2 year old odd behaviour

[Mummamumma21]

Hi all

my little boy has some odd behaviours that I never used to pay attention to, but now he’s getting older they are starting to stand out more and I’m becoming more and more concerned..

he jumps all day, and I mean alllll day.. on the sofa, on the floor, while he’s playing, when he’s standing still, when he’s excited.. you name it he’s jumping! And he’s recently started to flap his arms occasionally when excited!
he gets really upset and distressed if something doesn’t go his way or he gets told to stop doing something he’s not supposed to be doing.
he copies other children in everything they do.. for example what they eat, what they say, noises they may make, if they have a hat on he wants one on etc etc
he also has stopped playing with toys in a normal way, he is very repetitive in his play sometimes.. however he does role play and has a very good imagination with games and stuff.
he has no concentration at all and will only focus on a task for few minutes before he gets bored or distracted and moves onto something else.. he is never still unless he’s asleep!
he does however enjoy playing and being with other people, has a good very good vocabulary and understanding of words and instructions and communication is good

should I be worrying about these things or are they relatively normal? Any one else experienced these things or can offer advice?
thank you in advance

Having a lot of energy and being very active is normal toddler behaviour, especially for boys. My now 6 year old used to flap his arms constantly when he was excited but he grew out of it by around 3. I think at two he is still so young so it can be hard to tell if they are behaving normally or if it could be a sign of something else. Does he go to nursery and have they picked up on it?

@afternoontea86 thank you for your reply. He’s only recently started to do the flapping or maybe I’ve only just started to notice it because he does it along with jumping and I’ve been focusing on that lately. He goes to pre-school 2 mornings a week and they haven’t mentioned any concerns or anything untoward, would they approach me if they thought something was going on?

I'd relax. If there is something it will gradually manifest itself and you can't change it. But sounds normal. Some kids just do have a ton of energy.
Mine both needed at least an hour physical exercise a day and will do at high school age

Well he sounds quite different to my two year old but mine is suspected to be autistic by nursery. Has he had his two year check with the HV yet? The fact he is communicating well and wanting to copy other children all sound like positive signs he’s just a typical two year old. I know that some of the things you’ve mentioned can be autistic traits but it’s also why 2 year olds rarely get diagnosed as they are very common with neurotypical kids as well.

@Dumbledormer thank you for your reply.. may I ask how your two old is different from my little boy? And did you suspect autism before nursery did? Some days I don’t worry about anything but other days I find myself watching him like a hawk and everything he does makes me worry like mad! He had his 2 year review about a month ago and she said she had no concerns and was doing well but I found she rushed the whole thing and didn’t observe like she should

In an older child I would be worried about ADHD or autism but in a 2 year old these are developmentally normal.

@Mummamumma21 I wouldn't worry OP. I remember at the time with my 6yo I had similar concerns to you about his behaviour but he grew out of it. 2 is still too young to be able to pick up another factor to his behaviour. If it is something else then when he is older then nursery/preschool will be trained to pick up on this but again not something to worry about at this stage. If preschool haven't noticed anything and he was cleared at his 2 year review then I think your're fine.

Sounds normal for a 2 year old

Hi any updates ? ☺️

Stop looking for a diagnosis and take him outside to play