My son is scared of ghosts in his room.?

Question

My 6 year old son has been telling us for about a month that he has ghosts in his room and ends up in our bed ever night around 5am. Then today he brough home a picture he had drawn. His assignment was "what do you like to do at night" and he wrote "I go to bed and the ghosts go to bed" and he drew a picture of him in his bed and 2 "ghosts".

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Its a great time for a teachable moment.

First of all, understand that he really believes that ghosts are in his room. Who are we to say they are not. Talk to him about the ghosts, who are they, what do they like, have they ever hurt him. As you talk to him about the ghosts, as though the ghosts actually exist, he will start trusting you more to help deal with the ghosts. I suggest rather than trying to chase away the ghosts (which if you think about it says to your child that "yes the ghosts are real, and they are bad, and we need to protect ourselves from them), I would suggest befriending the ghosts. Having a ghost hanging around to talk to and help with your homework is really a cool thing (my daughter had 3 such imaginary friends).

The separate and more pressing issue however is get your son to sleep through the night. I would suggest some dietary changes may be in order, he may need to not drink for a while before going to bed etc. At 5am just about any 6 yr old will come and crawl into the parents bed if they are awake..... whether they have a ghost to talk to or not.

Answer 2

Well, it depends on whether you think the ghosts are an overactive imagination or if you think there really are ghosts. I would assume it was an overactive imagination but also keep your eyes on the situation to make sure it isn't something more (I know this sounds wierd...but I had an experience.) I would tell your son that you have a special ghost spray that if you spray it three times before you go to bed, it keeps the ghosts away at night. Put some water in a spray bottle, decorate the bottle and if you want add some fragerance to the water to make it a little more special. I did this with some boys I used to babysit for years ago (with the parents permission of course) and it was monster spray to keep the monsters away at night. Good luck, I know it's scary to deal with situations like this.

Answer 3

Interesting.

I don't believe in the "supernatural" per say. However, I do have an interesting experience to relate to you.

I worked as a Unit Coordinator for a children's hospital in a long term residential unit for "disturbed" children, and on our unit, there was a boy that was becoming very frightened at night. The boy started drawing pictures of scary things in the closet. At night the boy would start screaming. One night when we ran into his room he was on his bed, staring motionless at his closet wherein the door was opened. Once we got to him, he began shaking and pointing to the closet. I closed the closet door and sat down to try and calm him. While I was sitting with him, another staff member was standing next to the closet and the door flew open and hit my coworker. The boy became incapacitated with fear. We removed the child from the room, and again closed the closet door. Upon making rounds that night, every time one of us passed the room, the closet door would be open again.

I started researching other residents that had been in that room. As I started milling through their charts, I began finding pictures that other residents had drawn that stayed in that room. All of the pictures were the same. A similar looking monster.... in the closet. There were repeated documentations of the children making the same statements and complaints of being afraid of the "monster" in the closet.

The residents that were in this room, were spread out over 2 years. Every child that had been placed in that room reported a similar experience but it was never tied together until I researched it. Upon linking all of the cases together, we didn't use that room anymore.

Not to frighten you, but there may be some validity to what your son is saying. All or the residents that we had this problem with were moved to other rooms and they never had another problem or made any more reports of "monsters".

Maybe you could try moving him into another room. See if that resolves anything for him. My concern is the pictures that he's drawing. Children use drawings to get help sometimes. It's affecting him enough that it's running into his thoughts during the day.

After my previous experience, I would take this seriously. There is something making him legitimately afraid. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

This sounds too specific to just be his imagination. Why would he draw 2 ghosts? Ask him questions about them. Names, etc. Why are they there? If it seems not real - the spray thing might work. But if he's really upset you need to explain to him that God has power over spirits and ghosts, your son just needs to communicate with God through prayer. (If you believe in ghosts, you most likely believe in God) Say a prayer each night with him that includes asking God to get them out of the house. Something else you might consider (aside from it being near Halloween) is if your son was given anything or has anything in his room (recently) that could have any connection with spiritism - this could also include your house. Many times spirits will occupy an object and all you need to do is get rid of that object.

Answer 5

Well maybe he is seeing spirits. Tell him to ask them to leave as he doesn't want them there.
If you think it is just imagination then make monster spray which i am sure will work for ghosts too. Get a spray bottle and put in a few drops of an essential oil (don't let him see) then explain this spray stops ghosts being able to enter the house. Go around together and spray either his room or the whole house if that makes him feel better. Mind over matter, if he believes it will work it will

Answer 6

Almost every kid at that age is afraid to be alone in their room at night. They will claim that there is a "ghost" or a "monster" in their room and beg to sleep with mommy and daddy. Usually this is a result from a bad dream. But usually the ghost subject only comes up when the child should be going to sleep. Since your son is mentioning the ghosts at school and its always about the ghosts in his room, maybe he really does see something.
I'm not trying to scare you or anything but I do believe in ghosts. Ask him about the ghosts and why he's afraid of them. Even if it is all in his imagination it might help him to talk about it.

Answer 7

Mom, your son has a fear here. He's probably afraid of the dark. How I dealt with it is: First, ask him to show you where the ghost's are....he will do it. Go to that spot and "prentend" to beat up and get rid of the ghosts. The next day, ask him if there are still ghost's. If so, that night ask him to show you where they are and encourage him to help you get rid of these ghosts. I know this sounds lame and corney, but believe me it does work. You're encouraging your son to face his fear without letting him know. I suggest a night light in his room. Many Blessings Mom.

Answer 8

I would say prayers with him every night. Although I don't believe in ghosts, I do believe in demons. Tell him he has absolute control over his dreams and to tell the ghosts to go home and go to bed that this is his room. My daughter had bad dreams every night from they time she was 2 till she was 4. It was always the same, about a bad man. I even made her describe him in case she was being abused by someone we knew. I tried everything. Finally, I told her that the next time she dreamed of the man trying to hurt her, to punch him and kick him and fight back. We lived next to a river and the next time she had a bad dream she came to me all excited about how she punched and kicked him then drug him down the stairs to the river and threw him in. It was the last time she dreamed about the bad man. A child needs to feel empowered when they feel scared or weak so let him know that he is the boss of his dreams or in his case the boss of the ghosts and he can tell them what to do. If you believe in God then tell him to pray in Jesus' name and they will go away.

Answer 9

Hey, I get like this still even though I'm 15. I absolutely hate the dark and i have the feeling that someone or something is watching me behind me in the dark. Is he lying about the ghosts as an excuse to sleep with you?

Answer 10

No easy answer, I could sense things when I was that age -- I hated being left alone. I have had attacks of the horrors all my life, although I've not actually seen anything, but I know there's something there -- like someone standing right behind you in a pitch dark room. I'm 63 now, and have had no unpleasant feelings for about 20 years.