Do Young Children see Ghosts?

This question was posed on a forum recently. The woman who started the thread had the Saturday before been assigned to watch two 2-year old toddlers at her church while their parents volunteered in the community.

Her church was new so they used a local community center.

As she rolled a ball on the gym floor to these two young children she felt that someone was watching them.

The boy asked if they could throw the ball. She agreed and the three stood up. The boy went to throw the ball to her but threw it just out of her reach. She did not hear the ball bounce.

Both children giggled and pointed. She turned around and saw the ball suspended in midair then it dropped straight down to the floor as if someone was holding it.

The kids just kept laughing and pointing. They repeated several times, “The man! The man!”

She admitted it freaked her out but she wasn’t scared. She also mentioned that she had never believed in the paranormal but now she had to wonder.

She asked if others knew if small children are more prone to see ghosts.

Her story and question elicited quite a response.

Many responders told their own stories. One overriding theme of this thread was that very young children and even infants do see ghosts but as they get a little older it stops.

Here are just two of the stories from this thread.

One mother recalled when her daughter was just a few months old she noticed her baby would look over at something and start giggling. She said it was like something was making her laugh.

Her babies’ eyes would follow it around the room. She often herself sensed this presence. When she felt it behind or next to her then her daughter would look in that direction and smile.

She was never afraid, in fact she stated that sometimes when her daughter was upset she would look over and start smiling or laughing.

This mother also mentioned that during this time when her or her husband could not find something they really needed it would all of a sudden appear right in front of them. It was always in a place they had checked a hundred times.

She stated that by the time her daughter turned 2 she no longer interacted with this presence.

One reply she received to her story questioned if this might have been a loved one who had passed away.

A father shared another story in this thread. He stated that when his daughter was 2 or 21/2 she slept in a crib in a room next to their bedroom.

One night she was restless and crying. The father feeling she was frightened went to check on her. His daughter did not calm down so her brought her into his and his wife’s room.

She was wide-awake but no longer scared. He noticed she was fixated on something at the foot of the bed. She said, “Look at the lights. They sparkle.”

She kept mentioning the lights and clapping. Then she said, “Daddy, who’s that man?” She pointed directly at the foot of the bed.

The father mentioned it was upsetting but they managed to get to sleep. He and his wife had moved into an apartment where the original owners, an elderly couple had both passed away a few months before they moved in.

A poster replied to his post with the statement that he would not have been able to sleep after this.

There were many similar stories on this thread. One poster stated her baby would stare at someone they couldn’t see and if they blocked her line of vision she would move or stretch so she could continue to see what she was looking at.

Another man mentioned he and his sibling when they were 2 would see a man in their house and an old lady at their grandmothers. As they grew up they didn’t remember this but their mother reminded them.

One poster mentioned that children are more open but at some point they lose this ability. I think this is true in most cases but not in all.