Toddler and hand dryers

[putputput]

Looking for anyone who has been in a similar situation.

DD will be 2 in November. She has a real fear of the noise of hand dryers when we're in public loos. She will clutch at me and physically shake and sob. It's starting to make days out really tricky.

It's the only sound she has a real issue with, she's fine with the Hoover/hairdryer/ lawnmower etc. Is otherwise a confident and happy child.

I've tried showing her the dryer, trying to get her to play with it. I'll warn her before we go in that we're going to hear it.

I don't use the hand dryer, but I can't stop other people using it whilst we're there!

Am tempted to try noise cancelling head phones but I would prefer to not have to rely on bringing these with us everywhere.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thay should be 'hated' them. She's fine now and pleased she had a valid reason for hating them.

I'm tired...

My soon to be 5 year old is still scared of the hand dryers in public toilets. She's been getting a little bit better with it recently and has even used one in the last week!

I think it's completely normal. They are too loud.

Well, but it is an irrational fear, in that it's just a harmless sound. It might feel overwhelming but it isn't something to be feared. But you can't teach your kid that if you give up drying your hands or cart hand gel and ear defenders around.

The new dryers are so loud. All the kids I know are scared of them on some level. It’s ridiculous. Most parents of young children have to shake their hands dry as a result!

All mine hated them.
They often have a plug that you can turn off (and it takes people a little bit of time to work it out, so you can quickly eacape!)
We’ve also taken headphone with us too.

Why they have to be so noisy

Can you make a sign and laminate it, attach with blue tac to the hand dryer when you get into the bathrooms.

The note could say, please don't use the dryer. My daughter is very sensitive to sound, we are working out a way to introduce this to her slowly. We would appreciate if you could not use the dryer for the next 2 minutes until we leave."

Ok now I have written that, it sounds really silly....

@Lillygreen come on now

DD was like this, she got over it, though now, at 9, she doesn’t like them again!

And no, you can’t ask others not to use them. I have hyperacusis (very sensitive hearing) and I can deal with them forhowevet long I’m in a public loo.

Really normal both mine hate them with an extreme reaction. DS1 wouldn't go in to a WC if there was one on, refuse to move even if he was desperate, he'd rather wet himself (which he hated) and would scream hysterically and run away if someone put one on whilst he was in there. He grew out of it by about 3.
DS2 won't use them and hides behind me if he hears them but doesn't quite have such an extreme reaction but still hates them and he's 3 now.
Neither of them have a problem with any other loud noises.

@AudacityOfHope

Actually if you read the article it explains that hand dryers are loud enough to damage hearing and that a toy that was as loud as a dryer would be banned.

Yes, but walking past one a few times a season probably isn't going to render a child deaf. Let's all calm down. Kids don't like them, as parents we should help them get over fears that limit them or make their lives more difficult than they need to be. They look to us to know what's safe and not; bringing out special notes and ear muffs is quite ludicrous.

I think the noise of these dryers is awful, and I think they are bad the way they blow bacteria about. I would let my child use ear defenders, and instead of using water to wash hands, carry hand gell in your bag, an get out of the loo as quickly as possible.

My DC with ASC has always hated them, reacts really badly if someone else uses them (slightly better if DC does it themself because then they are expecting the noise). Ear defenders sometimes help, the dryers vary a lot in terms of noise so it’s tricky to predict. If we don’t have the ear defenders I clamp my hands over their ears and hug them close til it stops. Obviously with my neuro-diverse child it may be different, but I wouldn’t just dismiss your DC’s reaction or try to pretend it doesn’t or shouldn’t bother them, when obviously it does.

Both my DCs always hated them. Eldest now nearly 9 and not bothered. Youngest 4 and still slightly terrified although will tolerate them if I warn him I'm about to use one.

My son has glue ear and we commented at his last hearing test that he hates hand dryers and the sound levels in busy swimming pools and school/church halls. It's something to do with the reverberations and the 'feedback' their ears receive. It's not just 'a bit loud'. It's overwhelming and very unpleasant, so basically saying 'your kids need to learn to get a grip' is a bit dismissive in my opinion.

I also think hand dryers have got much louder in recent years as that post upthread suggests. Some at my work sound like bloody jet engines! So I can totally see that for little ears that would be painful AND frightening, even without glue ear adding to the experience. Most dryers are rubbish at the job plus research about germ spreading means they are banned on hospital wards (I think I remember reading...)

My DC was like this and still not wildly keen on the, now at 7. But he can tolerate it. I don’t make him use them, we wash and then ‘air dry’. When younger I would take him in the disabled loo in shopping malls etc. Try not to stress over it, maybe get some ear defenders?

DD (3) hates them, to the point that she used to trot off and get me some loo roll to dry my hands to make sure I wouldn’t use a dryer!

I’m with PPs who advocate the breezy approach. We shake our hands and don’t dry. If someone else uses the dryer, DD will bury her head in my legs and wait for it to pass. Then we move on!

I truly hate hand dryers, especially in small places. They are noisy and blow disgusting water droplets around the room. Let's get real, most people wash their hands in a cursory fashion so there are plenty of viruses and bacteria still on them.

They are extremely prevalent in the UK as opposed to Canada. I am always relieved to see a dispenser with recycled paper instead.

The impression I have is they save money but do little for the environment despite perceptions otherwise. But I stand to be convinced.

Mine hates it too but starting to cope better now at age 4. I think as adults we can’t really relate to it as hand dryers were much quieter when we were young.

My son was terrible with hand dryers, for years, he is very sensitive to loud noise even now and he's almost 12. He can tolerate it better now but to my knowledge would never use one.

Really interesting to receive all these replies.

It totally makes sense that actually it's a physical response to something so loud and sudden it's deeply unpleasant to them.

No other symptoms of glue ear but thank you for that suggestion.

Whilst I do agree with building up resilience and not reinforcing the fear, I don't want her to be needlessly distressed. I don't think my reaction encourages it, I will help her to cover her ears and give a cuddle if she really needs it, but keep bright and breezy. Just wanted to check I wasn't missing an obvious trick here.

Slightly different as my dd has asd and is nearly 11 now, but she has always been petrified of hand dryers. She has spd and I didn’t realise at the beginning but the sound can actually be painful for her.

Instead of carting round ear defenders (which are big, clumpy and very obvious) have you tried kids ear plugs? We actually have proper noise cancelling ones for dd, but you can get ‘putty mates’ which are for swimming I think, and you could give to dd to have her own case and make her feel special putting them in when she goes to public toilets with you. They’re not the best at cancelling outside noise, but if you make a song and dance about them being ‘magic’ I think you would soon be able to figure out if it’s a normal fear of hand dryers, or if the noise is actually really bothering her.