My Daughter Is Seeing Ghosts in the House and I’m Freaking Out

A mom, once confident in the safety of her home, recently shared how her daughter began seeing ghosts. Scared, she went online seeking help and advice.

“To preface, we live in a house that was built in 1710. Some of my more spiritually-inclined friends feel we’re ’not alone’ here but have all independently said our house feels warm and welcoming, and it’s a ’friendly presence.’

I don’t know how I feel about ghosts. I think I don’t believe in them, but I’ll still get scared of ghost stories.”

“I’m writing this in a panic as I am home alone tonight (my husband will be home soon), and during our bedtime routine, I’m pretty sure my 2.5-year-old saw ghosts.

Halfway through using the potty, she nearly leaped off of it into my arms with pure terror on her face looking at the shower curtain and saying, ’Who is coming out of there??’ I was like, ’What do you mean?’ And she goes, ’I’m scared of the people,’ I said, trying to stay calm, ’What people?’ and she said, ’The bad guy!!’ And then she wouldn’t let me put her down for a while and wouldn’t go out to the hallway, saying, ’I’m too scared of the people on the stairs.’

Please send help. Or tell me this is a normal age to start saying these things?”

People shared similar stories and advice.

• “My 3.5-year-old says stuff like this all the time. It’s the cartoons in her case. There’s a lot of bad guys, monsters, and general disasters in those.” ConsciousChicken1249 / Reddit
• “Check your carbon monoxide levels. Kiddo could be more sensitive to high levels. Old houses can easily have issues that cause hallucinations, which in turn results in claims of ghost sightings.” browncoatsneeded / Reddit
• “My 3-year-old told me, with complete conviction, that there was a raptor (dinosaur) jumping on his bed last night. And a T-Rex knocking on his door. He was completely convinced that those things had actually happened, and I could not tell him otherwise. Kids have active imaginations. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” expatsconnie / Reddit
• “My kid thinks a ghost lives in his room. We have a bottle of lavender-scented spray that we call his ghost spray, and we tell him that it scares the ghost away. Surprise, surprise, nine times out of ten, the ’ghost spray’ works.” AssistantManagerMan / Reddit
  

Children seeing ghosts is a common parent concern. Doctors believe this phenomenon could be attributed to cultural influences. Children raised in environments where discussions about supernatural entities are commonplace are more prone to interpreting certain experiences as encounters with such beings. In contrast, children not exposed to such conversations are less inclined to categorize similar occurrences in that manner.