Okay girls I need some help - Zander is totally petrified of the vacuum.

I got it out this morning & straight away he started whimpering. I took it into the first room & brought him in with me to show him it was ok. I let him touch it to see that it's no going to hurt him and he was ok. As soon as the cord came out & I plugged it in he backed himself into a corner and started crying. I explained to him that it's just a big noise & won't hurt him. I tried to convince him to make a big noise as well to see if he can be louder but it didn't work. I then told him the big noise was going to start & turned the vacuum on. He screamed. I convinced him to come over to me & hold my hand but he grabbed onto me around the legs and wouldn't let go. He wasn't crying, just holding on for dear life! So I vacuumed the first room with Zander wrapped round my legs with his face in my crotch LOL. He did keep sneaking looks at it in the mirror though!

I put him down and showed him the button to turn it off and let him press it and he wasn't too bad. I got him to get one of the little brushes from inside and he was also fine with that. I brought it into the loungeroom, put him up on the lounge & told him the noise was going to start again. He was fine. I think he needs to be away from it or something So I finished the lounge & unplugged it from the wall, showing him how the vacuum "eats" the cord. He was happy with no cord and went over to it & was pretending to vacuum the floor. All good now?? Wrong!

I carried it into the hallway & the same thing happened as the first room, he screamed. He hid in his bedroom crying and crying. I had my back to him, still talking & telling him what I was doing & he raced out and grabbed on around my legs again. He decided he had to see what was going on, so he was behind me and put his head between my legs while still clinging for dear life!! And this is how I vacuumed the hallway. Once it was off & the cord packed away he was fine again to have a play.

Sorry I know this is long winded, but I have no idea what else to do. He's fine sitting up on the lounge, but anywhere else he just loses it. The poor little guy is just absolutely terrified of the thing. Has anyone elses kids been the same? What did you do?