Could it be ocd in 3 year old

Our son who we are very concerned about lately has been showing signs that we are kind of confused about.  Every day he has to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants if it is hot out it ruins his whole day to have to wear a short sleeve shirt.  If he gets one little thing on the shirt (even a drop of water) he will have to change and this happens at least 5 to 6 times a day.  He has now stopped washing his hands because he might get some water on his shirt and he knows i will not let him keep changing.  When i make his bed his pillow has to be on the bed straight with the picture on it right side up, and the blanket has to be tucked in just right (even at night) or he will get out of bed and tuck everything in.  The other day when i washed my car he freaked out because all of the water did not come off his window under the dryer he cried until it came off when i was driving.  I myself have some ocd tendencies and sometimes it makes me crazy and i just want to know if he is behaving normally or if we should get him evaluated.

[RockRose]

I think he's still in the "normal" range - but he does kind of sound like he's brushed with OCD,  doesn't he?  I had to smile about the long sleeves and jeans - my now 16 year old did that when he was four.  Every day,  the exact same denim cowboy shirt and black jeans and belt and cowboy boots.  Under that outfit he'd have "square pants and a square shirt" - those waffle fabric long underwear that are TIGHT.  He called them square pants because of the tiny knitted squares texture.  

This same outfit,  every day for months.  And the shirt was tucked in and the belt was tight.   Lordy!  His preschool teacher said to let him do it,  it made him feel good.

Sounds like that's what your son is doing,  too,  with the bedsheets and his long sleeve shirts.  I think you should just let him do it all,  it works.

Best wishes.

[squee27]

This is probably not Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Many 3 year olds will exhibit behaviors like this, and a child this young would never be diagnosed.

Obsessive-Compulsive disorder normally works like this: A person has persistent thoughts, ideas, impulses, or images that seem to invade his conciousness (obsession) and performs repeated rigid behaviors or mental acts that serve to prevent or reduce anxiety. In order to be diagnosed the person must present the following:

1. Recurrent obsessions or compulsions.
2. Past or present recognition that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable.
3. Significant distress or impairment, r disruption by symptoms for more than one hour a day.

A 3 year old who has the symptoms you describe will probably grow out of that - he's likely just developing a sense of routine.