15 Month Old Not Interested in Playing with Anything

Based on my experience w/ now 2 yo DD:

(1) 15 mo. olds don't sit still for anything, ever.

(2) He HAS found something that interests him: the mop, broom, and vac! There's no harm in letting him play with those, and it may be a "forbidden fruit" reaction if you let him have toys but NOT those.

(3) At this age, the best toys aren't toys. My DD's favorite things are:
- set of plastic cups (for pouring water back & forth or hiding something under one & then guessing where it is)
- some (too large to swallow) nuts, bolts, & washers DH got out for her
- blankets for making tents or playing peek-a-boo
- rocks for touching, lining up, comparing different ones, etc.
- sand for running through her fingers, pushing one way then another, scooping up & pouring
- DH's and my shoes to put on and "hats" - real or anything that COULD be a hat (plate, book, etc.)

In short, I think you're over-thinking this! Just let him investigate the things he's interested in. Give him a bowl of dry macaroni with a lid on it & let him shake it & turn it over, then when he gets bored with that, take the lid off & let him feel it. Let him push a dustmop around. Once he's satisfied his curiosity about the things HE wants, he may warm right up to the REAL toys you want him to like! :)

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I agree with what the other posters have said. This seems like totally typical behavior. As far as you ADD thoughts, he would be able to get interested in everything and just not stick at it long. I think that ADD behaviors in toddlers are extremely common. There is so much to do and explore. I also think that you would be happy that he doesn't prefer to just play with toys. It looks like he is trying to engage and learn about real world objects!

Both of my boys are the same way. They love to "help" with whatever they can! My oldest's favorite was helping me make coffee. Who knew?
My little one loves to help me cook. He is just one year old, and by help me cook, I mean be held by me while I try and chop veggies and cook our meals. He needs to see what's going on!
You may want to let him play wil tupperware (or empty cool whip/yogurt/sour cream containers), teach him how to dust things, have him wipe the table after meals, have him help you cook (stirring is great at that age!), and try and help him be the big boy he wants to be.
By that age, my oldest already knew how to work the DVD player and was putting in his children's videos. Could your youngest work on that? Or try and figure out how to work the CD player. He'd love that, I'm sure!

My 17 month old is the same. He has tons of toys, but prefers to drag around my broom and dust pan, or a mop, or a vacuum, or pots and pans, or tupperware . . . He also didn't have any interest in doing much sitting at the library. As far as meals out go, we have pretty much stopped doing that! Everyone I've talked to says it's completely normal and even expected at this age - just depends on what personality type they have. From what I've heard, it sounds like your first son may have been more of the exception, and this is more "the rule". Good luck!

Hello H.,
I teach the baby bop movement classes at Coca.13-24 months. I work as the Mothering Coach(www.motheringcoach.com) We are going to have another round of these classses starting in JANUARY. Your child is right on board. He sounds to be very motoric and is needing all kinds of gross motor experiences. I bring small mops to class and push toys as they are learning to extend their movement behavior ranges in terms of force time and space and weight. I asked the moms last week what they are playing with and the response was : playing with pots, pans plastic lids, playing with the remote, climbing stairs and on furniture, pushing baby strollers,opening the in the freezer...none of them said with toys! Your job is to allow him to get the kinds of experiences that he really needs as he is developing mastery.Going to the park or play ground would be appropriate and fun for him as he can't be expected to do the story time at the library. Follow his lead and do not impose the toy thing right now.I would however on the other side of it,read books to him before bed to allow him to be able to transition to be able to settle down for sleep. You can hold him and rock him. He needs to be active and then have times where he can learn about self regulating himself from you. You share active times and quieting times together . Does this help? B. Brittain , Ph.d

He sounds like a 15 month old boy. They really aren't supposed to have significant attention spans. My first boy LOVED my feather duster, vacuum, broom, etc. My second is less interested in that stuff, but right now he is playing with my whisk. Dinner out should be miserable at this age, sorry. Plus, second kids get energy off the older ones and want to do what they do a lot of the time. Please don't try to diagnose him with ADHD for normal behavior at this age.

he sounds perfect to me! He has chosen his toys....buy him some kid-size ones & let him go to town. In fact, a play kitchen or workshop would be perfect for him! Many choices & options for him to pick up & play with, & then move on. In my daycare, the boys play with the kitchen, the dolls, the strollers, & the dressup clothes. It's not a big deal.

What surprises me is that you have a degree in Early Childhood. I only have a handful of ECE credits, have 20+ years experience working with children, & totally get this age group. While you may be seeing early signs of learning disabilities, what you are missing is that he's only 15 months. Remember that old adage: a minute of timeout for each year? Well, that actually is referencing attention span. Soooo, that means you can only expect 1 minute of focused attention from your 15 month old! Let him be a baby, let him play with nontoy items.....chances are - he's actually brilliant & can think outside of the box! Please allow him the opportunity to blossom as he is...

I'd say it 's way too early to diagnose him with ADHD. You're supposed to be his favorite toy right now...that's a good thing. I was told when my little girl was that age, that was completely normal and she probably wouldn't enjoy playing alone longer than five or ten minutes. Now she's two and a half and is content playing a bit more on her own. Please don't feel you have to diagnose him at such a young age. He's right where he should be. Good luck!

Hi H., my girls were like your boys. My oldest could play by herself and loved story time and quite stuff. My younger she was our tiny tornado. The older one could build a block tower, the younger one would watch and just when big sis was about done - tiny tornado would come through and kick them over just to hear sister scream. And we couldn't take the little one anywhere - she would not sit and I was so frustrated because it seamed like we make all our plans around weather this kid could handle being there or not. It was so hard. Well the tornado is 6 now and much better. So I know that it's hard but if he has a go, go, go personality you'll just have to work with him and plan for him. But he'll get better as he gets older. School helped my tornado a lot. It's still hard for her to sit still for to long. But at least now we can go to a restaraunt and she can sit long enough for a meal. But after about an hour she'll tell me that she's done and wants to go home. We have a bag with color books and crayons that we take everywhere with us that has helped a lot. Keeps her hands busy at least.

As far as the not playing with toys, that's harder. You may just have to try to new ones to see if they grab his attention. And I have a friend who's little boy loved the toy vacuum more than anything and while she would be vacuuming the floor he'd be right there with her. So she bought him one of the Dust Buster vacuums that was rechargable and let him go to town with that. He liked the noise (like mom's) and it picked up dirt. She figured if he was going to run around with a vacuum then he might as well help with the cleaning. And he did for like 2 years. She made it his job to clean under tables. He loved it! Good Luck!!! and it will get better!!!

My son is the same age and does the same things. It seems perfectly normal to me! They are just at the age where they can finally explore everything on their own, so that is all that interests them.

Hi H.!
He sounds just like my little guy. Right around a year was when he started wanting to "help" me vacuum and sweep. So, I went out and got him his own little vacuum and little broom. He ALWAYS has to run and get his when he sees me starting to clean. Same with tools. He's got a work bench and anytime my boyfriend is fixing something around the house, he runs to grab the same tools he's using and acts like he's fixing it to. By the way, he was also way more excited about the boxes that his toys came in at that age as well. They're just little stinkers like that! Have fun with your little one and I certainly wouldn't worry about ADD at this point.