Is my only child a lonely child?

Keeping only children from feeling lonely.
(MarianneVenegoni/FreeRangeStock.com)

One of my nieces spent the night with my daughter this past weekend, and the two of them had a blast. They played with Play-Doh, they watched TV shows, they played pretend with Barbie dolls ... and then on Sunday, my niece went home.

My daughter was so sad for the rest of the day.

"I have no one to play with," she whimpered. It broke my heart.

As one of five children, I have no idea what I can say that might make her feel better.

Every now and then, she asks me if I'll ever have another baby. I tell her I cannot say for certain, but it's not likely. "Please ...," she responds. If only having another child were that simple.

She has friends at daycare, which she attends five days a week because of my husband's and my work schedules. We also recently put her in a summer dance camp, where she made more friends. But somehow, she still feels left out and lonely.

I know three people who are only children, and they all turned out to be awesome adults. One of them is a good friend of mine. She said she used to want a sibling until she was about seven years old, then she thought it rocked that she had her parents all to herself.

I hope this feeling is just temporary for my daughter, too, and that by the time she's seven, she doesn't feel so much like she's missing out anymore.