Son pretending to be pregnant

by elaine
(broken arrrow oklahoma)

MY 3 yr old son will put balls in his shirt and play. As soon as he realizes I am watching him he runs and hides. He is VERY persistent about me leaving him alone and leaving.




As soon as he sees me leave he will get out of hiding and start playing again. It sometimes gets so intense he will scream and cry if i try to get close to him?



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Feb 01, 2023
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starstarstarstarstar 		Advice from a former child
by: Anonymous

Speaking as a former child, this is pretty normal. I used to do this when I was 5 or 6 years old. I used to pretend that I was a mother cat and I put stuffed kittens under my shirt. I then pretended to have the kittens and take care of, feed, and protect them. I always saw it as a game of pretend, nothing more.

Just like how children pretend to be animals isn't concerning because children know that they are human and are just pretending to have fun. I wasn't messed up in the head or anything, I was merely imitating the concept of pregnancy I observed from relatives and friend's parents.

Today I'm a mentally healthy adult with no pregnancy obsessions of any kind, nor do I have any identity confusion. I turned out fine, and your kid will most likely turn out fine as well. Don't feel like you've failed as a parent over a kids game of pretend.
Jan 26, 2023
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starstarstarstarstar 		Helppp
by: Anonymous

Literally the exact same thing with my 3 year old son. I don’t know what to do anymore……I feel like I’m failing as a parent already…
Nov 01, 2022
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starstarstarstarstar 		My 3 year old son same
by: Anonymous

We are going through this same exact situation with my son. He insists on being alone and will put the ball in his belly and read a book with a baby in it. We’re trying to distract when he starts searching for the ball and book. Hoping it’s just a phase
Feb 28, 2022
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starstarstarstarstar 		pretending
by: Anonymous

honestly, I am not worried about it because my kids do it all the time and I am a dad so I believe that I should let them do what they want even though one of my kids are 11 years old I don't care that he does it and I did it when I was a kid from age 3 yrs to 13 yrs so IDC what my kids do
Nov 12, 2019
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pretend play
by: Anonymous

My 3 year old son recently started a new behavior. It started with him hiding under tables and just laying there either on his back or his tummy for several minutes just staring. I would watch him without him noticing me but when he saw me he would laugh and come out. I just thought he wanted some alone time, no big deal. Now he goes into his room and puts his bicycle riding helmet underneath his shirt and just rubs his belly and again does that for several minutes. When he notices me looking at him he gets very angry and throws toys at me then cries. I don’t know what this means.
Apr 08, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Son pretends to be pregnant too
by: Anonymous

The year is 2018 and my son carries his babies in his shirt. Tonight I went to bed early so when I woke up to check in on him, he was sleeping on his back with a 'baby' in his shirt. Which brought me here.
Apr 09, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Hmmm-sounds like my son
by: Anonymous

My SPD son has the same thing, he's 5 and calls it "big fat belly". I've never known someone else to have this behavior so I'm glad you wrote.

My son asks me if he can play BFB- he goes to his room and stuffs a penguin under his shirt! It definitely relaxes him and has nothing to do with pregnancy...it just helps him calm and then he moves on to something else. He lays on the bed and thinks for about fifteen minutes.

My son eats only a few chosen foods but is tall and strong for his age- I wonder if he ever will have a "big fat belly" :>
Mar 22, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		pretending
by: Anonymous

He is a 3 yr old exploring I would talk to him when he is not in the "playing"pregnant mode- to see what is the fascination- Maybe get a ball and you play along with him-

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