to worry that my child has ocd

[xmasadsboohiss]

Posting here for traffic. My little one has a general fixation on cleanliness - particularly hand washing. We have been trying to ride it out but it's been going on for about six months now. I think bleeding SATS might be the issue at the moment but we never mention them at home and school keep it low key. She's 6 years old.

Does anyone have experience/suggestions of how best to deal with it? We're beginning to find it a bit distressing to be honest.

I would ask GP for referral to CAMHS. My 10 yr old with ASD also does the hand washing and freaks out touching certain things, he sees a psychologist for therapy. It can become ingrained if not sorted.

My dd had the same problem at that age, largely thanks to a silly nanny who told her she'd get ill if she didn't wash her hands. I dealt with it by graded exposure I.e. We're not going to wash hands right now - wait five minutes (or two minutes, or one, whatever she can tolerate). And gradually build up. This worked and the problem had not recurred (she is now nine)