Scared of the vacuum

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 :dunno: 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?

Jonah is exactly the same, he is petrified. He trembles as well as screaming and crying. He's ok if we're both here and one of us can hold him bit if it's just me he's beside himself. I have no idea what the solution is except for persistence and hopefully he'll get used to it. If I simply can't do it I wait until we're both here, which means I can't vacuum that often but atleast he's not being traumatised.

Oh Sarah, you poor loves.......I have a mental image of it all going on in your household this morning.....

We had the same problem with Olivia.....nightmare.

It is only now that she will admit that "Hoover not scary. Just noisy. Nosiy hoover. But not scary"...................but for the past year or so she has been terrified, to the point where I just waited till DH took her out for a few hours so I could vac........

So I have no solutions I'm sorry, just time.........

Yasin was the same. He got over it eventually but in the meantime the solutions that worked for us were one of us taking him to another room and closing the door and playing with him while the other vacuumed or alternatively just taking him out of the flat completely or doing it while he was asleep with his door closed (risky because sometimes he woke up). I also did it while Yasin was in the sling a couple of times but it was a backbreaker so I can't recomend it.

Matilda used to be petrified of the vacum, same thing running & crying and hiding. We used to leave it out with the cord out in the hallway for a few days (this is the same way I desensitise dogs so I figured I'd try it out) and then while she & DH would have a shower or something else, playing like dachlostar said, I would vacum in another room. For a short time & then turn it off & put it back in the hallway. DH & I would ignore the vacum while it was in the hallway and before bed we would say "time to put the vacum to bed" and she would always help us.

We just did that heaps for a few months & now she will watch me closely when I get it out and get overly helpful and insist on vacuming herself.... ah well...

Jenna is now afriad of the vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the whipper snipper and the electric beater. I'm putting it down to a developmental stage as a few months ago she was fine with all of them.
I'm thinking its the noise, and maybe a "toy" lawnmower or something similar will get her out of it if it becomes really bad.

Amy used to be scared too until DH ‘desensitised’ her with it (as Christy mentioned). That term is from training horses as well. That basically means not giving attention to her being scared and he just carried her around when he vacuumed and left it out. She is totally overy being scared now and actually plays with it.

I wish I had a suggestion to help. Blake actually loves it when vacuum. He walks behind it, pushing it ( or used to when he couldn't walk by himself!)

Jacob is the same as Blake - he's always loved the vacuum cleaner. He'll push it around and pretend to clean with it whenever it's turned off and will either do his own thing whilst I'm using it, or we'll make a game out of it where I chase him with it and he loves it.....

My friend however, her little daughter HATED the vacuum cleaner also. I'm not sure what she did in order to overcome the problem, but I do know that it took a lot of time and patience unfortunately - I think it was the noise of it like the others have said, that frightened her, so my friend would only do very short bursts with it whilst she was around and gradually built up how much she did whilst she was there......

eliana is scared of it too even the dust buster - i cant vacuum if im here alone but if mum comes over she is fine & i can vacuum right up to her so im thinking it is an attention thing & a good excuse for me to not vacuum
im glad im not alone with this problem!

Lily is really scared of the vacuum too, but i think for a good reason. Once i accidently left it plugged in and she went over to it and pushed the on button and it turned on and scared the crap out of her, she was shaking from head to toe. No she never goes near it if it's plugged in, but is ok if it's not. She will also cry when it's on and just cannot go near it.

Kimberley used to love the hoover then one day she started to copy the dog and run away from it. She now sits on the sofa with her feet up but stil won't go near it.
Alex he loves to follow me around and is always hold the lead for it. I know one day he will run away from it.

Fletch, good point about the noisy toys - Zander has a bit of a freak out over them too. And the blender & the hair dryer....

So it looks like perserverance is the key then? I can do that!

Matilda has the freak out over noisy things as well....she used to hate the hand held mixer until I started letting her lick the bowl of the cupcakes I was making, now she comes up with a finger out saying "lick?"

Aidyn actually really likes the vacuum cleaner. He also has an obsession with the mower, although wont get 'too' close to it when DP is mowing.
I think what helped him is that he has had a toy mower since his 1st birthday, which has a pullstring that makes a loud noise as it retracts back in.
He just loves anything that has a motor/engine!

Perhaps getting Zander his own fun push along mower or other loud toy may help him get used to the concept?

i am lucky lani doesn't mind the vacuum she does push around a toy one tho when i do it, HOWEVER my ds OMG he was absoultely shocking with the lot - vacuums, mowers, motorbikes driving past etc etc - you name it any loud noise would set him off - you know what we got him some proper earmuffs from bunnings (we got the adult ones cause couldn't find any kids ones) and just had them on the smallest they could go, worked a treat and he was quite happy with his "muffs" and would even follow his daddy around the yard doing the lawns and me doing the vacuuming. didn't last too long from memory and now he vacuums for me lol.

Would you believe mum has organised to get him an Elmo vacuum for Christmas :D She told me when I was explaning what happened today.

Awwwww, that's fabulous, what a good idea :)

I can't help sorry, we have the opposite problem. Jackson is obsessed with our vaccum, if he sees the laundy door open, he bolts to get to it, and if you dare close the door or put the vacuum away, he chucks a major tantrum.

If he is having a grumpy day, I pull out the vacuum and he could sit in the hallway for an hour just playing with it, strange!!

The toy vacuum cleaners are great - Jacob has one too and loves it! It's not an Elmo one but a different one......

Lol, i bought DD a vacuum and she is scared of it too. She is 3 1/2 and still wont let me vacuum while im home. DH has to be here so she can go outside with him. Can be very frustrating.

Evan was scared of the vacuum too. but I made a big game out of it & would have the music up loud & sing & dance while holding him on my hip & vacuum in the other hand. Wasn't too long before he was wanting turns to do the floor. Now with the 2 of them, they fight over who gets to have aturn vacuuming the floor!

Good one Fletch - and good on Mr Zaney - brave boy :dance:

WTG Zane :) A huuuge moment!

OMG Fletch, I did the same thing today and Jonah did exactly the same thing except he didn't touch it, weird.

Nope, same old same old over here.

Well done to Jonah as well :D

Hoorah for Zane, duh, I forgot to say that, I was too wound up in it being weird. It's so good to see them over come fears, for such little bubba's it's such an achievement.