Help with my 3yr son?

Question

My 3yr old son Caleb sees ghosts. I know that sounds completely stupid, but it's true. The first time it happened about 2 months ago, he was sitting on my lab watching TV, looked down the hallway, pointed and said to me, "Mommy, who's that?" There was no one there so i just said no one. He told me, "Yes there is." He did it several times more over a period of an hour before i told him to get up and show me. He pointed to just open space. He does it every now and then at all times of the day "Mommy, who's that?" He doesn't know what a ghost is nor would he be able to make something up like this at this age. It truly freaks me out and I don't know what to do about it. i've heard of some cases of this happening to kids. Anyone have any advice or experience with their children doing this?
Please no stupid comments.

Answer 1

My son Connor will be 3 in May and started doing the same thing your son is doing about 5 months ago. It's a scary feeling but we figured it out.
About 5 months I was cooking dinner and he came into the kitchen. I said "hey little man, whatcha up to?" and he said "Trying to find my yellow car that the man was playing with." I thought he was talking about my husband and thought nothing of it. My husand plays cars with him all the time but this talk of "the man" became constant and he wasn't refering to his father.. One day i just asked my son, "What man are you talking about?" He went on to tell me about this man that comes into his room, plays cars with him and talks to him. I asked him what this man looks like and he said that he was very tall, very thin and "didn't look like any other people in the world".
I thought it was just an imaginary friend and would go into my his room and see him playing with his cars quietly. He never spoke out loud or acted like another person was with him like many children do when they have an imaginary friend. I told my husband and he laughed, said maybe my son was seeing ghosts. He suggested maybe it was his father: he fit the discription and loved cars. (my older two sons never played with cars) I rolled my eyes and walked away.
About 2 months ago my husband came home from his mothers house with a whole box of pictures of him as a child. She was selling her house and gave him a bunch of stuff. My husband put the pictures on the kitchen table and was going through them. Connor came into the room and was looking at the pictures. He picked one up and said pointed, "Hey, thats the man that plays cars with me. Did he play cars with you Dad?" It was a picture of my husband and my husbands father on his high school graduation day.
Connor never saw pictures of my father in law nor did he really know anything about it. I was in shock and just stared
Whenever Connor tells me about "the man", i just smile and nod my head. We told him it was his grandfather but he still refers to the image as "the man." and thinks nothing of it.
I suggest asking your son to describe what he's seeing, because most likely he isn't making this up. You're right. Kids around the age of 3 aren't able to make things up like this, especially if they don't know about the subject.
It's actually quite common for a young child to see or feel a presents like this. Most of the time it happens to them in a dream. Maybe show your some photographs of loved ones and see if he reconizes his special person in any of the pictures. After you get past the scary part of the whole idea, it's actually really neat. You don't need to call a ghost guy or report it on a website. If you want, you can just nod your head and ignore it. Just if he ever freaks out about it, says something along the lines of "somethings under my bed" check for him and keep him calm.
It'I feel blessed and comfronted of my father in law being around. He was a great man and I'm glad he's in contact with one of my boys.

Best wishes to you and good luck! =]

Answer 2

I get the impression that neither one of you is frightened by this, which you should be commended for not over-reacting. I'm not sure what I would do if one of my kids or grandkids had this happen so it's a lot easier to offer advice when you haven't been there but I think you should continue as you have been and ask him some open-ended questions to see what his responses would be, such as You see someone?..... Do you know what they want?....

There are some colleges that have some paranormal departments and maybe they could help you.
Email me if you like, I'd be very interested in what the rest of the family thinks about this, and what you decide to do, good luck to you.

Answer 3

Perhaps he's confusing who's with what's. Like "what's that?" Maybe he heard something. Also, kids really have more imagination at this age than we think they do. They just don't have the vocabulary to express it. The "who's that" or "what's that" game is a game we play with them while teaching them about the world. It could be that he's playing the game with you using imaginary people. Another thing is that he might be seeing shadows that really do look like people. I think you should help him see that there isn't anyone there. Your reaction to his imagination might lead him to believe that he really is seeing ghosts or monsters and he could become very afraid of them as he gets older, feeding his imagination.

Answer 4

I had a friend whom had that happen to her child, its not stupid and I believe that the advice given to my friend is true, although many arent belivers. Children are receptive to things like ghosts, your child is really seeing someone that has passed. Kids do see things when they are younger, my friend was told that imaginary friends arent really imaginary, they are ghosts that have come to our children to play and what not. I would ask you son to tell you about the person who is there, what does s/he look like and if your still intreagued, and a believer like myself look into past owners of the home you are in or anyone missing fitting the description given to you by your child. Kee me posted, I think that this is a great and interesting question = )

Answer 5

I dont know if this will help or not -
But my daughter went through a phase at 3 where she saw dinosaurs... and I still to this day have no idea where she picked it up - but most likely tv, book or something.
What I did & I have no clue if its the "right" thing but it worked... I said oh wow - thats cool then something like why dont we go watch tv or go read a book. Or if it was at night & T-Rex was in her room - I would do a search.
For your son I'd ask him who he thought he was, what he's wearing etc... Just remember its real to him.
I didnt want to say shes not seeing something or thats she's being silly as i didn't want to hinder her imagination or hurt her feelings as for as silly/scary as it is for us, its real for them.
She also has an imaginary friend (he was around at about 3) that she still plays with, sees things in her room - all this is normal & its ok. Its their imagination working. Just accept it both to yourself & him and put their attention elsewhere...

Answer 6

I can remember being able to see ghosts when I was small - I'm almost 40 now, so it's been a long, long time.

They say that young children can usually see spirits, but that we lose the ability as we get older.

I believe that our loved ones keep watch over us, so that is probably who it is, but I would still say a prayer of protection for you and your son daily just to keep anything negative away from him.

On the other hand, you might say "I dunno, did you ask their name?". You might be surprised who is visiting.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Yes, they say the woman who the real-life based show "Medium" was based on, her daughter started having psychic abilities at a young age. This is real, and you need to evaluate why this is happening in your home. Get a pastor involved, and get rid of any occult-related items (horror movies, Ouji boards, 8 balls, occultic music--some rock music carries these themes).

Answer 8

have you asked him questions about it? like "what does the person look like? mommy can't see him/her." "what are they doing?" "have you ever seen them before?" "have you seen him/her anywhere else?"...maybe you can start to piece together what exactly he's seeing. could it be a pretend friend or is he a real jokester type? my 4 yr old son is a HUGE storyteller and the stories can get very elaborate. good luck and i'm sorry you feel so creeped out :)

Answer 9

They say that children are more likely to see spirits because their minds are more open to it. I would try not to be too freaked out by it. It seems like a friendly spirit, probably just someone watching over you. Probe him more, ask what the person looks like or what their name is.

Answer 10

Yikes!! I loved the sixth sense, but this would freak me out IRL.

I would take my question over to these folk:
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=503

Good luck!