Hi, My nine year old son is afraid of being on his own. This has been going on now for as long as i can remember and I thought he would just grow out of it. He says he knows there are monsters or ghosts in the house. Every time i go upstairs he follows me up and the same if i go downstairs, if I go downstairs and I don't tell him he works himself up into a state of panic and i'm afraid he is going to hurt himself especially at the speed he runs down the stairs. At night when i put him to bed, all the lights are to be left on and he sleeps under his cover and does't come out till morning. I also have a 6 year old little girl who tries her best to believe there is nothing in the house which will 'get her' but my sons behaviour is rubbing off on her and as soon as it starts getting dark she won't go upstairs by herself, This has only been a problem with my little girl for the last year, before that she was fine on her own around the house. We are a very loving family and have had no family problems in the past. I have racked my brains for a reason as to why this happens and no amount of gently talking to him about the fact that there are no monsters has done any good. Any advice would be gratefully received.

How about a little ceremony to politely ask the ghosts and monsters to move on? No harm in a little bit of acting if he has convinced himself they exsist and I think its sometimes best if we just accept our childrens fears and beliefs rather than try telling them its all in there imagination especially if its affected them so much they can't get on with a normal day. I wouldn't look too hard for a reason, theres alsorts on tv that tries to convince us ghosts exsist and he's probably picked up his fears from playground talk about the subject.