Recently I read a post on a FB group I am a part of and a mom there was asking for help. She said her young daughter had stopped sleeping in her room due to a “nighttime visitor” no one in the family could see who came every night and scared the little girl. The mom was worried her daughter was psychotic and needed meds. I very kindly responded to her query and suggested perhaps she pursue the possibility that what her daughter was seeing was not imaginary. Doing so might help her daughter work through her nighttime “visions”. A believing mom or dad goes a very long way towards helping young empaths. Also, I am not anti-medication for empaths, but I am absolutely anti-giving them labels like psychotic or crazy. Because chances are high, her young daughter was probably an empath and not even remotely psychotic.
This is kind of why I am writing about parenting empaths. There are parents out there who might have had some highly empathic abilities, turned them off for whatever reason (which people can do, but not without a cost.) Then along comes little Sally or Johnny who is extremely empathic and that poor kid has it rough when they are trying to understand a world that is very different from what everyone else around them experiences.
So now back to nighttime…..
Nighttime can get a little crazy for your young empath. Over the years more often than not, my husband and I have had one or more of our young children sleeping in our room. I know that many parents do this, but if you have an empathic child you need to help them set some healthy nighttime boundaries that will make a HUGE difference going forward in their life. Here are a few ideas:
Help them create a safe nighttime space
This can mean putting up a tent or princess fairy netting or some type of shield around their bed. Doing this will help them to create a boundary for their space. Empaths in real life rarely have a whole lot of personal space, at least without consistent and conscious effort. People and spirits are always bumping and pushing their way into an empath’s space. By using a tent or something like that when an empath is little you can help them to understand that they can ask for and demand personal space.
I don’t always expect my young empath to sleep in their room if they are scared and my husband and I have created a kind of open-door policy to our room. I know some people might shake their heads at that, but if I could relate to you all of the nighttime visitors some of my empathic children have had, as an adult you would never ever want to be alone again. I promise you.
Talk it out
One of my children saw something one night that scared them so bad they would not even go into the bathroom alone for months. They were very hesitant to even talk about what they had seen, for fear it would return if they talked about it. I believed that they saw something scary and didn’t push the issue and waited until they were ready to talk. It took 2 months. Two months of all of us in our family going to the bathroom with a child that was well over the age of needing help in the bathroom, but we did it, and boy was I glad we did that when that child finally opened up and told us what they saw. That was scary!
Once that child opened up and started talking about what had been following them, together we could formulate a plan for helping them to understand what was going on and how to help them get rid of it.
Getting rid of scary things
One of my favorite shows to watch is the Dead Files. I have watched it over the years in order to learn some of the things that were out there that my children were seeing, and yes my children have seen many of the MOST scariest things Amy on the show has described seeing. Watching her on the show has been kind of a validation of sorts for what my children have seen because most empaths don’t really talk about these things in open conversations. I get that one for sure.
I differ though sometimes in the approach the show the Dead Files has to get rid of some of the “things” that are “haunting” a person or space.
First, as detailed above talk it out with your empath. You may need to be patient.
Second, remind your empath that they can ask for space. A really young empath is not going to be able to help an older spirit who is looking for closure to a sad situation in their life. That is not in a young empath’s ability set quite yet. I always ask my empath how something makes them feel? And if they say scared, well then it needs to go. They do not need to have fear as the main focus in their young lives.
Empower your empath by telling them they can tell things to go away and never come back. You can even do it together when your empath is very young or feeling most vulnerable. I have used various methods for this and if you are interested in what we have done, please reach out to me. I am happy to share what we have done. Most of the toolkit we use focuses on the light and love of Jesus Christ and how through Him, the dark and scary can be eradicated.
Hugs to you my fellow empath parents. I promise what you are doing is important when someday you have the opportunity to literally see your children change people’s lives in a way that would not be possible if they were not an empath.
Want to read more about Parenting Empaths? Start HERE.
Love,
Jen
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