Does my child see ghosts?

Question

My family and I have lived in an apartment for about 2 years now. About 4-5 months ago or so my 4 year old son started to talk about ghosts and that his friend is a ghost that lives in his bedroom. I would sometimes catch him talking to himself as if he was talking to someone else next to him. He seemed fine, and I thought it was just an "imaginary" friend that some children make up to keep them company. Or maybe he was just watching too much Scooby Doo. But during the last few weeks or so he has become terrified of 'his ghosts'. He refuses to go into his room to sleep or to play anymore, says the ghosts will get him. He is afraid to even go up there to grab a toy unless I am with him. I am unsure what to believe in, or what I should tell him to ease him other than "nothing is going to hurt you". Any thoughts? Anything helpful would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

I honestly believe that little children do. I have a four-year-old son who was with me when I found my husband's best friend dead, having hung himself from a tree in our yard (he wasn't even 2 at the time). Sometime after he turned 3, he started telling us that Chaz (my husband's friend) said things to him and would want us to pretend to be Chaz when we played games. My husband and I were careful never to mention Chaz after he committed suicide in order to help Aidan forget. Yet somehow he started talking about him one day out of the blue. Six months later, our son started telling us about "the angels" who came to visit and play with him. Two months later the "bad angels" started coming and he wouldn't sleep in his room. He said the "good angels" would run away when the "bad angels" came. He said the "bad angels" would yell at him and say mean things (although he could never tell us what they said). Finally, we told him to come and get us when the "bad angels" came and when he did, my husband ran into his bedroom roaring and yelling at the angels to get out and never come back. My husband is 6'4" and about 350lbs. My son was a little scared of him but the "bad angels" have only come back two times and our son just told them to leave and they did. Here's the kicker, we are not Christian, we don't talk of angels and have never mentioned angels. We don't watch Christian TV and our son has never heard the word angels used in reference to beings other than maybe once or twice telling Aidan he is a little angel. The only place that word could have come from is the angels themselves. Dad and I have always used the word "spirits" etc to refer to the spiritual realm, maybe even "fairies" and "gnomes". I would believe him and try our trick of charging into his room like a mad bull, or giving him a charm, or hanging a large picture of a lion, or something non-human to help him scare away his ghosts. Good luck, and I just wanted you to know that other parents have been there.

Answer 2

Try getting a large stuffed tiger or two and prop them up inside his room facing his bedroom door to symbolically protect him. I did this for my son after he saw a scary movie and it worked.

However if there are real ghosts, and there probably are, you want to encourage them to leave. Even if they aren't dangerous they are not good to have around. You could maybe get a BTB black hat feng shui practitioner to get rid of the ghosts and seal the doors to keep them out. Or do some research on your own to find out what to do.

Answer 3

Sleep in his room with him until he figures out that there's nothing to be scared of. Ghosts aren't real... I can understand your fears, though. Something that seems ludicrous can suddenly seem frightening if you feel like your child's safety is on the line.
He's just an imaginative little boy, and he probably saw something on TV that spooked him.

Answer 4

There's a chance that he saw a television show of ghosts before and became scared of it and believed it. But I've always believed in ghosts, because why not? Ghosts make sense to me. But I think he's just passing his little kid phobia where they get scared of boogie monsters and such. It's ok. If he becomes older and still says that he sees ghosts then it might become a problem. But currently, it's normal.

Answer 5

i believe that ghosts do exist. i remember when i was about 8 i went through a faze where i thought they were going to get me too. i used to be forced into my room at night, and i used to have to sleep with the covers over my head and all my lights on. my friends mom gave me a special "charm" - it was really just an old piece of costume jewelery - and she told me that if i hung it on my bed post, the ghosts wouldnt come near my bed while i slept. it worked. now that i look back, i realize what it really was, just an old necklace. when i got older, i asked her about it, and she said she wanted me to find my confidence and put it in something. even though i didnt have the confidence within myself to deal with the fear, i was able to take my confidence and put it into an item that was symbolic. eventually i forgot about the necklace hanging on my bed, and the covers eventually came off my face at night, and the light bill eventually went down too =) my friends mom also told me that the reason she chose an old necklace was because if i wanted to go play in my room, i could put it on and i wasnt afraid any more. just a thought. good luck, and give him lots of hugs!

Answer 6

Move in to that room and let your child sleep in another room(temporarily). So you will find out for yourself and ease the fear of your son.

Answer 7

Fingure out weather his great great grandma was seeing ghosts then his great grandma mite of picked him to see the cool ghosts

Answer 8

my family and I believe in ghost, my mom would tell me to pray about it and tell the ghost to leave you alone, most of the time they did leave.

Answer 9

He is probably seeing spirits as many young children do. Reassure him there is nothing to be frightened of.

Answer 10

I would think he is seeing shadows in low light or maybe is halucinating due to lack of sleep