The Great Debate..

I have two children. When my son was that age he was scared of it, now not so much. We play a game when mommy vacuums. My son is the Prince and he is trying to rescue his sister who is two from the castle aka the couch and I am the vacuum monster. He came up with it. I vacuum pretty much every other day because we have white carpet, and my kids beg me to. So my DD really isn’t scared of the Vacuum cleaner. Maybe you could come up with a game to play with her while you vacuum?

Neither of mine were ever afraid of the vacuum. I would suggest it may be that the noise hurts her ears. Some kids are more sensitive to certain sounds than others. I agree with the mom who said prepare her for when you are going to vacuum and then just do it and remain calm. I would add that you ask her if it hurts her ears and if it does, use the wax ear plugs before you start it up. Remember to pay attention to the directions on those, do not make a cone shape and insert, us them as a seal over the ear entry. You don't want stuff stuck in her ear! Good luck.

you are not alone my 2 1/2 year old is the same way she runs to her room and hides and alot of the time cries and then when i am done i have to go her and show her that i am done.please do not feel that you are alone cause your not.i am like you i dont know what to do for her but she has always been a very easily spooked child she doesnt really like people that are not close family or friends she doesnt like loud booming voices she doesnt like any loud noises so i understand what you are going through

my youngest is 3 and is somewhat scared of the vacuum. she runs and jumps on the couch and hides behind the pillows =) my older one was scared of it when she was about 1 1/2 and letting her "help" me push the vacuum helped her get over her fear.
I don't think it's abnormal at all for your daughter to be scared. But you have to vacuum! so just tell her what you're doing: "ok I'm straightening up so that I can vacuum...ok all done picking up! time to plug in the vacuum! ok, I'm going to turn on the vacuum!" and then just do it. she will find her "safe" place and watch you. if she clings to your leg, shut off the vacuum and say "I have to vacuum the floor and I can't do that with you on my leg. you can either sit somewhere and watch, go play in your room, or help me push the vacuum." it might take a few times, but she will learn that clinging to you is not acceptable behavior. and she will get over the fear eventually! if YOU are upset about HER being upset, that might be feeding into her fear, though, so make sure YOU are calm about the situation, too =)
hope this helps!

My two year old daughter screams like the hounds of Hades have burst into the house every time I vacuum. If it gets set in her room while I am working my way in there to use it, she will look at it and scream "NO NO!!" She hates the vacuum.

My son has never been bothered by it at all. He likes it and will help my "push" it even from a very small age.

My son is 2 1/2 and has never been afraid of the vacuum. I did not vacuum when he was sleeping as an infant or anything like that (I was too afraid of waking him, and boy I regret NOT doing it!) but he doesn't like the loudness of it. He always would sit on the couch and watch me and hold his ears, or I would carry him and do it. We have a compact vacuum that we used in an apartment before we had a house, that we keep in the closet as a spare. My son found it and he likes to pretend he is vacuuming with it.

Surely, your little one will grow out of this fear eventually :)

So, you can tell your husband to chalk one up for "not afraid."

i was afraid of the vaccum when i was little
and i think every one was at one time.....good luck
try to find out wat she afarid of :the noise, the size, wat it looks like

To hell with the carpets I say!!! Get rid of it and go all tile and linoleum...there...problem solved!!!

(for the rest of you reading this Margaret and I are RL Friends and she will get a good laugh out of this...)

;-)

my baby was also, so i got a sweeper - the old fashioned kind you push back and forth, does a great job, and i ran the vacuum while she was asleep.

I hate to vacuum around my just turned 2 year old son, but my problem is he wants to do it himself and gets mad if I try to 'help' him. He is not afraid of anything but the first time I pointed out a roly poly he was terrified. I guess they all have their quirks.

You can add a no to you list. My problem is that she constantly wants to "do it" herself. I have the older model of the dyson ball and it can be pretty heavy for a 2 year old.

I've heard others say that one of their children was afraid of the vacume. It was never a problem for me.

Here was one creative mom's solution: She got a hand held one (like a dust-buster) that didn't make as loud of a sound. When she got the same terrified reaction she got for the vacume she realized that her little sweetie was afraid of the things getting sucked up inside it...maybe afraid she would??? We really don't know.

It might be worth a try. She might have fun using the dust buster and work her way toward braveness with the vacume. If she reacts in fear, you'll know that it may be something other than the sound.