or indeed anything interesting that I think could have caught his attention, but it really looked as though he was being entertained by someone or something.
I picked him up and sat down to feed him, but even though it was a good two hours later than his normal feed time he showed no signs of wanting to feed. Instead he just looked at me with his huge eyes and there was a hint of a smile on his face. We stared at each other like this for a good ten minutes and I know this sounds crazy but in those ten minutes it felt as though my little son was telling me that he was being looked after. Eventually he closed his eyes and I put him back in his cot.
After that I didn’t stop worrying completely–I don’t think any mum ever does, however old her children are–but I realized I was only making things worse by worrying so much. The compulsive checking stopped completely and I managed to get a bit more sleep, which, as any parent of a baby will know, is a miracle in itself.
Although neither Ally nor Wanda could actually see angels looking down on their children, complete with bright lights, feathered wings and a halo, both truly believe that guardian angels were watching over them and that the babies knew it.
Eliot is also convinced that his baby son is seeing something. Here’s his story:
Definitely Seeing Something
Every night after I bath my 19-month-old son Tyler I lay him down on the living-room sofa to put on his nappy and pyjamas. For the last five days while he has been lying there he has been staring up at the ceiling and saying, ‘Babies’. When I ask him what he is looking at, he just smiles, points up at the ceiling and says, ‘Babies’ again. Then when I’ve finished changing him and he’s ready for bed he waves his hand and says goodbye to the babies.
He’s definitely seeing something and I think they are angel babies because he gives them such a huge smile and laughs as if they are doing something funny for him. It’s a beautiful thing to watch and every night I can’t wait to see if the angel babies are going to visit him again.
Pam thinks her son has seen angels too. Here’s what she wrote in an e-mail she sent to me:
Spellbound
My baby boy did this quite often–as many as 10 or 12 times a day. It started when he was about five weeks old and tailed off when he was about seven months old, although some days he was at it again. It was always the same. He would be looking at something, utterly entranced, and have a joyful smile on his face. Whatever he was seeing was invisible to me. He didn’t always look at the same spot and it could happen at any time. I tried to see if there was anything that could be catching his eye, but I never could.
I’ve heard that babies can see angels because they don’t have the disbelief and hang-ups that cloud the eyes of adults and I do like to think that he was looking at his own personal guardian angel.
My husband thinks I sound weird when I talk about things like this, but it’s been wonderful to find out that other mums have had the same experience. I don’t know why, but it’s given me an enormous amount of comfort. I miscarried four times before my son was born and until he started seeing things I was terrified something might happen to him, but now I know he’s being looked after and protected.
Often when I get letters or e-mails from parents about their babies or children, I find that, as with Pam, talk of angels and the world of spirit is new to them but also strangely familiar and comforting. At first many of them question and analyze and try to explain their infant’s behaviour rationally, because, as was the case with Michelle, something happens which seems so strange.
Sounds Strange?
This may sound strange to you, because it still sounds strange to me, but it really happened. I’d just put my daughter Ashley, who is nearly two, into her high chair and had left it pulled out from the table because I didn’t want her to start grabbing her meal yet. I turned away to get her juice and some wet wipes and when I turned round she was pushed in and already eating. When I asked her who had pushed her in she said, ‘Oma’. I nearly dropped the juice because I always used to call my grandmother Oma (I’m Dutch Indonesian and Oma is the word for grandma I used when I was growing up) and as far as I can remember I had never spoken of her to Ashley. She died when I was about ten years old. I do remember her, though, and my mum always used to say to me that the first time I had solid food it was my grandmother who fed me.
Jessica also found her baby had a link with someone who had passed on:
The Entertainer
My daughter is 14 months and as soon as she was old enough to babble she would talk to pictures of my father. I didn’t think there was anything unusual about this, but then a month or so ago she said she had seen an angel. I asked her what it had been doing and she said juggling. Then I asked what it had looked like and she pointed to a picture of my father.
My eyes filled with tears of joy, because although my father died before I was born, my mother told me that he used to be a brilliant juggler. I haven’t talked about him to my daughter yet and my mother certainly hasn’t, as she lives abroad and the last time she saw my daughter was eight months ago, but I’m so happy my daughter is getting to know her grandfather and being entertained by his juggling.
It is very heart-warming that some babies not only see their guardian angels but get to play with them as well. Here’s Reuben’s story:
‘Play with Me’
My son has just turned one and from the day he came home from hospital he has always been looking at little things around the room that we can’t see. At the moment he is really into playing ‘peek a boo’. Last night, when I peeked through the door of his room to check he was alright, I realized that he was actually playing boo with someone I couldn’t see. I went into his room to play it with him, but he wouldn’t play with me! I felt really put out at first, but then I had to smile.
Sam is also delighted that her toddler, Sally, has a playmate. Here’s what she told me:
Sally and Sammy
A couple of weeks ago when my husband was giving Sally a little massage on her back she jumped up and started to look around her as if she was looking for someone. This isn’t unusual–in fact it happens so often that we have called the invisible person Sammy. I’m not sure who or what Sammy really is, but ever since Sally started playing with him/her/it, she’s not been frightened of the dark anymore. She used to scream and scream at night and I got really worried about her, but now we have the most peaceful nights ever.
Many parents tell me that a beautiful calm descends over their babies when they see their guardian angel and this stops them stressing about the apparent strangeness of it all. In fact, the babies almost always appear more settled and happier afterwards, which suggests to me that it is a perfectly natural experience. Jane sent me this story which beautifully illustrates the point:
‘Missing You’
When Lucy was born we had no idea how Simon, our five year old, would react to the baby and the change in the family dynamic, as he was a much longed-for and adored child who was used to being the centre of attention. When we brought her home we told him that he should not be near her unless one of us was present.
One day he disobeyed us and went into her room. We soon noticed he had gone and searched the house. As soon as we got upstairs we heard him talking in a quiet voice to Lucy. We tiptoed to the nursery door to watch him and listen to what he was saying. We heard: ‘Can you tell me about the angels again, because they were always with me, but I don’t see them anymore and I miss them.’
