Loud noises

I wouldn't say that Alice is scared of loud noises, but she's definitely disturbed by them.

Examples:

• hair dryers
• toilets
• hand dryers
• loud semi trucks

Is there a way I can desensitize her to loud noises? I desperately wanted to dry her hair last night because the house is chilly, but she refused. On our trip to FL, she refused to use an automatic toilet for three stops in a row because of the noise. Same with the hand dryers. She covers her ears with her hands when a truck applies its engine brake. Any ideas?

 

Does she tend to have other 'sensitive' areas? Textures with eating or clothes? My sons (yep, both) shy away from loud noises. They will TOLERATE the hair dryer but I think what bothers them the most is the heat near the faces. I know the bathrooms in the school has loud hand dryers in them. That would be a huge problem. I know my oldest really does not like to go to the bathroom at school. The oldest of mine is in 'spec. ed.' at school for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). That is a huge spectrum to be tested into. I do not have any suggestions, other than to perhaps warn her ahead of time... have her plug her ears perhaps. My husband was so mad at me when we took the twins to their first fireworks display at age 4. My oldest son plugged his ears the entire time and did not want to stay whereas my daughter enjoyed them. He literally hates fireworks. Ear plugs help but in reality, he has no interest in seeing them. Oh, my hubby was mad because I 'warned' them that they might be loud. I think he realizes now that my 'warning' was not the cause of the ear plugging, but it is something that he has a hard time grasping.

Good luck. It might just be time. I certainly would not 'force' the issue.

 

This is similar to one of my twins too. I would like to hear any answers. Sometimes I tell her I will flush the toilet once she leaves the bathroom just so she will go.

 

My younger boys have slowly been "shedding" the loud noise fear. They used to hate the vacuum, hair dryer, loud toilets, hand dryers in public bathrooms, etc. The now don't mind the hair dryer or the vacuum - and they don't cry when *I* flush public toilets (they still won't flush them) or when *I* use the hand dryer - but they still don't like those two things and stand as far away from them as possible and they don't use them. I think with continued exposure and probably with time, she will handle the sounds better (but she might not ever like them!).

 

Timothy has pretty much outgrown his fears of loud noises. But hand dryers and automatic flushing toilets were huge problems for him when he was younger.

He seems to have outgrown it. He's always loved the vacuum, but everything else just took time and patience. He's always been a "quirkier" kid for lack of a better term. Textures seem to be his thing. Some of the clothes I have to cut tags out of. He has pj's, pants/shorts, and shirts which are definitely preferred and it's because they feel better to him. He also had a thing about food textures, and every year that's gotten a little better. I would say that when he was littler he would have been borderline on sensory integration disorder.

Timothy has seemed to have outgrown it. He'll be 8 in less than 2 weeks. He doesn't mind going hunting or to the shooting range, though we don't have to nag him to keep his hearing protection on. I haven't noticed any issues recently.

Marissa

 

Drum noise canceling headphones.

http://www.amazon.com/Peltor-97070-Junior-Earmuff-Black/dp/B000I7NX5E

Aaron is allowed to use those when the noise is bad. She can wear them upside down when you want to do her hair. It gives them a tangible way to feel safe AND a way for THEM to take control of being uncomfortable. Giving them control over the fear is important.

Edit to add: The way we handled this was explain to aaron there are certain things we need to do/places to go. While the noises bug him, he still needs to come along. We bring the headphones, just in case it is too noisy.

 

I'm 33 years old and have this problem. Makes it real rough raising 3 boys! It's horrible. Noise drives me crazy. Loud noises esp. I am not sure what you can do about it. Just try to live normally, I guess. I wouldn't make changes because in real life, noises happen.

 

Both of my kids hate loud noises. We've just gotten to the point where they are okay with at least going upstairs while I run the vacuum. I find if I warn them ahead of time and say "put your quiet ears on" (they cover their ears) when I use the blender, flush a public toilet, use the hair dryer, they are fine with it. I will say that they are slowly but surely getting better with loud noises. When they were little you'd have to peel them off the ceiling after running the vacuum.

 

I had totally forgotten about this until reading your post, but one of my twins was the same way. Honestly he just grew out of it at some point. Now I remember having him in tears in public bathrooms because of the flushing sound.. I must have repressed those memories.

 

Most likely she will outgrow it. My one son is also like this and I am waiting it out with extreme patience. I had this as a child too and did outgrow it. He hates the vaccum and if u ask him what it sounds like he makes a screeching sound..i imagine to his ears, it does...be patient, it will pass.

 

Jussica is 8 1/2 and has some sensory issues. Noises still bother her, we still have to hold our hands over her ears at fireworks displays, hates hair dryer, if DH shouts whilst watching soccer etc.. really upsets her. Also automatic toilets scare both girls because of the noise. Always have to warn her if I'm vacuuming wouldn't just switch on without telling her.

 

Sean eventually outgrew it. Any loud noises sent him running with his hands covering his ears. We found out that he has virtually no wax in his ears, I never cleaned his ears ever. The wax acts as a buffer for loud noises, and since he has none, he had no buffer, making loud noises even louder (or harsher) than they would be for us. He's gotten used to it now, probably around age 6-7 or so, and he hasn't had any real issues since.

 

That's funny because that's Alice. I have never cleaned her ears, the doctors always comment on how clean her ears are. I'm hoping she outgrows it. She'll never go to a rock concert if not.