We present a comprehensive understanding of the nonlinear absorption characteristics of CdSe-based nanoplatelets (NPLs) synthesized by the solution-phase method and the colloidal atomic layer deposition approach through Z-scan techniques at 532 nm with picosecond pulses. The CdSe NPLs exhibit strong two-photon induced free carrier absorption (effective three-photon absorption) upon the nonresonant excitation, resulting in a remarkable optical limiting behavior with the limiting threshold of approximately 75 GW/cm2. A nonlinear optical switching from saturable absorption (SA) to reverse saturable absorption (RSA) with increasing the laser intensity is observed when coating CdSe NPLs with a monolayer of CdS shell to realize the resonant absorption. The SA behavior originates from the ground state bleaching and the RSA behavior is attributed to the free carrier absorption. These findings explicitly demonstrate the potential applications of CdSe-based NPLs in nonlinear optoelectronics such as optical limiting devices, optical pulse compressors and optical switching devices.