I have a 16-month old little girl who is absolutely terrified of the noises made by my vacuum cleaner, my Cuisinart, and hair dryer. Even if she is upstairs in her crib, she cowers in a corner sobbing her eyes out!! I've tried showing her that it's okay, and that it doesn't hurt anyone, but she won't budge. I limit my food processor time to when she's out playing in the yard with my husband, but when we're at home by ourselves during the day, it's hard to "schedule" drying my hair and vacuuming (those pesky crumbs get EVERYWHERE).

Any suggestions??
Also, she hasn't always been this way. When she was younger, I'd put her in her playpen and vacuum right in front of her, and it would actually make her laugh!! This has just started in the last two months.

I've also tried putting her in her room or in her crib upstairs, but we have a very "open" house, and sound travels very easily.

Maybe show her how to turn it on and off. When she is in control maybe it wont be so scary for her. Our one child cried for two years when ever we used the vaccuum until we let her turn it on herself. Then the noise is not a "surprise"!

I think you're just going to have to put her in another room while you do what you need to do. You can't protect her from all the loud noises in life, so you might as well get her used to them in a safe environment. If you minimize them for her sake, she may even think that she's right, and that all those loud noises are "bad" because mama tries so hard not to make them, and that's just going to aggravate the problem.