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Original poster

Obsessions/interests in a 2 year old

16 replies

RubySlippers · 17/06/2008 19:37

DS is obsessed with certain things - is this usual toddler behaviour?

He is 2 and has had a meltdown each night this week as we have left nursery, as he wants to play with the fan and/or the CD player

before we go to nursery in the mornings, he asks for the fan or the music

he is also very keen on ONE song we have on DVD and will continually ask for it (we must have watched it a hundred times)

we have to tell him the DVD is "sleeping" or broken or would be have to have it on a loop each night (it is a Bruce Sprinsteen song)

this has been going on for months now

i think writing this down now, i will get lots of posts saying it is normal, but it is not so much worrying me as i can't placate him when he is tantrumming

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Bluestocking · 17/06/2008 20:40

I think this is very usual in children this age. My DS (now 4.3) is beginning to be a bit more reasonable but until fairly recently he would have meltdowns about things like whether his sandwich was cut into triangles or squares, whether I had put the peanut butter or the honey on first, and which plate it was on. And he still develops great passions for films (it's Toy Story at the mo) and wants to watch them every day.

lorisparkle · 17/06/2008 22:30

My 2 year old is really obsessive about things. The chairs have to be tucked under, he has to carry all his soft toys with him everywhere, people have to take their shoes off when they come in the house, all he watches is 'Come Outside' on cbeebies, etc etc. I think it is a control thing. He needs to control his environment to make himself feel secure. I was worried about it but spoke to the HV and she says it is common.

Tommy · 17/06/2008 22:34

quite normal I think. At 3, DS1 used to watch Joseph & the amazing technicolour dreamcoat all day (with Donny Osmond if you're interested ). When it finished, he would just press play again all bloody day if I'd have let him!

rubytwokids · 17/06/2008 22:34

Good gracious, RubySlippers, not only do we almost share a name, we appear to be raising the same child! DD, aged almost 5, goes to sleep every night to the strains of the same Bruce Springsteen song - yes, on repeat! I'm now beginning to wonder if 'the Boss' appeals to obsessive intense and spirited children?

Incidentally, what song does your ds like? DD is unusually partial to 'Pony Boy'.

luckylady74 · 17/06/2008 22:46

It's normal if the rest of him's normal iyswim? If he is starting to play with his peers , if his speech is ok, if he points and waves, if he does imaginative play - if yes then obsessions are fine and normal - they're only worrying if other things aren't right too.
Re handling tantrums- have you tried ignoring/distracting? You probably have so I'm reduced to 'it's a phase and it will pass'!

mawbroon · 17/06/2008 22:48

Yes, another obsessive 2.8 yo here.

Has to wipe spills at the table immediately and wipe his sticky hands. I give him the cloth and let him get on with it.

We get a collection of different books from the library, but he gets fixated on one of them - the current one is about diggers and cranes

Buses are another obsession. He can now recognise many of the bus numbers and even tell me where some of them go. He knows which ones come past our house and shouts out the number of every bus he sees.

He is also obsessed with planes, and can recognise the colours of most of the planes that come into the airport here. His favourite is EasyJet for some reason.

He finally seems to have forgotten the salad spinner obsession which started last year when we moved house. It suddenly became accessible (it was in a high cupboard in the last house) and he would play with it for up to three hours a day, and "salad" would be the first word that he would utter in the morning.

worley · 17/06/2008 22:57

my ds2 (2 in 12 days) is obsessed with cleaining his sticky hands too, andwith any motorbikes and "neenahs" (police cars, ambulances, fire engines) he will shout bike, bike or neenah until one of us acknowledges tht it is there too. his nursery is in a hospital grounds so he hears neenahs all morning, he must drive his nursery teachers mad!!!

ds1 had an obsession with thomas and the magic railroad, he wore the video out in the end and then we had to buy it on dvd when it came to dvd, hes now nearly 10 and can still name all the trains and their numbers.

Original poster
RubySlippers · 18/06/2008 08:34

ruby - how funny!

My DS LOVES a "millworker" - it is a cover of a James Taylor song

we have tried other Bruce songs, but it is this one that he loves

thanks to everyone else for the reassurance

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getbackinyouryurtjimjams · 18/06/2008 08:37

No problems with fans and CD players providing he's also interested in normal toys (and not just objects that spin).

Does he like toyshops?

SirDigbyChickenCaesar · 18/06/2008 08:43

mawbroon - my ds is the same about buses! he knows then all. has to point them out (look mommy it's the number 5 bus! look mommy! the number 5 bus! look!)

he's also been obsessed with scooby doo, shine by take that, radio gaga and more recently, don't stop me now by queen, amarillo. the muppet show. fireman sam. boo. the theme from neighbours.

everyday it's a new obsession.

Original poster
RubySlippers · 18/06/2008 09:02

yes - he likes toyshops and shops in general

he loves colouring, lego, all sorts of things

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getbackinyouryurtjimjams · 18/06/2008 09:08

Not a problem then. My son liked washing machines, CD players etc but was never really interested in toys (although used to pass out with excitement in Curry's) and it was a sign of a problem. It was the lack of interest in the toys and non spinny sensory muckaround stuff that was the problem though iyswim.

He did like some toys- but toy microwaves, washing machines or hoovers. Nothing actually toy like iyswim.

Original poster
RubySlippers · 18/06/2008 09:10

thanks Yurt ...

appreciate your replies

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getbackinyouryurtjimjams · 18/06/2008 09:12

ds2 used to line everything up. But he was making trains. And he used to play and play with other stuff so I never remotely worried about the lining up iyswim. It's alsways what it occurs in combination with. If he'd only lined things up it would have been a worry.

DS1 has taught me to appreciate spinny things If you open a CD that's spinning and tip your head and eyes to one side it looks really pretty, and it's very fast!

totalmisfit · 18/06/2008 09:17

my dd 2.3 and is just the same. she has one song she absolutely loves and wants it on constantly. if we try and play anything else all hell breaks loose. i'm not allowed to listen to the radio either.

gencush19 · 21/02/2020 23:45

Hello mom I have same problem my Ds1 with my son but I am really worrying he is obsessed with washing mashing ,did you checked is ok all this obsession?thank you if you respond

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