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Jonah just got over these things, too (he’s 3).
He would hear the vacuum or the drill (ha ha my dh is hardly a handy man, but he does do a few things, lol
) and cover his ears and say “NOISE!”I suppose you can try and condition her? (I didnt do this but my babysitter started to- she lacked follow-through, lol
)take out the vacuum and leave it somewhere where she’ll see it. leave it there a while. then have her touch it. then get silly and play with it (still not turned on)…not sure how long to do each of these steps, but probably a while…
maybe even cut out pictures from a magazine as a cute glueing project & cut out flowers, vegetables, vacuums
…talk incessently (that’s what I’d do, my poor kids
) about the vacuum to her for a few days…My kids like to ride on the vacuum cleaner while I vacuum.
I just try to make it fun for them so they don’t get scared. I tell them they can have a fun ride, then set them on it. Then I warn them that there’s going to be a big noise (in a positive way). They have a blast. Gives you a good workout too . They like “helping” too. I just let them help me push it for a little while.The dreaded vacuum cleaner.
I babysat for lots of toddlers who were afraid of and two of mine were too, so it seems it must be a common toddler fear.I think Ellie got over her fear of the vacuum because I would become so desperate to vaccuum the pigsty we were living it that I’d just turn it on and hold here while vacuuming; not fun…she was heavy…..but it did get her used to it and she eventually stopped being afraid of it.
Brianna used to HATE the vacuum, and I kind of did the same thing that Christine did. We have two dogs, a lab and a rottie mix, so I had no choice but to vacuum. But I would hold Brianna, and let her hold the vacuum and help push it. I think in the end this is what really got her over the fear…my daughter has always wanted to do everything that the adults do
. So as soon as she started helping me vacuum, she started to like the vacuum….we even named it (don’t laugh). Now I vacuum every morning…sometimes Brianna still helps me, and sometimes she just walks behind me while I vacuum. Good luck!
Naomi, that’s a great idea!! I’ve used special toys for different things and it often helps. I never thought of it for fears, though. I’ll have to keep that in mind.
I have a three yr. old with lots of fears.Kaelyn used to love the vacuum and now she’s not thrilled with it. If I let her push it or she uses her toy vacuum while I’m vacuuming, she is usually fine. I’ve also let her ride on it while I vacuum. Sometimes she loves that, other times she totally freaks out. We have a tri-level, so our family room and living room are on different levels. So, sometimes she’ll play on one level while I vacuum the other and that usually helps as well. I got a Roomba last year, and I use that for a lot of the daily type vacuuming. It’s great because I can just turn it on and then leave the room, so we can all be in a totally different area of the house while the vacuum is going.
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