your toddler being happy to help out with the cleaning! I’m sure it won’t last long!
Sound familiar? No, it’s not the echoing of someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s your toddler. And no, there’s nothing wrong with it. This type of ritualistic behaviour is not a sign there’s something wrong with your toddler, rather it’s all completely normal and a sign your child is developing well.
When I first noticed signs of this with my daughter we all had a good laugh about her behaviour. I too thought it was a cute nuance of hers until I understood that most toddlers go through this same phase.
Princess Toddler’s fastidiousness became evident a few months ago. She began wiping up every bit of leftover food and picking up any scrap of dirt on the floor. She’d routinely stick out her hands, and with a look of great horror, say ‘crumb,’ ‘crumb,’ until the offending piece of bread was removed with a cloth. One day I was in a clothing store when Princess Toddler found a tiny piece of cotton on the ground. She picked it up between thumb and forefinger, showed it to the sales assistant and said ‘yuck.’ I could just picture her running her finger over the mantelpiece looking for dust next!
But luckily, this is just a big developmental milestone. At Princess Toddler’s 18 month old check up the health nurse actually asked me if she picks up tiny pieces of lint and shows her disgust at them. Knowing the nurse was unlikely to be psychic, I said ‘yes’ with surprise, and retold my shopping story. I discovered all kids of this age do and should engage in this type of behaviour.
The next phase was the broken biscuit phenomenon. We were at a restaurant and I had brought the rest of the dry biscuits I had along for a snack. Princess Toddler was happily munching away on them until all the whole biscuits were gone. Then, alas, there were only broken ones left. Thinking nothing of it I handed her one of the broken ones and Princess Toddler suddenly became quite upset. It took me a while to realize it was because the biscuit was broken that she was so distraught. A bit of quick distraction did the trick, but from then on only Mum got the broken ones!
So next time your toddler appears a little over the top you don’t need to worry that she’ll be washing her hands fifty times a day by the time she’s three. It’s all part of finding her place in the world and is perfectly natural. And make the most of your toddler being happy to help out with the cleaning! I’m sure it won’t last long!
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