About to turn 2, husband thinks he has adhd... what is normal

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Our son is about to turn 2, he has been on the go since he could move. Crawled at 6 months, walked at 10 months and was running steadily by his first birthday. He doesn’t say much, he knows a few words but understands everything more or less.

He loves to be boisterous, he gets so hyper and will throw his toys, throw sofa cushions, scream and shout and be very loud in general. I think he is just a hyperactive two year old but my husband keeps saying “this isn’t normal”. We don’t have much to compare him to except our friends little boy who is same age but very calm in nature and likes to watch and play he isn’t very active. So our son seems really hyper in comparison.

What is normal behaviour for a 2 year old? Should I be worried?

I don't think there really is a 'normal' at this age and it's far too young to diagnose adhd even if you suspect it. For what it's worth your 2YO's behaviour sounds totally normal. Mine frustrates me sometimes coz if it's something she really wants to do then she's focussed like a laser eg jigsaws but other times she has literally no attention span whatsoever. I think that's perfectly normal at this age especially tbh. A criteria for ADHD is basically that it's limitting his ability to function but his function as a 2YO is to be as chaotic as he can lol so you won't really know if there's a problem until at least school age if you get me. Also, kids might surprise you when they get into a school setting. I don't think mine's attention span is great at all but nursery listed it as one of her strengths in her 2y check so she obviously behaves a bit differently with them. I really woudln't worry at 2. Just enjoy him and if you're worried then try and incorporate lots of play that involves joint attention even if it feels futile as this will help him develop that attention span xx

Sounds exactly like my 2 year old! Surely a lot of ADHD traits are normal toddler traits and ADHD won't become apparent until older?

My youngest son was so bad he was diagnosed by tier 3 CAHMS by 2 after demolishing his way through child development assessments at the local hospital. The two big clues were the extreme risk taking coupled with his acute intelligence and zero thinking time; he viewed all child proofing as a puzzle to solve including key coded doors plus his utter lack of a need to sleep as in he only needed about 4 hours in 24. That was killing me as he did not sleep four hours in a block but power napped. By two he could climb out of locked windows and up on to the roof to ‘watch the stars/planes’, removed sinks from walls ‘to see how they work’, head sprung from the top of the stairs ‘It’s fun’, scaled walls and kept up a none stop scream of constant noise. His zero thinking time and just doing whatever crossed his mind as it crossed earned him a place in a special school nursery. He never ever stopped - not to eat not to sleep and it was affecting every area of his development a a result. He was classed by the regional tier3 as being only the second most affected child they had ever meet. The right schooling, early input from SALT’s, OT’s ed psych’s, psychiatrists and all did help. He moved from special school to main stream then work and Uni. He is still power driven does not need sleep but found a way to channel the good bits of having ADHD into something constructive. Most two year old boys are energetic and into boisterous forms of play. Some more so than others - if you have an active little soul having more chances to get outdoors and run round, clamber and explore and imagine may help.