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Toddler obsessions - normal?

4 replies

Moonshine160 · 04/07/2021 21:18

My DS is 2 years old (27 months) and I’m not sure whether I should be concerned about some of his behaviour. He isn’t really interested in toys at all and becomes obsessed/fixated on certain things like the microwave, Amazon’s Alexa, plugs, and the latest one which has lasted about 3 months now is sitting in the drivers seat of our car and pressing the buttons and playing with the steering wheel. This probably sounds like typical toddler behaviour and when I mention it to other parents they say “ooh my little boy when through that phase” but with DS it’s a bit extreme. For example we are currently away on holiday and DS wants to do nothing but sit in the car, he doesn’t want to do or play with anything else. If we try and go out and put him in his car seat he screams and arches his back and he’s also started scratching and biting us. Earlier on we physically couldn’t get him in the car seat because he wanted to stay playing in the front of the car and repeatedly pressing the same buttons over and over. Whatever he is obsessed with at all the (a few months ago it was the microwave, again repeatedly pressing buttons) it literally takes over everything else. I do try and give him warnings, eg. “In two minutes Reuben we are going to get out the car and go back inside the house” but it doesn’t stop the huge tantrum that follows and I get scratched, bitten, and then after a few mins of being back inside he wants to go back out to the car again and if I refuse. I have tried bribing him with treats or stickers, probably not the right thing to do, but again it doesn’t work. Do I go cold turkey and stop him from playing with these things? Is this repetitive behaviour normal? Any advice appreciated. Thank you

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BackforGood · 04/07/2021 22:36

It isn't a usual pattern of development that a child will have a special interest to that extent and only focus on the one thing, no.

What is his language like (both expressive - speech and communication) and also Receptive (his understanding of language ?

Are there any other things about his behaviour that concern you, or you think might be different from his peers ?

Moonshine160 · 05/07/2021 08:11

@BackforGood
Thanks for your reply. He was delayed in his development with his motor skills and had to go for physiotherapy, all is fine with that now and he’s very active, but he now has a slight delay with his speech. He only started talking when he just turned two and it’s mostly just single words, but he does say a wide range now. He’s still under the care of a paediatrician who reviews him every 6 months but doesn’t feel the need to refer him for speech therapy due to how much he’s come on since turning 2. He understands everything that is said to him, he just has a difficult time sometimes communicating back to us.

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BunnyRuddington · 05/07/2021 12:22

My boy loved Thomas but could be distracted, so no, I'm not sure that level of obsession is usual either.

Has anyone suggested doing the MChat Test so that you can see what his risk of ASD might be?

Moonshine160 · 05/07/2021 14:00

That’s what I’m finding difficult, nothing seems to distract him and he’s getting so frustrated when we don’t let him do what he wants to do. Nobody has suggested the MChat test to me but I have done this myself online and his score was 1 so low risk

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