6 yo daughter likes to pretend to be sick or have a cast

[rob38]

Since my daughter was 3 years old she has liked to pretended to be ill or to have a pretend cast on her. Originally I played these games with her but then stopped. She will now occasionally make a pretend cast for herself, I have asked her why she does this and she said the it makes her feel cool.

It is possible that her mother has Munchausen syndrome and her older brother is a victim of Fabricated Illness by Proxy.

Is my daughters play normal or something to be concerned about?

@Vermin ha thank you :)

@Chickenuggetsticks they come over to stay once a week or so, but I've seeing them both every weekday morning recently to give my son a lift to school

I'd say pretend play is normal but given what is going on for the mother and the son I'd be a little concerned personally. How old is the son, and when did this start for him?

I was desperate to break my arm at that age. I never have!

OP asks if the mother and son have these illnesses. Not that they do have them. Which is weird. I don't know what this post is getting at.

Sounds very normal. Is this the son who is school refusing and your blame ex fir not bothering to get him to school?

Is your son safe with his mother if she has MS and he has Fabricated Illness by proxy? I'd be looking at getting full-time custody of the kids.

I'm loving "consumption" as a game 😂😂 I was very similar to you as a kid!

When I was around 8 or 9, I told my mum to take me to the doctor for chemotherapy, so I could get rid of my awful bowl-cut fringe and get a wig instead 😅😅

I ran a stall at a school fete years ago doing fake arm and leg casts ( paper mache) my que was huge and i made hundreds!!!! all the kids wanted them and were getting everyone to write on it

I remember my son at age 5 wanting to wear a sling to school (nothing wrong with him). He is now a very normal adult

I was similar. I was possibly the least ill child ever, but my fantasy life revolved around long term illness and hospital admissions, and I was quite envious of my same-age cousin whose parents were always rushing her to hospital for symptoms that turned out to be nothing and when I saw her I pestered her to tell me all the details of what had happened during her latest admission. My mother was a nurse and I devoured her nursing books. Games with friends often revolved around being ill, caring for ill dependents, or working in various roles in hospitals. I eventually played out the script by becoming a doctor.

Munchausen's Syndrome is not an aspersion to cast lightly.

I was desperate to be in a wheelchair when I was younger. A friend had a “cool pink one”!

That sounds totally normal to me.

OP you keep posting about different aspects of your ex’s parenting. If you’re that concerned you need to actually do something about it for the sake of your children

I think you’d only need start worrying if she started trying to injure herself to get a broken leg, or started getting at medical things by herself (e.g. medicine).

I too liked to pretend to be afflicted in some way. I was very lucky in that I needed almost no hospital treatment as a child, so it was all exciting and exotic. After learning about blind people, I kept asking what it was like, so my mum blindfolded me, and challenged me to stay like that for an hour. She expected this to cure me, and that I’d get bored after ten minutes, but I made it to the hour, although it felt like an eternity! I asked her to walk me around: I probably heard “be careful what you wish for” more than once. When I asked for this again, she said this time I had to stay sitting in a chair, moving about was forbidden, and if I spoke, she’d take the blindfold off me. I got bored of it soon after that.

Given what you say about her mother then I think you are right to worry. Why do you not see her more often?

The new information puts a different light on it then, doesn't it? If the GP has referred them for a mental health disorder related to these type of behaviours. Ultimately if they are referred for that then likely social services will be involved as it would be a safeguarding referral.

My ex liked to accuse me of having munchasens by proxy (now known as FI by proxy) because he couldn’t accept that she was born with a genetic birth defect.

If you seriously believe this then you need to speak to social services (as my ex did, he also told other parents and nurses on the ward very loudly) so a proper investigation can be done into the childrens welfare