Can a 2 and a half year old get depressed?

578 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by newcastlemama, Mar 31, 2006

herbalmommy

Discussion Starter · Mar 31, 2006

That is my question. I have an almost three year old who just seems sad. She just cries and cries and cries. Not tantrum-like but just like she's sad. She says things like "I'm just too sad". We have a healthy family dynamic. My husband, her Daddy, and I are happy together so that's not an issue for her. She does has a half-sister that she only sees every other weekend and I know that is hard for her. It's, for the most part, always been this way for her, though, and hasn't really been a problem.

If I had to guess at the problem,I would say that when her brother was born she wasn't ready to give up being a baby. I think that has been really hard for her even though her brother is now 13 months old. I'm not sure if this is her problem or if I am guilty about it. Actually, I know I feel guilty about it but I'm not sure this is an actual problem for her. So, my question is what can I do for her?

Any feedback would be great. Thanks a lot.

Laura

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Raynbow

· #2 · Mar 31, 2006

Of course. Depression can be purely chemical (brain organicity). What can you do? That, I'm not sure. I've seen little kids on antidepressants, but 2 is soooo young. I'd take her to see a counselor and a psychiatrist - just to get their feel for her emotional health

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mominchina

· #3 · Mar 31, 2006

My 2 1/2 yo has been through a lot of transitions in the past year, and has been really sad about some of the changes. We've moved a couple of times, she's had to say good-bye to some good friends, and go from seeing cousins every day to only every other month. She's very outgoing, so these have been hard changes for her. I could see in her behavior on lots of days that she was just having a hard time with being in a new place, not getting to see certain people, etc, etc.
I just tried to be extra attentive to her...extra play time and cuddle time, getting out and checking out lots of books from the library. She's doing great now. It just took her a lot of time to adjust. And I shouldn't be surprised; I mean, all the moving and changes were hard for ME too! So it's no wonder that she had a tough time as well.
And as for the new sibling thing, I do think that can be a really hard change for little ones, too. And that it can take a long time to get used to...more than a year in some cases.

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newcastlemama

· #4 · Mar 31, 2006

I was a very senstive child myself and I could very easily become sad or scared..even my father told me I did not understand pretend on TV so I couldn't watch anything scary without become inconsolibly horrified.

I would think extra time with her and screening stressful situations out as much as possible for awhile. Try and get her to talk about what she is feeling (depending on how much of a talker she is) and go from there. Blessings, Jennifer

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