Anyone else's child do this?!

[Arimeh]

OMG. DS is seriously doing my freaking head in. Since he was a baby he would freak out when I turned the vaccum cleaner on. Then he loved it. And then since he loved it so much we got him one of his own, so he could follow along behind me.

And now - omg - as soon as I turn the bloody thing on he turns into this manic idiot. Seriously!! It does my freakin head in. He'll say - ooh thats loud mummy - and then he'll start screaming and squealing and running around in circles, and all up and down the hallway (continually screaming) and no matter how many times I tell him to CALM DOWN - he just WILL NOT. So I end up screaming at him (because its soooo freaking annoying to have this screaming manic idiot running around whilst you are trying to vac the bloody floor) and he will not calm down until I turn the vac off. I mean, yeah, gives me a great excuse to not vac my floors because my son turns into a complete idiot who I just want to give a great big smack and get him to act NORMAL!!! But geez - I just wanna vac my floors in peace!!!!!

Does he have a problem going on in his head - or is this normal behaviour for a nearly 3 year old?!

[UntoldAngel]

Could it be a sensory overload for him? Is it only the vacuum he responds to in that manner or are there other noises he doesn't like?
Sorry not much of a help, hope everything settles down

[BekZ]

My DD1 used to freak out over the vac. I ended having to do all the vacuuming late at night or during her day sleeps. She finally learnt to live with me vacing around the age of 3. hth.

[Arimeh]

He goes a bit psycho when we put music on as well - runs around like a mad man and just whoops and kinda screams and squeals.. but its nowhere near as bad as the vac.

Bek - he turns 3 in a week.... hopefully he grows out of it?

[Olive]

ive noticed lately that DD1 doesnt like loud noises, its just started though and all she does id over her ears, i was wondering if perhaps its age related

[BekZ]

DD seemed to just grow out of it but she still will put her hands over her ears when I do vac around her.

[Santosha]

Almost all children have better hearing of high frequency sounds than adults (and lots of vacs do have a high pitch to them) which he might be reacting to. It's also possible that he actually finds the noise painful or over-stimulating because his ability to process sensory input is unusual. I'm not saying that he might have a sensory processing disorder or anything, just that like other things, there's a 'spectrum' from totally typical sensory processing... mild changes... through to serious difficulties coping with and integrating sensory information. Is it possible that he's just got some slight auditory sensitivities? Is he 'funny' with any other sensory stuff? (eg - doesn't like squishy/rough/scratchy textures, attracted to or avoids bright lights, seeks lots of jumping and swinging etc...??

Not sure really... just a suggestion!

[Doing my best]

My niece hated any noises that had a kinda screeching noise, (vac cleaner, lawn mower, whipper snipper), and she grew out of it. She has just turned 5 and has been living reasonably close for about 18 months and I have seen SIL vacuum around her.

So maybe he doesn't like a certain pitch..

[squidipa]

actually my 4 year old is the one whom reacts he gets all exited and he will rush around and jump and climb on things and go funny. He is not scared of the vacuum tho.

[Lulu]

I still hate loud noises.

It might be a good idea to change your approach chicken - it never works when someone yells at you to CALM DOWN does it?

DD has only just got used to motobikes going past the house, I had to peel her off the roof sometimes!

[jackrose]

I was going to say sensory overload too. It seems as if he gets overwhelmed from your description. This can be very normal development for young children as their brains are developing and working out how to process sensory information and he most likely will grow out of it as bek suggested or learn to assimilate the overstimulation.

Coping with snsory overload is a very individual thing. For some people, it works to remove themselves from the environment and go into a quiet, low-stimulation area. Others may find it helpful to add some stimulation that they can completely attend to, such as favorite music. Sometimes, stereotypical behavior ("stimming"), such as rocking, may be a coping strategy.

It can be hard for those of us who don't have this problem to understand how it can be overwhelming but try to think of it this way. The brain works with electrical signals firing all over the place. Everyone has their own 'thermostat' so to speak that their brain works at. Some people have a very low ongoing firing in their brain which keeps things ticking along. These people cope well when there is outside stimulation going on which can ramp up the electrical firing in their brain such as music on in the background or lots of people around them talking or the tv on etc. You know the type, the people who always have the tv on (for company!) but never seem to attend to it or watch it. So for them to operate at a comfortable level they respond to the outside stimulation. Other people have a much higher amount or rate of firing in their brain. They really cannot cope with too much outside stimulation as it overstimulates their brain. These are the sort of people who look for silence around them and cannot abide by the background noise.

Your DS is probably one of the latter and is still working out the levels of noise and sound stimulation he can tolerate. I would agree with Lulu, best change your approach at the moment until he can better cope, try vacuuming when he is not around (not really possible sometimes I know, or try keeping him occupied at another end of the house with a sensory stimulation he can use to relax...

Hope that all makes sense!

[Arimeh]

it never works when someone yells at you to CALM DOWN does it?

I don't yell at him to calm down, I tell him to calm down, and then I usually yell something else containing swear words when he doesn't.. LOL

[~Kim~]

Mel, Darcy is exactly the same, but she does that for the whipper snipper, vaccuum, lawn mower, hair dryer, mix master, blender....you get the picture.....Nate is shaping up to be the same WOOHOO for me - NOT.

She has been like it since she was very small, (hence the reason I can identify it in Nate quickly I guess) but is evr so slowly growing out if it little by little. The info on this thread has been fantastic. I've read it to DH and it totally makes sense why a lot of what we have put into place works.

Before we use anything that makes any noise we have to let the whole house know that 'mummy's going to make a noise'. At first when we figured it out she'd get hysterical and not know what to do. Then she would get hysterical but know to go somewhere quiet (like her room - which we deliberately placed in a quiet part of the house). Then she went to just going to the quiet place without hysterics, then to acceptance and just covering her ears.
So for all that ramble she's eithr getting used to it, or growing out of it.
FWIW I am exactly the same and loud sudden noise does my head in too.

[Arimeh]

But he doesn't do it with the lawn mower or whipper snipper - he walks alongside DH when he's mowing the lawn with his little plastic lawn mower and copies everything he does - DH just thinks that he's being stupid when he does it, because he is fine with every other loud noise - even loud motorbikes driving past the car or something, he thinks its cool.

Bah I just have a weird child I suppose.

[Lulu]

Inside and outside can also change things too though. DS is actually sensory and motorbikes are waaaay cool...

[~Kim~]

yeh ok, Darc does not do motorbikes.

[Arimeh]

Inside and outside can also change things too though.

See thats what I said to DH as well and he's like.. nahhhhhh

I should be married to Lulu I think

[Lulu]

Hehehe! A bike whooshing past only goes for so long too. The vac just doesn't stop...for AAAGGES!