[Want_to_be_a_mum...]

Hi all
I just have some concerns about my 4 month old. He's quite happy most of the time but really startles to noise. E.g. when the vacuum turns on - he is almost jumping out of his skin. He is not startling as much as he did when he was really little bit just wondering if having fears is normal in a little bub. I have a toy that plays lullaby music (quite relaxing) and he cries every time!! Does anyone else have similar experience?

[Mrs Emma]

Hi,
My little one is similar. He startles and cries to certain sounds as well, like if I blip my lips or talk suddenly to someone when he is feeding. I assume it's all okay. He also jumps to movement as well, e.g. if I move suddenly when changing him. He is also 4 months. I just try and be mindful of what I am doing so as to not startle him too much. I guess it's trickier in your case with the vacuuming, although could be a good excuse to get a cleaner and you leave the house .
All the best.

[Jenflea]

My daughter STILL doesn't like some loud noises and she's 2.5. Their hearing is way more sensitive than ours don't forget, and have only had a few short months to get used to all sorts of sounds and experiences we take for granted.
Totally normal!

[Justaduck]

DD started being scared of the vacuum noise around 6mths I think & the other day I got out one of her toys that she hadn't played with in a while (Lamaze Dalmatian) and she just burst out crying at it.

[ubermum]

First child? I ask because I am assuming that for the majority of time, your house is pretty quiet. I have a 6mo, my third. She doesn't startle for anything, not even blood curdling screams when the other two fight, but she has been listening to that since she was an egg.

[Readee]

Sounds pretty normal. My baby was like this for a while when she was younger.

The main thing that I think helped was to give her lots of smiles and talk about the noise in a calm voice ('Oh, that was a loud sneeze, but it's nothing to worry about etc'). At 6 1/2 months now she'll still sometimes look to me to see if a loud noise is something to worry about, but the immediate fear and crying response is mostly gone.

As for the vacuuming, I just get my partner to take her for a walk when it needs to be done (or I walk her and he vacuums.

[LovenFire]

Lol, I have a 2.5 year old boy. He panics at the vacuum cleaner, the food processor, the blender, the lawn mower, any electric tools ... Sigh

Has done so since he was a kid and is so genuinely terrified of the noise. Loves watching the lawns being mowed, loves watching people use electric tools, but he wants to be inside with the doors shut so it isn't as loud.

No real advice, just sympathy

[BetteBoop]

When DD was around that age, I couldn't take her to crowded shopping centres because she would become inconsolable.

That fear of noise lasted until she was around 18 months old.

And the odd thing is, we tried hard to get her used to noise. When we was a newborn, we used to sit her bassinet in the lounge room while we watched movies turned up loud. We never tip toed around of quietened our voices when she was sleeping.

[chicken_bits]

Not sure about 'normal', but definitely common.

DD is petrified of the dustbuster, hairdryer, the sound of packing tape being ripped and (as we discovered on the weekend) men blowing their noses. I think it's something to do with the sound frequency.

[lovealpacas]

First child? I ask because I am assuming that for the majority of time, your house is pretty quiet. I have a 6mo, my third. She doesn't startle for anything, not even blood curdling screams when the other two fight, but she has been listening to that since she was an egg.

This, except unlike Ubermum DD2 (4 mo) only has one sibling, an almost 3 yo sister, but she makes enough noise for everyone. DD1 was startled by noise and hated vacuum cleaners, blenders, mowers and food processors, but DD2 couldn't care less.