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Behaviour/development

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DD has attention span of a gnat!

2 replies

Browser · 18/02/2009 21:44

DD has just turned 2 and has never been very good at concentrating on any one thing, especailly when we play together, no sooner have we got out a puzzle/book/toy etc. she's already on to the next thing, for example, she will bring me a book, open it, read a bit then go and get another... aaahhh!! its so frustrating! She won't even watch a full episode of In the night garden with me! It's become very hard to do anything with her, she does enjoy doing the housework though !!

She is very loving and very affectionate, but I am worried about her general devlopment... she doesn't seem to be able to concentrate long enough on anything to learn. Her language is coming nicely, she can use about 20 words, but doesn't string them together, she can't count, do colours or letters.

Sometimes she appears not to hear when I call her or ask her something. Also she falls over and is very clumsey.

Is this okay or should I be worried? Any advice or similar experiences much appreciated.

OP posts:
Bagebird · 18/02/2009 21:51

A lot of what you have mentioned sounds very normal toddler behaviour to me. They are so busy taking everything in, thinking and acting spontaneously that it can feel like they are flitting from one thing to another with no concentration. Same with the vocal response and clumsiness as they constantly test their own (and your) boundaries. Saying all that, if you are worried about her hearing or balance, then why not make an appt. with your mw and get her hearing checked. Sometimes a heavy cold can linger leaving blocked ears which can also affect balance.
When mine were tiny, I found the only way to keep their attention was to keep all the toys hidden in the toy box and bring one out at a time. Not easy or always practical to do, but I did find that out of sight out of mind was true for toddlers.

hth

mazbomb · 18/02/2009 22:18

There was something on Supernanny the other week that said that if children have too many toys/books to choose from then they suffer from sensory overload which affects their attention span. Why not try putting all her books and/or toys away except for a select few that she seems interested in and let her play with those for a few days, then replace them with some different ones. I don't tend to pay a great deal of attention to these programmes but this theory does seem to make sense so might be worth a shot.

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