My daughter of 2.5 years has invented an imaginary friend. Should I be worried? My daughter is a very articulate for her age, having talked early. Recently I have noticed the presence of an imaginary friend. She can be heard talking to him [?] at great length, usually when in the early morning and before she sleeps at night. I do realise that this is just a phase but over the past few weeks Bobo seems to have become a much bigger part of her life. She sets out plates and cups for him when playing with her tea set and insists that he must have room on the sofa…

Over the past two or three weeks I have noticed that my son of 3 years 2 months has started to tell fibs. I am concerned that this behaviour is escalating but am unsure how to tackle the problem. Over the past two or three weeks I have noticed my son of 3 years 2 months has started to fib. It usually occurs if I discover he has done something such as taking a toy off his little sister or spilling his milk. When I ask him “Did you spill your milk” his answer is always “No, I never did do it”. I have tried to explain to him that…

My little girl is just over 2 and half years old. Over the last few weeks or so, everything has become a battle, especially getting her dressed, bathing her and putting her to bed. She constantly asks for my partner to do this instead of me, partly I think because he is happy to take longer doing it when I really can’t spend 15 minutes trying to get a pair of trousers on her! It is really starting to exasperate me and I find that I am starting to lose my temper and shouting at her. Any suggestions? This is a very common problem at your daughter’s age and it…

My four-year-old daughter, Rosie, started school in September. She has a summer Birthday, and is one of the youngest in her year group. She has settled very happily into school, but I have noticed that she has begun to tell lies. Apparently she told another child in her class that if you told lies you would be hit with a bolt of lightening in the eye. Rosie told him she knew this because it had happened to her! The other child was understandably upset. Rosie appears to understand what a lie is, but I don’t know where she gets these ideas from or why she feels the need to make…

My six-year-old daughter, Eleanor, has recently started biting her nails. Last week one of the cuticles became quite inflamed, and I was concerned that I would need to take her to the doctor. She has always been quite a “mouthy” child, and even now, despite repeated gentle discouragement, I find her chewing on hair clips or shirtsleeves. I have struggled with nail-biting all my life, but managed to stop when I was in my twenties, and I know how hard it is to break the habit. How can I discourage her from starting at such a young age? She is a very happy, contented child in every other respect, so…

Fear of Father Christmas: My five-year-old daughter has always been naturally wary of strangers. Even as a baby she wouldn’t smile at people that she didn’t know, and would begin to cry when strangers talked to her in her pushchair. In the Christmas holidays we had planned to take her to London to meet Father Christmas with her cousins, but when I told her about this outing she became very upset. She told me she didn’t want Father Christmas to visit her, and was really alarmed at the thought of him coming down the chimney at home. With Christmas fast approaching I am concerned that she will see images of…

My two-and-a-half-year-old son has become really obsessive about certain things. Usually about things being done in a certain order or being put back in exactly the right place. For example if I put his pants on before his vest, he has to take them off and start again, in the ‘correct’ order. This means that simple things take twice as long as they should. I know he is only young and trying to be independent but do you think this behaviour is normal? I don’t want it to develop into a major obsession. Don’t worry! The short answer to this question is that following routines and wanting things done in…

My daughter, Abigail (age 2 ¾), has recently become very much more cuddly with me than she usually is. I’m very happy about this, but it is slightly unusual because she’s started calling herself ‘Baby Abigail’. She wants to be held on my lap like a baby and cuddled – she’s even suggested sitting on my knee like this and having her milk (which she hasn’t done since she was 9 months when she started having her milk in a beaker). Yesterday we were having a cuddle and she said ‘Baby Abigail’ and leaned back so I could rock her, pulled my T-shirt up and said ‘Mummy’s booby milk’. She…

I am concerned that my six-year-old son displays sexualised behaviour. He will try to fondle my bottom or grope my breasts. Last week he tried to pummel a little girl with his penis on a play-date. He tries to spy on me in the shower. His father and I are separated, but my son stays with him every fortnight for a few days. Last week he said something about Daddy getting into the bath with his penis, and then when I asked him calmly what exactly Daddy had been doing he went silent. And recently my ex-partner showed me videos he had taken in which my son and his cousin…