Trouble In Toddler Land?

Many parents tend to ignore serious behavioural problems in their children, dismissing them merely as careless, mischievous or difficult. However, there could be a deeper problem here. M&B helps you identify when you may need to seek medical advice...

Pooja manages a forced smile as her preschooler Aayush, zooms past her, jumps on the sofa, rips a newspaper apart and quickly disturbs the building blocks game that his cousins are playing. “Children today are just so mischievous!” she says. She screams out a few shouts, which fall on deaf ears. Pooja does not buy puzzles for him any longer because “he just won’t sit down and play.” She confides that she is wary of taking him to other people’s homes since he just won’t listen. (“He’s careless you know!”). Or worse, what if he throws his infamous temper tantrums when his demand is not met with? (“All children know their mind nowadays!”).

As a special education teacher, I force myself to refrain from labeling a child so young. But, on the other hand, I think, “Could Ayush’s current behaviour signal a potential future problem?” It is a difficult scenario, is it not? Psychiatrists and psychologists work with school-going children on a variety of behavioural disorders. These become especially conspicuous once the child is in school. However, can signals of a potential problem be identified in early childhood or at the preschool level? If yes, how can parents be sure they are actually addressing a potential problem and not merely overreacting?

Based on research and interviews with various childhood experts, here are some problematic behaviours that should be understood…but are most commonly not.

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