terrified is an understatement...

marina is absolutely terrified of the vacuum! as i was dragging it past to - turned off - to plug it in,the look on her face said, "wait a minute. i know what that is! that's that big thing that makes the scary noise!" so i turn it on and she FLIPS OUT. i mean, SHAKING. she was hysterical. let me just say that yesterday they got their shots AND their ears pierced and she wasn't nearly this hysterical. i picked her up out of the excersaucer and brought her to the vacuum so she could touch it, but she just startd to cry again. so i put it in the corner, and she kept turning to look at it and would start crying again. so i had to hide it from her. i know i can put her in a different room from where i'm vacuuming, but i don't want her to always be afraid of it, so how can i break her of it?

 

[SIZE=10pt]Both my DD and DS were afraid of the vaccuum as well.

I would just continue to use it as normal. At times I would hold/carry one and put their hand on the handle so they could see it. It took about a month or so before they weren't completely terrified of it ~ they still look at it strangely at times...but no more crying or screaming.

April [/SIZE]

 

I am not sure if there is a really “fix” for this problem but I am interested to see what the other ladies suggest. My older DS was the exact same way and still isn’t a big fan. I tried everything even letting him push it but he didn’t like it and nothing I have found changed his opinion. So as hard as it was I just did my vacuuming when he was in bed or outside playing with daddy. Some times I have had to go a lot longer then I would like without vacuuming but it bet the alternative.

 

I vaccuum after the kids go to bed.. They are just too scared.. STill.. there is nothing i can do. I used to vaccuum while they were awake but i can not handl the crying in fear..

 

My oldest, second oldest and youngest were all terrified of the vacuum. These are the steps I took:

1. I left the vacuum out (unplugged) so that they could touch it and look at it and explore it while it was "safe". That way it becomes more familiar to them. I think part of the fear is that it's something they never see that is dragged out every so often and makes a big scary noise. Don't force them to touch it, just leave it in the corner and ignore it. Their natural curiosity will overcome their fear soon enough.

2. I would never turn on the vacuum unless I was already holding the scared child. I would put whoever was afraid on my hip, plug in the vacuum, then turn it on.

3. I would smile and kind of play around while I vacuumed. I would say things like, "Look, I'm going to suck up these Cheerios. Oh look, there they go! Isn't that silly!" and "It's just a loud noise, it won't hurt you. See?" (Then I'd touch all over the vacuum)

4. Rinse, lather, repeat until they don't seem to be afraid. After a few weeks my kids kind of relaxed and weren't scared of the vacuum as much. They all would sit on the couch and keep their eye on the vacuum in case it decided to attack :laughing: but they got drastically better when I showed them it wasn't scary. Now they fight over who gets to vacuum!

 

MY DS William is very scared of the vacuum. His brother on the other hand could care less. It doesn't bother him in the least. What I started to do was hold him when I vacuum, and also I try and vacuum on Saturdays and DH will sit with him and cuddle him if he gets scared.

 

honestly (and you're going to die laughing)...my kids LOVE Teletubbies - and the vacuum on Tubbies is called Noo Noo - so I named the vacuum Noo Noo (as well as the hairdryer and anything else that makes a very loud scary noise) and now they have no issues at all! I tell them its time for mommy to use Noo Noo - they run in the living room (if I'm vacuuming the kitchen or dining room) and they aren't really thrilled with it but they play and just watch what I'm doing!

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ May 13 2008, 12:49 PM) [snapback]771059[/snapback]
marina is absolutely terrified of the vacuum! as i was dragging it past to - turned off - to plug it in,the look on her face said, "wait a minute. i know what that is! that's that big thing that makes the scary noise!" so i turn it on and she FLIPS OUT. i mean, SHAKING. she was hysterical. let me just say that yesterday they got their shots AND their ears pierced and she wasn't nearly this hysterical. i picked her up out of the excersaucer and brought her to the vacuum so she could touch it, but she just startd to cry again. so i put it in the corner, and she kept turning to look at it and would start crying again. so i had to hide it from her. i know i can put her in a different room from where i'm vacuuming, but i don't want her to always be afraid of it, so how can i break her of it?


awwwwwww that is so sad...

 

thats funny cause its the opposite with my boys. when they are crying I bring the vacuum out and vacuum the whole house and they love it. then when I turn it off they start to cry again. needless to say, my floors are very clean. however, my 2 year old is terrified of it. He goes into a corner in his room and waits it out. I have tried showing it to him and getting him comfortable with it over and over but the moment it turns on he still runs to his room. So I good luck, I'm not sure if there is much you can do about it. I think it is the nosie and thats not something you can really change.