Scared of the vacuum cleaner?

My almost 3 yr old has never liked loud noises, so I've always tried to do
vacuuming and the like when she's in another room playing, or when she's at
preschool, or when she's outside with Daddy, but recently, it's turned from
"don't like the vacuum" into being actually scared of it. The first time I
saw her panic was in the store when we were shopping for a new one-it was
like she thought the turned off demo models would attack her. Now, if I even
take the vacuum out of the closet, even turned off, she goes into a panic
mode. I thought that getting her a toy one to play with might help, and her
response at the store was "Put it away, please! I don't want the vacuum. Put
it away!!"-not panic, but about the reaction you'd expect to see if you
handed someone who was scared of snakes a known harmless, not poisonous
variety.

This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had problems
with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves the
halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of most
things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?

Donna Metler wrote:

This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had problems
with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves the
halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of most
things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?

This may sound callous, but I think she just has to deal
with it. Do the vacuuming when DH is around so she can sit on
his lap while you do it (or vice versa). Hopefully that opportunity
presents itself often enough to maintain reasonably clean carpets ;-)
Since she's not scared of other things, it's probably that she's
particularly sensitive to loud noises. Some ear plugs might help.

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Oct 2, 10:34 am, Ericka Kammerer wrote:
Donna Metler wrote:
This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had problems
with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves the
halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of most
things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?

This may sound callous, but I think she just has to deal
with it. Do the vacuuming when DH is around so she can sit on
his lap while you do it (or vice versa). Hopefully that opportunity
presents itself often enough to maintain reasonably clean carpets ;-)

I understand how a child could find the noise of vacuum cleaners
upsetting (I still find it annoying), so I'd suggest that one parent
take the kids outside while the other parent vacuums.

Partly off-topic, but I am reminded of what software entrepreneur Paul
Graham said about vacuum cleaners http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html .

"If companies want hackers to be productive, they should look at what
they do at home. At home, hackers can arrange things themselves so
they can get the most done. And when they work at home, hackers don't
work in noisy, open spaces; they work in rooms with doors. They work
in cosy, neighborhoody places with people around and somewhere to walk
when they need to mull something over, instead of in glass boxes set
in acres of parking lots. They have a sofa they can take a nap on when
they feel tired, instead of sitting in a coma at their desk,
pretending to work. There's no crew of people with vacuum cleaners
that roars through every evening during the prime hacking hours."

"Donna Metler" wrote:

My almost 3 yr old has never liked loud noises, so I've always tried to do
vacuuming and the like when she's in another room playing, or when she's at
preschool, or when she's outside with Daddy, but recently, it's turned from
"don't like the vacuum" into being actually scared of it. The first time I
saw her panic was in the store when we were shopping for a new one-it was
like she thought the turned off demo models would attack her. Now, if I even
take the vacuum out of the closet, even turned off, she goes into a panic
mode. I thought that getting her a toy one to play with might help, and her
response at the store was "Put it away, please! I don't want the vacuum. Put
it away!!"-not panic, but about the reaction you'd expect to see if you
handed someone who was scared of snakes a known harmless, not poisonous
variety.

This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had problems
with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves the
halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of most
things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?

Does she dislike a carpet sweeper (a mechanical thing without a
motor)? Is it possible that it is the particular noise that the
vacuum makes rather than the machine itself?

I used to be (when I was younger) able to hear the high whistling
noise that the old TVs made. And I know when I was a baby, my mom had
me sleeping on the porch at my grandmothers, and I would wake up
crying whenever the swallow that had a nest in the eves came back to
the nest to feed the babies. My mom concluded that the baby birds
weren't just opening their mouths, but were making a noise that she
couldn't hear, but which hurt my ears.

It is possible that your efforts to keep the vacuum away from her has
given her the subconscious idea that it is something that is
appropriate to fear.

In any case, if ear plugs (or ear muffs might be easier) don't help
with the pitch of the noise, then I think you have to deal with this
the way you would deal with any other phobia.

Couple of thoughts, Donna.

First, many little kids do have acute hearing in a broader frequency
range than adults. Monkey Boy grew wildly upset by our old vacuum
cleaner, but even I could hear that it made a really awful screaming
noise. DH could not hear it. We bought several used vacuum cleaners
at a thrift shop, until we figured out which ones did not bother him
in the process we also learned which features we liked and disliked.
Then we bought a new one that pleases everyone.

If the noise your daughter hears is excruciating to her, it can become
aversive and the aversion can extend over time to many other thing
associated with the noise and can severely restrict her life. So look
into desensitizing her, in addition to finding a vacuum cleaner that
does not make the noise. Have her sit on a lap where she is secure,
or have her go in another room with someone, or run the vacuum at
first for very short intervals. "Okay, I am going to run it until
3...1, 2, 3. All done!" There are many other possible approaches,
and books on how to do this, some for people, some for animals. The
important thing is never try to "push through" her fear; that does
not work. Stop well before she loses control.

Good luck with this.

Pologirl

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
My almost 3 yr old has never liked loud noises, so I've always tried to do
vacuuming and the like when she's in another room playing, or when she's
at preschool, or when she's outside with Daddy, but recently, it's turned
from "don't like the vacuum" into being actually scared of it. The first
time I saw her panic was in the store when we were shopping for a new
one-it was like she thought the turned off demo models would attack her.
Now, if I even take the vacuum out of the closet, even turned off, she
goes into a panic mode. I thought that getting her a toy one to play with
might help, and her response at the store was "Put it away, please! I
don't want the vacuum. Put it away!!"-not panic, but about the reaction
you'd expect to see if you handed someone who was scared of snakes a known
harmless, not poisonous variety.

This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had
problems with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves
the halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of
most things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?


When it's time to vacuum ask DD to get it out for you. Say something like
"Mummys not feeling very strong today can you pull it out of the cupboard
for me" Then say something about not being able to vacuum because your arm
is sore can she do it for a little bit till you feel better. I have found
that if ever my girls were scared of something (very rare) that I would find
a very casual excuse as to how they could be exposed to that fear.


--
Pip, in NZ

My girls :
DD1 Jasmine - 5 weeks early - March 02 - 4lb 12oz
Still as small as a peanut but as smart as a whip!

DD2 Abby - 8 weeks early - Feb 05 - 3lb 14oz
Two and a half and still a terror!!

"Yes you can drive me insane just by talking to me!"

"Pologirl" wrote in message
ups.com...

Couple of thoughts, Donna.

First, many little kids do have acute hearing in a broader frequency
range than adults. Monkey Boy grew wildly upset by our old vacuum
cleaner, but even I could hear that it made a really awful screaming
noise. DH could not hear it. We bought several used vacuum cleaners
at a thrift shop, until we figured out which ones did not bother him
in the process we also learned which features we liked and disliked.
Then we bought a new one that pleases everyone.

If the noise your daughter hears is excruciating to her, it can become
aversive and the aversion can extend over time to many other thing
associated with the noise and can severely restrict her life. So look
into desensitizing her, in addition to finding a vacuum cleaner that
does not make the noise. Have her sit on a lap where she is secure,
or have her go in another room with someone, or run the vacuum at
first for very short intervals. "Okay, I am going to run it until
3...1, 2, 3. All done!" There are many other possible approaches,
and books on how to do this, some for people, some for animals. The
important thing is never try to "push through" her fear; that does
not work. Stop well before she loses control.

Good luck with this.

Pologirl



mine are scared of that sort of noise too, the 5 yo in particular. How does
she go witha hair dryer noise? i am just hoping he will grow out of it, and
i use it as a good reason to minimise vacuuming!!

chris

On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 21:15:42 -0500, Donna Metler wrote:

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?

How about a Roomba? I love my Roomba and am waiting for it to die so I can
get the latest model. Unfortunately, it is still alive. They don't look
like typical vacuums and aren't that loud. Your DD might get a kick out of
it.

In article ,
"Donna Metler" wrote:

My almost 3 yr old has never liked loud noises, so I've always tried to do
vacuuming and the like when she's in another room playing, or when she's at
preschool, or when she's outside with Daddy, but recently, it's turned from
"don't like the vacuum" into being actually scared of it.

When mine went through this stage, I got them to count the vaccuum cleaner on
-- one two, three and I'd press the button. Having control over the noise
made them feel better about it.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
My almost 3 yr old has never liked loud noises, so I've always tried to do
vacuuming and the like when she's in another room playing, or when she's
at preschool, or when she's outside with Daddy, but recently, it's turned
from "don't like the vacuum" into being actually scared of it. The first
time I saw her panic was in the store when we were shopping for a new
one-it was like she thought the turned off demo models would attack her.
Now, if I even take the vacuum out of the closet, even turned off, she
goes into a panic mode. I thought that getting her a toy one to play with
might help, and her response at the store was "Put it away, please! I
don't want the vacuum. Put it away!!"-not panic, but about the reaction
you'd expect to see if you handed someone who was scared of snakes a known
harmless, not poisonous variety.

This is literally the only fear she seems to have. She's never had
problems with monsters, ghosts, shadows, or other imaginary things, loves
the halloween displays in stores, and just plain doesn't seem scared of
most things-but my upright sends her into panic, and even the dustbuster
obviously makes her uncomfortable.

Any suggestions short of ripping out the carpet and putting in sealed
hardwood?



Well my opinion may be over the top. Learn to love dirty floors until she
outgrows it.