This is dh's first request from mumsnet!

[roisin]

Dh had a phonecall this evening - single mum of nearly 2-yr-old. "Max" apparently sees a man in glasses in the evenings who scares him when he is supposed to be going to sleep. Mum thinks it must be a ghost. GP and HV have helpfully told her that if it's a ghost then it's a vicar she needs, not a medical person .. hence the call to dh.

So, advice please ladies. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Hints and suggestions as to what might help this little person in the evenings.

We used to have one of those victorian houses with a tacked on bathroom and one day dd2, aged 3, said matter of factly as she sat in the bath..."Look mummy, that girl with the long hair in plaits has just gone upstairs again".

But to reply to your question, I think that to a child the monster/ghost/apparaition in the corner is real and should be taken seriously but spraying or banishing or leading from the room. Dismissing it as imaginary nonsense won't actually get rid of something that is very real to a child.