Is it normal for my 4 year old niece to have an imaginary friend?

I know this is VERY long, but i'm very worried and i really need help with this. I just want my niece to be ok.



I understand that little children have wild imaginations, and that's good and stuff. But last week my little niece came to my house and i baby-sat her for the weekend. And she was telling me all about her imaginary friend. His name is "Remy". I thought it was pretty cute because she told me where Remy lives, and about his personality. But almost seems like this "imaginary friend" controls her sometimes or actually tells her to do things. One example of this was i gave her a cup, and i was going to pour her a glass of orange juice, but suddenly she threw the cup off the table. I asked her why she did this, and she said that "Remy" told her to do it. I was pretty scared because I've watched shows about girls and boys that have mental disorders and they see numbers and things like that and they have imaginary friends that "make" them do violent things, so i was pretty nervous for my niece. Then at night, when she was brushing her teeth, she suddenly splashed water from the sink at me. I got very upset, but she started crying and said that "Remy" was making her do bad things. I felt horrible, and i'm so nervous. I don't want to call her mom because i don't want to accuse her daughter of having some sort of mental disorder, but i'm so worried for her. What can i do about this? Is this normal?Is it normal for my 4 year old niece to have an imaginary friend?
i think you should tell her mother. don't approach it as a "i think your four year old daughter is crazy" situation but more as a "your daughter was telling me about her new imaginary friend, has she told you?" type of way. it comes off as less offensive and less of an accusation. also i find it could possibly be the little girl's way of getting out of trouble. i am not by all means saying she is making him up (besides the fact that he is imaginary) but if he is making her "do bad things" she could just be trying to get out of trouble. on the other hand, you said you got upset at her, i assumed there was a talk of some sort about not throwing water in peoples faces yelling or not, and she cried and then told you that Remy told her to do it. that makes me think that it could possibly be something serious. but whatever the case is, the mother needs to know. even if it is just a kid being a kid or if the kid is hearing things or seeing things that tells them to do bad things, either way a parent and/or guardian should be notified.
what do you think is more likely, schizophrenia or her putting the blame on her friend that you can't see? she's 4 and she knows that you can't see her friend, so what are you supposed to do when she goes "it wasn't my fault, he made me"? get stricter, she's got you wrapped around her little finger!Is it normal for my 4 year old niece to have an imaginary friend?
My daughter has an imaginary friend named Booby. She was yelling out in church PRAY FOR BOOBY every five minutes at the top of her lungs and after the service all these people kept asking me who had breast cancer. I think she misses nursing.
Imaginary friends are normal.



But when she misbehaves and blames it on the imaginary friend she should be told -- NO the imaginary friend did not do that - you did.Is it normal for my 4 year old niece to have an imaginary friend?
Imaginary friends are very, very normal.
yes~
this doesn't necessarily mean she has a mental illness. some kids use their "imaginary" friends as the perfect scape goat for their bad behavior. like blaming the dog. if she really does seem to believe that this remy is making her do things then she needs help and you should talk to her parents about your concerns.

having imaginary friends is not abnormal, many kids have them when they have few playmates. sort of like the adult response of whistling in the dark.
it does not mean a mental disorder. what she is doing is perfectly normal. kids blame things on their imaginary friends to keep themselves from getting in trouble. when i was younger i had 2 and i would do bad things then blame it on them, and i have no mental disorder. and one time my cousin put a sink stopper in and turned the water on in the bathroom, well by the time anyone noticed,there was water EVERYWHERE. when he was asked why he done it, he said his friend told him too. so its completely normal. nothing to worry about. and has nothing to do with mental disorders. so there is no need to bring it up to the mother. next time put her and the imaginary friend in timeout or whatever you do. let her know neither one of them will get away with it. play along with it.
My brother had an imaginary friend who he (my brother ) blamed on anything bad that was done . His friend was a Rat , called Bumpy ....so my mother had to deal with my brother and his Big Bumpy Rat friend . However he grew out of it , and my mother never made a big deal about .

My brother is 66 yrs old now , has raised a family and he does seem quite normal :) You could tell her Remy is not welcome in your home if Remy doesn't behave himself / herself .



PS.... Bumpy Big Rat ...lived in the oven in our kitchen ...so you can imagine the confusion that caused when my mother was cooking ....she always had to check the oven first , to make sure Bumpy wasn't there .