Information on a new vaccine available to girls to help combat cervical cancer
Imaginary friends
My three-year-old has this imaginary friend called ‘Bud’ who he talks to when he’s playing on his own or in the bathroom. We now have to take Bud shopping, on holiday and to nursery. We just play along with this idea but should I try to help him understand the difference between fantasy and reality?
A surprising number of children have imaginary friends and generally they go away around school age. You should not worry unless the requirements of the imaginary friend start to disrupt family life or the friend is blamed for a great deal of what the child does themselves. The best approach seems to be to remain matter of fact and not do more for the imaginary friend than your child requests.
Your son will steadily learn the difference between fantasy and reality through his play, enjoying stories, his conversations with you and the questions he asks.
Why not chat to other iVillagers about toddlers on the The Things Kids Say message board. Take a look at some of the LIVE discussions happening now on the board:
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
