Very real fear in DS 2.8yrs, causing problems, what can I do?

[Weegle]

DS is 2.8 yrs has got an hysterical fear of hand driers! One went off immediately above his head about a year ago and since then he's petrified. It hadn't been a problem but recently he potty trained. He's got it sussed completely, but this fear of hand driers is so bad that today he point blank refused to go IN to the public toilet in a restaurant - he was rooted to the spot, shaking, crying just at the thought there might be one. Eventually I persuaded him to go in the disabled loo (being a bigger room I could get him in and then show him that it was on the opposite wall) - he was still crying obviously torn between needing to wee and being near the hand drier... gosh this sounds daft written down... but I really don't know what to do. I've tried explaining why they make a noise, I've tried being very low key about it, I don't know how to get him over this and make trips to public toilets ok. Has anyone got any suggestions? Or helped their child get over a fear?

Mine exactly the same ...At 2.4 at gatwick the same thing happened and oh boy was it noisy we were potty training at the time. For 2 mths we used disabled loos and at times she had a wee over drains !
We solved the problem by using the hairdryer + drying her hands and showing her what it was and why it was noisy.It took ages before she would go in a public loo but she won't go in if the drier is on and forget the ones at gatwick. She says no noisy please.She had a phobia about the hoover as well but now she waves at it from the sofa !

My eldest had exactly the same at a similar age (as he turned 3).

He was also scared of the hairdrier.

I used a reward system. Initially for just going into the public toilets - until he did this without fussing, then for getting close to the dryer typically touching the same wall it was on or the sink next to it etc till he was comfortable with that, then progressing onto touching it off, then touching it on, then putting his hands in the airstream.

The first stage was litterally going into the toilets then out. Not waiting till he needed the toilet. Most places have one (suppermarkets, librarys etc) so on some days you can probably go in 4 or 5 and it becomes a game so helps the relaxation.

At home I did similar with the hairdrier - touching it off and unplugged etc.

Brilliant, great ideas thank you. He's ok with the hairdrier so I can try that out... I hadn't thought to use that to explain it. He was scared of the hoover as a baby but gradually got over this - this is different though he's literally shaking with fear . nice to know other LO's have had the same problem and got over it...

my DD was absolutely petrified of dogs as a toddler, she would cry and try to run in the other direction. It got so bad that she once jumped in the road and nearly got run over. So I decided to tackle it. every time we saw a dog i would calmly talk about the dog, then we would say hello to dogs, then we started to stop the owners and ask their dog names and if they were friendly.Eventually I would ask if I could stroke the dog, and it worked. She loves dogs now. When she started school we would see the same dog every morning, Penny and the shared a lovely relationship. It was very heart warming to see them runnibg towards each other across the park. In fact, Penny use to buy DD birthday presents every year!

Dd at this age terrified of handdriers and people dressed up as animals/clowns.

My brother terrified of railway crossings, stoves, tunnels and various other things that I cannot now remember.

They both grew out of it.

My DD has been scared of driers for as long as I can remember (she's now 4.4).

I always carry a bottle of hand sanitiser gel in my bag so we can use that instead, although have just re-read your post and realise that won't help to get him in the loo in the first place.

DD was also terrified of hand driers for ages - she's now nearly 4.

She was also petrified of the hoover and hairdryer. We used the gradual exposure technique with her and it seems to have worked - last week she actually used a hand drier for the first time - I think it was the element of surprise for her - if someone else turned it on when she wasn't expecting.