5 year old with possible OCD?!

5 year old with possible OCD?

My daughter who is 5 i think my have early signs of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). She will repeat things with a question. For example, "mommy can you get me a drink?" I'll say yes and she'll keep asking 3 or 4 more times. When going up stairs if she doesn't start on her left foot, she'll start all over again. She almost always flips the light switch on in the bathroom twice. She repeats everything you say and she says.

I'm hoping it's just a phase and she's doing it for attention (which she get plenty of). What are your thoughts?

For a behavioral disorder to be considered, the symptoms must have been ongoing for at least 6 months. If you're daughter meets this criteria, you have two choices. You can have her screened (there IS no "test") by a child psychologist or you can regard it as phase and stop giving her attention. Ignore this when it occurs. Completely and absolutely. Repetitions and rituals (the sort of thing you've described) are a common occurrence in childhood and most don't have anything to do with OCD. They pass and without any outside assistance. If you can take it for a few more months, try it. If this behavior hasn't been going on for 6 months, this will allow for that although it may resolve on its own.

Another responder mentioned echolalia, one symptom of autism. Echolalia, both immediate and delayed, is when a person repeats what has been said to THEM or what they have heard - a line in a movie or on TV, for example. Your daughter is not doing this. She isn't repeating what she's heard. Disregard this answer.