Son Scared of Ghosts. HELP!

Updated on October 29, 2012
A.H. asks from Flower Mound, TX
14 answers

My 6 year old son has recently become scared of ghosts. It all started when one of his classmates started telling "ghost stories." (not really graphic, scary ones just saying he saw a ghost, or that when you feel cold it means a ghost is walking through you, etc). It got worse when the electricity went out at school and the after-school counselors decided to use flashlights and tell "tame" ghost stories (there was plenty of light from the windows). Anyway, now my son is petrified to be alone. He doesn't even want to go upstairs in our house alone. Tonight he made me sit in the bathroom while he took his shower. We have tried everything we can think of but he is still scared. How can we convince him that there is nothing to be scared of! HELP!!!

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J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

Have you asked him what the ghosts will do to him that he fears? With my kids the first step was establishing what they are afraid of. Like it isn't ghosts, it is something he thinks they can do. Sort of like storms don't scare but the potential tornado does.

So ask him what he thinks will happen and work from there.

6 moms found this helpful

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

I am a psychic/medium. Movies are fake. Many of the paranormal shows out there are particially faked. The over the top reactions on these TV shows are just that over the top to get ratings.
You can help him to get his power back by simply telling him to tell any ghosts around him to go away. Tell them they are not allowed to bother him or hurt him in any way. There probably are no ghosts around him. But if he thinks there are he will feel more powerful if he feels he can control the situation. And he can control the situation.

The ghosts will move away from him.

PM me if you want to

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M.S.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Awww poor little guy! Do you have a spiritual frame of reference as a family? If so, maybe talk about your beliefs about the afterlife. Whenever my daughter is afraid, we pray for peace and talk about God's presence in our lives! Hope he feels comfortable soon!

3 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Aw, this is all normal stuff, try not to make a big deal out of it.
I promise, before long, he won't want you in 30 feet, so enjoy it now....

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E.V.

answers from Phoenix on

I used to be afraid, too. I was nine at that time. Indonesian depicts ghost as those women long hair, white dress.
I was suddenly okay though. My parents didn't make fuss of it, so I kinda forget and I calm down by myself.
I sleep alone after I was 10 years old, but when I awoken and get scared I know I can always jump to my mom's. Please don't overreact and don't make fun of this. Don't take him watch horror movie, too. I can't forget many Indonesian horror movies.

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J.T.

answers from Victoria on

My daughter was scared of the " bad guy with scary teeth" in our master bathroom. IDK what she was talking about she was only two. I explained no one was in there and she wasnt having it. I asked my husband to tell the bad man he could not stay in our house and he was not welcome. he had to go outside and could not come back. Several months later she tried to say he was in our bathroom and reminded her that he couldnt come in that daddy said he had to stay outside. She agreed that he was outside and no long inside.

Btw - I dont think your son is actualy scared of a "ghost" but the stories. Meaning the kids could have told stories about "big foot" or a "lumber jack killer" and he would be telling you to sit in the bathroom because of " big foot" or making u look in his room for the "lumber jack killer". Facing your fears might also help. But you know what he can handle and if it will shock him or not.

My son is big into pep talks. Like if it were him I would say things like " your the bravest warrior in the world. you must face this fear and tackle it" your stronger than any silly story" " now go in your room and tell those silly stories to stop messing with you that you arent scared".
I would say these things very dramatic and effective.

For the record - I believe in the afterlife, deamons and perhaps a scientific energy that we call "ghosts" now but I am waiting for science to accept spirts and configure what "orbs" and "transparent ghosts" really are.

2 moms found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

We went through a spell of this. Ours went with bad dreams as well.
One thing we did was buy rose water in a spray bottle. You can find it as health food stores. You could get something else you like the smell of too but keep it subtle and calming since you're using it at night before bed. We walked around the house and gave a spray in each room of the house and said a simple "No Bad Dreams" or "Go away Bad Guys". They were little so keeping it really simple was best. We would do this every night before bed.
We also have cats and told them that the cats would never let anything harmful into the house so if it were a ghost and it was in the house than it must be friendly because the cats didn't chase it away.
The other thing we told them is very much what ReverendRuby said. We told them that if they felt like something was there to tell them to go away if they weren't going to be nice and that they were welcome to stay if they were going to be nice.
You can also let him have a flashlight near his bed that he can shine to make them go away.
The biggest thing is to give him control over the situation.

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

When my daughter was little and scared of monsters, we put water in a spray bottle with a little scented essential oil and labeled it Monster Repellant, and gave it to her. She would spray around her bed and across her door every night to keep the monsters out of her room.

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S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

don't dismiss his fears, but don't inflate them by giving them too much power/attention. listen to him, ask questions, gently deflate the fear factor with common sense.
and get some ghost-away spray! rosewater is a great idea.
:) khairete
S.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

Children at this age aren't able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. It's too bad the school handled the power outage by telling ghost stories. This is so inappropriate for 6 yo.

In addition to giving him power as others have suggested it's important to validate his feelings. Don't try to talk him out of being scared. Sympathize with his fear. His fear is real to him and will not go away because you tell him there's no reason to be afraid. Tell him that you know he's afraid while telling him he can tell the ghost to go away. You can tell him that you don't believe that there are ghosts and that you know that he does and therefore he's scared. It's OK to be scared. And there are ways to feel less scared. This is where the giving him something to get rid of the ghosts help.

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B.

answers from Augusta on

My kids were afraid until I explained to them that ghosts are just people that no longer have physical bodies. They aren't out to hurt or scare anyone (in most cases) if they do show up they are usually just trying to communicate and let us know they are here.
how old is your house? If it's not that old then let him know that your house isn't old enough to have ghosts in it.
Ruby is absolutely right in everything she said.

ETA: yes I do believe they are real, I've had way too many experiences for them to not be.

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K.B.

answers from San Diego on

If you are religious you can take him to the pastor and have him blessed and tell him that it will keep the ghosts away cause they will know he is blessed.

Or you could do something like that yourself. But coming from a pastor might be more powerful.

My son goes through this at times too. He's 5. His cousins pulled up an app on their phone that "detected ghosts" and then starting scaring him with noises and shaking stuff. He asked them to stop and they wouldn't. We had to intervene when it came to our attention what was going on. It didn't help that I had the tv on and while I was doing house work one of the "real ghost stories" shows came on and he sat there entranced. When I walked in the living room and saw what he was watching he started telling me all about the show. I just told him that it's just tv and tv isn't real and his cousins were just playing with him. I told him that the phone can't tell you when a ghost around because its a phone and we use it to call people, not find ghosts, and that using a phone that calls grandma to find a ghost is just silly. His grandma also gave him a dream catcher for his bad dreams. It's hanging in his room and it comforts him.
It's been about a month now since the incident and he no longer talks about ghosts being around.

Hope this helps.

Good luck! :0)

S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

I just talked with one of our grandsons about this recently while at our house with his brothers. He wanted to tell ghost stories and I said I didn't want that and it scares the little brothers, and him if the truth was known. I am so against this sort of 'fun' thing. Call me weird or whatever but kids should not have to have such fear. They have enough fear at times without a school or others telling them 'ghost' stories. I know kids think it's fun and some don't get scared but most do in reality. The TV is full of it on kids channels, movies, books, and it's just awful for kids these days and causes fears. No wonder so many sleep with parents from fear, etc. I would show your son that nothing is there, tell him when the light is off it's the same only you can't see and turn it back on to show him. He knows this of course. Then tell him that ghosts are not there and that God is watching over him taking care of him. I really hope he gets over this soon. It's so hard to watch a child be terrified.

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M.M.

answers from New York on

My 9 year son old bribes my 6 year old daughter to get his pajamas, put bathroom lights on.. you name it. He is afraid of those creatures that lurk....
My daughter has come to the understanding that if you don't believe in ghosts or monsters they can't exist just like believing in Santa and the Easter Bunny brings good things:)

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