Toddler with Strange Fear of Vacuum Cleaners

my 5 year old has been scared of it for quite some time . This past year we are now able to let her know we are using it and she goes into anothr room and takes her little brothe rwith her to protect him from it too.. They also both hate the hair dryer...

Some kids are really sensitive to noise. Others fear the suction - they think they will disappear up inside. Similar fears include going down the drain of the tub, or being flushed down the toilet. It's a very instinctual thing - my dog is even afraid of the storm drains!

It's a developmental phase and it will go away. Just vacuum when your child is out of the house or asleep (if possible). The child is a lot more important than the floor! Try to relax your cleaning standards, or use a broom for the floor, a carpet sweeper for the rugs, and a sticky lint remover for the furniture.

I chuckled when I read your question, only because I've been there. Not with a vacuum cleaner, but my two year old this summer suddenly developed an irrational fear of bath water. Specifically, he was convinced that the bath water was "dirty." It made bathtime pure hell for sometime. I called our peditrician and she said that this tends to be "normal" toddler behavior to develop these fears. It took sometime and creativity, but eventually my son outgrew his fear and blissfully takes baths again. Good luck!

I, too, don't have much advice beyond that I think it's normal and will pass. It didn't come on suddenly for my daughter, who's now just past two, but she has always been afraid of the vacuum and the hair dryer--which meant less time spent on housework and personal grooming for me! But her most extreme reaction was to the iron and ironing board. My ironing board squeaked terribly until I oiled it, but by then the damage was done--she couldn't look at either it or the iron without bursting into tears. It was funny and sad at the same time. She is starting to grow out of her fear of all these noisy machines. When I vacuum, I try to have her dad distract her or take her outside. And I tell her what the vacuum is doing (I think she thought it would hurt me).

Absolutely, totally, I have been there!! In my daughter's case it turned out to be that she was afraid the cleaner would "suck [her] up" ... about the same time she began being afraid of me letting the plug out in the bath while she was still in it because the water might "suck [her] down the drain" (that turned out to be a blessing in disguise when I realized it was a quick way to get her out of the tub!).

I tried explaining to her that these things could not possibly make her get sucked in, but she was adamant! It took about a year, but I had to only vacuum when she was out of the house (I ended up getting my sister-in-law to come over for an hour once a week to vacuum, wash the floors, and dust for me - only cost me $20/wk and my floors were clean!), and she eventually just grew out of it.

Good luck!!

Normal. My now 3.5 year old still checks to make sure that there is no vacuum lurking around when we go to restaurant bathrooms. This fear might not go away entirely anytime soon, but I bet it will get better enough that you can use it when he is just in another room.

I'd take this over my nephew who is obsessed with vacuums (pictures up of them, etc), but that is a story for another day...

Hi S.-I can't relate to this story with my two-year old but I can with myself when I was 2!! I clearly remember my extreme fear of the vacuum cleaner when my mother vacuumed and I was just over 2 yrs. old, not yet 3. I remember trying to fit under the sofa to escape this big enormous loud machine and I would be in a panic because I couldn't get under the sofa to hide! My mother would blast this music and sing to make it better--it made it worse for me! Then I really freaked out! Very funny I can remember this...when I saw your post I had to share my own memory: how I got over it? With age...by the time I was about 3 I forgot why I used to get so scared of it. I think it was because I didn't understand what it did or its purpose and I saw it as just a big scary loud invasive mysterious machine. I thought my daughter would share my toddler fear of vacuums but she doesn't--she instead laughs and runs with it and pulls the cord...which drives me crazy...at least I suppose she finds it fun...I sure didn't at 2 like your son!

We used to put big ear protectors on our son when we vacuumed to give him a little peace. Also, we let him vacuum with the canister vac, which he loved to do when he was younger. For a few years there, he ended up always wanting to vacuum...but only if the ear protectors were on. Alas, now at 12, the novelty has worn off and that's the last thing he wants to do. He still just dislikes the sound of both upright and canister vac, and, to this day, still sometimes puts on the ear protectors.

It's totally normal and centered around the same fear of the bath that crops up at about this time too. Kids that age can't comprehend the difference between things getting sucked up the vacuum (or water going down the drain)and the fact that they are too big to get sucked up (or down the drain). If you can ever get him to the point where you can do a little demonstration using maybe a favorite stuffed animal or some toy that is too big to be sucked up it might be just what he needs to quiet his fears.

totally normal.. my son even hates my hair dryer.. some kids are just more sensitive to noises

Mine were too. The older taught the younger. Had to warn the school, but they forgot. The noo noo (said new-new) on Teletubbies did it. Vaccuumed up a character's hat while they were wearing it. Took a while, seperate rooms, door shut,loud tv, etc. Kept them more careful about not spilling. I did find a vaccuum that had a slide on, which starts quietly, and I can increase suction as needed. That was the beginning of them getting over it. The low setting worked great on hardwood. The beater bar one was for our only two rooms of ten with carpet.
Sorry, it may be a long haul, but at least now you know it is normal.
Good luck,
D.

Have him watch Teletubbies a few times, they have a vacuum-like thing on there called the "Noo-noo". It has a friendly face and it roams around the Teletubbies' house. We did this, and then we started calling the vacuum cleaner the Noo-noo. "Time to use the noo-noo!"
Just a thought -

Oh, this is so very normal. My oldest was afraid of vacuum cleaners at that age. It lasted a while and then went away. My twins are now two and have started being afraid of things as well. A few weeks ago, we had to end an outdoor picnic early because both twins were afraid of a digger that was up the hill, a good 50 yards away. Yet these same kids still love the garbage truck. The height of it was a day when one of the twins was afraid of the clouds outside. It was a particularly windy day and the clouds were moving really fast. That one was fortunately a one-day fear. These fears are totally normal. They're starting to see that there are things out there that are scary, that are out of their control and perhaps out of mommy's control. It's also the age for separation anxiety, but all of this passes. A fear may last a short time or for many months, but I just reassure my kids and know in my mind that this too shall pass.
Good luck.