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    Joined: Mar 2014
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    cmguy Offline OP
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    My 2 year old (just turned 2) is very sensitive to noises.

    She has not been formally ID'd as gifted but has a HG older sibling and is already speaking in full grammatically correct sentences so our working assumption is that she will fall somewhere on the gifted scale.

    Noises (like a chainsaw - even far away) seem to make her anxious ("I don't like that noise" she will say and shrink back). For now all I can think to do is to agree with her that the noise is unpleasant. And then talk a little about where the noise is coming from and why. I want to try to help validate and discuss her emotions I guess and not bottle things up inside.

    Anxiety runs in the family - I want to try to help her now as much as possible. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated.

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    Both my kids have noise sensitivities, my DD was extremely sensitive. For us, I think just being aware that the difficulty is real, and validating her feelings helped the most. It is easy to be dismissive and presume that the kid is overreacting, and at times I needed to remind myself that her anxieties, fears, whatever you want to call them, related to noise were very real. Times I remember with mild regret are things we were usually persuaded to do against my better instincts- fireworks, even though they were distant, an IMAX movie with grandma, even though I suspected it would not go well (they had to leave shortly after it began, etc). We didn't avoid noise altogether, but we did search out and find calm, quiet environments- this was particularly important for preschool. Even the toilet flushing and the bathroom fan in this tiny, quiet school were difficult for her to get used to. But the important thing is, she did. She went to a largish public school for first grade, and though it wasn't perfect, she handled the environment fine.

    We also used noise-canceling headphones when she was small. My family plays in concerts frequently (classical, often In churches or small auditoriums, so these are not what I would consider loud) and she could tolerate it only with the headphones on (again, this is a non-issue for her now, she plays in her own concerts). We vacuumed infrequently, when she was not around, avoided the blender, avoided movie theaters, I could go on but you get the picture. And we were pretty aware of her needs in large groups, at parties or other gatherings, just making sure she had an out if she needed it.

    I would say her most difficult years were up until age 5 or 6, and now at 14 you would never know she had issues with noise in the past, except that I think she has exceptional hearing😉.

    Regarding the anxiety, we did gradual desensitization-type stuff (not formally, just trying to get her used to a more normal sound diet). At a later age we tried a therapist, but couldn't find one with which she felt comfortable; again, this is an issue that mostly resolved itself as she matured and developed coping mechanisms.


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    DD9 has always seemed a bit noise-sensitive, but we've never done much about it (OK, realizing that makes me sound like a terrible parent!). When she was small, she would get very upset in public restrooms about toilets flushing or the air dryer sound (covering her ears). She has played basketball and she spends the last 30 seconds of every quarter standing still watching the clock run down...covering her ears before the buzzer went off (no, she is not a very serious player).

    Honestly, it has improved as she has gotten older. Also, she was never terribly anxious about it - if she had been, we may have explored more options.

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    cmguy Offline OP
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    I think there is a balance. I don't want to overreact and have her learn that freaking out over leaf blowers is a good way to get parental attention. At the same time if it is concerning her I do want to try to work through the issue and (gently) get desensitized.

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    I think the worst for us was public bathrooms. For a long time, I was so grateful when I found a restroom _without_ automatic flushing toilets and that had actual paper towels.

    Preparing them in advance of a big noise coming makes a big difference (e.g. using the blender, vacuuming).

    At 6 yrs old he's (mostly) outgrown it, other than still refusing to watch live fireworks.

    Last edited by Can2K; 10/30/14 08:30 AM.
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    Can2K,

    My kids weren't that sensitive to noise, but I always carried a few Post-It notes to cover the sensor on the automatic flushing toilet to avoid the "surprise" flush (and kid jumping off of the potty).

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    I had years of loathing hand dryers! My kid would get very upset about the noise of those. To be fair, they sound like a jet engine and those walls only amplify the sound. Eventually, it got better. But I often see him drying his hands on his jeans when he comes out of the men's room.

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    Chain saws, motor bikes starting up, the vacuum cleaner, electric mixers, bathroom fans, omg yes the hand driers...it might feel right now as if you will never be able to go out again and use a public restroom, or clean your house or bake a cake with your kid at home....but they do grow out if it. Or learn to cope. By around five, life will be mostly back to normal - unless you get more of these little people, but our younger kids had different sensitivities and anxieties, so the noise thing is very much an issue of the past now.
    Don't worry about doing things right or wrong, just help your kid cope and move through life without paralyzing themselves or their families with their fears. This will pass, whatever you do or don't do, just try not to make them or yourself miserable about it.

    Last edited by Tigerle; 10/30/14 01:02 PM.
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    DS was like this at that age. To be fair, I caught myself avoiding using the noisy electric hand dryer in a bathroom today - I have a cold and everything seems Too Much.


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    My dd 2 3/4 will at various times say "That is hurting my ears." Sometimes, I think she says it when she doesn't like the sound. Example: She loves music, but not all music. I will be playing the music while driving and she will tell me to turn it down or say that it is hurting her ears. I will turn it down and she will say it again. I will turn it down some more, and she will keep complaining back and forth until the music is off. Sometimes, I know it is a game, but I think it always starts with her discomfort with the music.

    I sometimes when I press her she will say that she has a headache. I do not know whether she really has a headache, or if she is just saying that. She is at a stage that, although she talks very well, I am not always certain how much weight to give her when she says something. All things considered I think I will play with the idea that my LO might be somewhat sensitive to noise. Thank you for the post, it gives me something to think about.

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