If you frequently find your child in long conversations, playing, laughing with someone you don't see, you shouldn't worry, it's his imaginary friend. A person created by him, with his name and personality that will surely keep him company for a few months or maybe years.
Children set the boundaries between fantasy and reality around six and seven years of age. Before that they need space to give wings to their imagination, to experience their fantasies. The imaginary friend can appear in children between two and three years and can last up to seven or eight years of age. Many children describe these invisible little friends, giving details of their clothes, their games and stating that they really exist. This behavior is normal. For the child, the friend exists and it is disappointing to perceive that the parents do not believe in their inseparable colleague. These friends are the result of imagination, they keep him company and serve as an emotional escape, reducing many times the anxiety and stress of the child.
Imaginary friends appear above all in only children, with brothers much older than him or before going to school. Normally when children begin to participate in social activities with their age partners, the imaginary friend is making more and more distant visits until they are totally forgotten. As much as the parents play with the child, they do not replace the need they have to relate to their "peers."
The imaginary friend should worry the parents when the child prefers to hide with him even in the company of real friends, or loses interest in walks with the family to the detriment of the company of the imaginary friend. In these cases it is better to seek advice with a specialist in child psychology.
