To hate hand dryers [edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

[mude]

I have a 3YO daughter and 1YO son and they HATE hand dryers going off unexpectedly in public bathrooms. 3YO had an incident where it started when she walked underneath one and it blasted her and has been terrified ever since and now the 1YO is also terrified as his big sister cries at them.
I always let them dry their hands with paper towels, but warn that someone else might use the hand drier but not to worry if it gives them a shock but it's just a loud noise and try and remain calm but it sends them into a frenzy. They don't have issues with other similar noises (hoover etc)
My daughter struggled to use public toilets now which is such an inconvenience as we are out and about a lot!
Any advice?

[edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

Dryers*

I hate them too. But that doesn’t solve your problem. I get you, OP.

I hate when they are in baby change rooms. DD does not have a sensetive nature at all but the hand dryer scared the life out of her so now I just don't dry my hands

Noise cancelling headphones can be pretty cheap. £10 ish, maybe worth it if you go out a lot. My 7 year old has always hated them, went through a phase of being brave but back to screaming now. :-)

Same here with DS! He's a grab life by the balls kinda toddler and nothing much phases him but oh boy the hand dryer terrifies him! To the extent that if I have to change his nappy when he's out he's often too scared to lie down on the baby change table which means he has a meltdown and it's all a massive faff.

Don't think there's much advice I can give other than they'll probs grow out of it when they realise it's nothing to be scared of.

Can't say I've ever asked other people in the loos to refrain from using the dryer though.

I hate them too, Sorry i know that doesnt help but DD is terrified of them too! I've had to actually take her out and change her in the car before because she gets so worked up by them

I sympathise because my DC were all exactly the same at this age. I had three of them screaming simultaneously at times, it was a nightmare.

They do grow out of this stage though thankfully and after that you realise how much better hand dryers are than paper towels .

I've heard kids before say they're scared of the hand drier. I purposely DONT use it when I hear that. Poor things. It is quite a noise.

I don't even have any advice. Just hopefully they will grow out of it one day.

I used to be scared of the toilet flush in nursery. Grew out of that one fortunately 😂

It's these Dyson ones; scares the life out of children. I've been known to turn them off at the wall.

When in a cubicle with one so we don't set it off brushing past it.

As hard as it is now, it is something you need to desensitise them too. Hand dryers are the norm in public places. I would suggest that in a smaller public restroom when only you are there eg a pub or hall you encourage them activate it, talk about it sucking the air (if a dyson). If you manage to do this a few times a week in just a short time the phobia will go

We have the same issue.

I read something recently where a school girl did a research project on them and found they are uncomfortably loud for children - they are shorter so their ears are at the loudest point and to use them they have to stand closer than adults.

There's an episode of Maddies Do You Know on cbeebies that's all about how hand dryers work, maybe it would help your eldest if she could see what it does/why it makes the noise? Think the episode might be on iplayer.

I've no real advice though unfortunately. I think most kids don't like them! My 4 year old DS has always hated them, I was trying to get him used to them but then he was diagnosed with ASD and loud noises are a big thing for him and I feel like I made it worse rather than better

i work as a restaurant cleaner which means we have to clean the toilets and even though i clean in there every day if i trigger it when not thinking about it even i jump they should come with a button so you can choose wether the dammed thing blasts you or not

Oh God this takes me back to when I was at the zoo with my then 3 year old and used the hand dryer only for a toddler who's head was underneath it on a changing unit to start screaming hysterically. It was a small busy toilet so I was trying to keep an eye on my daughter and just get washed and dried as quickly as possible and get out I somehow didn't notice him . I was mortified and apologised his grandmother (I think) was polite about it but I'm sure she was secretly fuming. If I remember correctly he refused to lie back down again, I spent the rest of the day trying to avoid them.

My son is hearing impaired, even with his aids turned off they scare him quite a bit:

I totally sympathise with you DD is coming up to six and we're only just getting past the being scared of the hand dryer phase. I've always told her to cover her ears when we're in public toilets which kind of works so it not the shock of someone setting them off.

It's the Dyson ones that piss me off, there really is no need for them to that loud.

If I spot a young child I always ask whoever's with them if they're ok with the hand dryer before setting it off so they know it's coming if not, that's probably just from being on the receiving end of it though.

When did we all start calling them public restrooms/bathrooms?

I hate them. They can't win though. We didn't like them because they were ineffective. Now that they effective we don't like them because they are loud!

I'm happy to turn them off at work. Ours are really loud and I don't like them as an adult.

I carry around a flannel with me in my bag which i use to dry mine and my childrens' hands when out and about.

It doesn't solve the problem of others using them but means we don't have to. They often seem pretty ineffective unless used for much longer than my DC have patience for....