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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Fear Of Noises/Objects??
daycare 08:38 AM 06-28-2011
I have a child who will be 4 next month who has extreme fears of things.

today i brought the vacuum out to clean up a spill, as soon as the child saw it, the child screamed as though someone was trying to kill them. The screaming went on for almost 45 min. While screaming she yelled help and no at the top of her lungs. I never got to clean up the spill and put the vacuum away immediatley.

The child was to the point of shaking and and almost vomited.
later at music time, the kids got out the shakers and drums...again same thing occured but this time it only carried on for about 15-20 minutes.


I have only had this child for 1.5 days.

I am concerned that there is something deeper than just the fear of the vacuum, noises??
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laundrymom 09:03 AM 06-28-2011
I desensitize them to the sweeper from day one. I keep sweeping and completely ignore the fit. After I sweep I turn it off, wind the cord, scoop them up and hold them while I put it away. A lot of kids are afraid of itt but I use it three times a day. I can't wait til they leave.
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daycare 09:49 AM 06-28-2011
let me add to this that the child held on to me for dear life I could not pry her off of me.

I have seen kids afraid of the vacuum, but nothing like this..
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e.j. 11:27 AM 06-28-2011
Is it possible she has a sensory integration problem? My son has it and when he was younger, he reacted very strongly to certain noises. The pinging noise made by the heat when it would come up through the heating vent would throw him into a tailspin.
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cheerfuldom 12:04 PM 06-28-2011
is this the niece or another child?
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Michelle 12:06 PM 06-28-2011
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
is this the niece or another child?
wow!, if this is the niece, it sounds like that loud noise is giving her flash backs of something.
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Meeko 12:40 PM 06-28-2011
Reminds me of a funny situation we had many years ago. DCG (now 23 years old!) came to us at age 2. One day I ran the vacuum and she FREAKED! Scrambled into my husbands arms and yelled until I finished and turned it off. We knew we needed to vacuum several times a day and had to get her over this fear.

Skip forward.......DCM walks into living room to see my husband on the floor with the vacuum and the DCG. He was stroking the vacuum like a dog and saying "Nice vacuum!" and hugging it! DCG looks up at her mother and says "Hug it!" DCM had to get down on the floor too and hug the vacuum!

It worked.....DCG loved the vacuum from then on!
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daycare 12:45 PM 06-28-2011
yes the niece
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Michelle 02:18 PM 06-28-2011
Originally Posted by Meeko60:
Reminds me of a funny situation we had many years ago. DCG (now 23 years old!) came to us at age 2. One day I ran the vacuum and she FREAKED! Scrambled into my husbands arms and yelled until I finished and turned it off. We knew we needed to vacuum several times a day and had to get her over this fear.

Skip forward.......DCM walks into living room to see my husband on the floor with the vacuum and the DCG. He was stroking the vacuum like a dog and saying "Nice vacuum!" and hugging it! DCG looks up at her mother and says "Hug it!" DCM had to get down on the floor too and hug the vacuum!

It worked.....DCG loved the vacuum from then on!
That's too cute!!!

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daycare 02:29 PM 06-28-2011
Originally Posted by Michelle:
That's too cute!!!
Lol too funny!!
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SilverSabre25 02:42 PM 06-28-2011
I know she's not very verbal, but could you try asking her about why she's so afraid? Let her know that whatever it is, she can tell you about it. You're safe, and it's safe to tell you anything. If it's not simply a sensory thing (a pretty severe sensory thing, sounds like), then maybe you can get her to open up.
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MG&Lsmom 03:55 PM 06-28-2011
My own children have autism and sensory processing disorder. One with each. We would have similar freakouts over noises. Some things we've been able to teach them to no be afraid of, but others we have not. If I remember correctly this child has a very sheltered life while at home. Not a lot of exposure to things most of us would consider normal parts of life? I'd let her examine and play with the vacuum, show her how it works, talk about why you do it, let her turn the button on and off to desensitize her to it.
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Childminder 04:07 PM 06-28-2011
I had a child that ran around like a Banshee when ever I vacuumed. One day she ran into the room and threw her blankie up in the air and it came down right into the immediate path of the vacuum. Yep, It got sucked right in. The child then screamed and cried in terror every time I vacuumed.

To get her over it I held her and the vacuum and let/made her touch it every day when it was off, then after a few days we would turn it off and on, eventually holding her while I vacuumed and then she got so she would vacuum on her own. Took a long time.
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Auntie 04:18 PM 06-28-2011
Sounds like some sort of sensory issue. The first thing that came to my mind was Autism. However, just because you have sensory issues doesn't make you Autistic.
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daycare 07:05 PM 06-28-2011
Originally Posted by Auntie:
Sounds like some sort of sensory issue. The first thing that came to my mind was Autism. However, just because you have sensory issues doesn't make you Autistic.
For those that have experience with autism Did you also find your child unable to socialize? Or repeating of words?
Her mom said she has been afraid of loud noises since birth. Hair dryer vacuum when the stero I too loud and etc.
Her response to it is extremely abnormal. A reaction like I have never seen.
I tried to show it to her today in an attempt to break the feel but she scream cried until he threw up.
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sharlan 07:26 PM 06-28-2011
Hopefully once Grandma sees the difference between her and other children, she will realize that this child has some issues and needs some help. Hopefully your dh will also see the issues and speak to his mother.

She is going to take quite a bit of time to undo the damage done by neglectful parents.
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sharlan 07:26 PM 06-28-2011
I had one group of kids that tried to ride the vacuum everytime it came out.
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Michelle 07:29 PM 06-28-2011
Originally Posted by daycare:
For those that have experience with autism Did you also find your child unable to socialize? Or repeating of words?
Her mom said she has been afraid of loud noises since birth. Hair dryer vacuum when the stero I too loud and etc.
Her response to it is extremely abnormal. A reaction like I have never seen.
I tried to show it to her today in an attempt to break the feel but she scream cried until he threw up.
I have taken care of an autistic child for 3 years now, and it's not that he's afraid of loud noises, it seems the noises are like sorta short circuiting his brain or ears!!!
Lights also bother him. He can't be over stimulated.
Another sign of autism is constantly walking on their toes and not liking to be hugged a lot. Not in all cases but in some. The one good thing is at least she IS talking!!! This little boy didn't even say mama til 2 and a half. Did she scream a lot as a toddler? Did she just seem unhappy or angry all the time?

Unable to socialize? well, it just depends, does she just sit in the corner and never look at your face? or does she just not want to play with all the kids?
I know she has been through a lot and her rambling could be her trying to cope.
I have a little boy in the middle of a nasty split up and he just chants" I am not a #$@! ( a slang word for female dog) over and over but in every other way he is normal. He just hasn't seen his mom in 4 weeks.
So, I know most of us can explain away a lot but you are the auntie and you know there is probably something wrong because it's not just one thing. It's a combination of a lot of things. You know what's normal and what's not. So, make sure she gets tested. In Ca. we have first five and they can help you. Just go to their website. They will literally come to your house.
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Tags:fear, fear - noises, fear - objects
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