Anonymous wrote:OP here I seriously hope its a stage! She's also been saying she is scared a lot more and talking about monsters in her cubby and things. I hope she gets over it soon.

My almost 3 year old is also complaining about noise a lot more than every before, and has also started talking about being scared of things. I think it's totally normal at this stage - they're starting to understand more and question more. Recently we installed new lighting fixtures in all of our bedrooms and he asked for 3 days straight if they were going to burn the house down. Not sure where he got that idea, but it seemed to be his first "worry." For the noise thing, I think he likes being able to assert that something is too loud for him, and tbh I'm the same way with noise so I'm not surprised he is (I HATE when people blast music in the car, for instance).

Me too, OP's kid. Me too.

I wear earplugs on the subway and on planes. I have the TV volume set at half what my husband does. I am neurotypical with normal hearing.

It could also be that her ears were clogged up for a while and they have recently become unclogged clogged so everything is loud for her as were before they were muted.

I think this is a pretty normal stage, OP, BUT:

1. I am a HSP and so is my older daughter. Lots if noise/noisy environments really bother us. But they are managable.

2. If you are concerned, you may think about taking your DC to a ped ENT. My younger daughter was very sensitive to noise - exactly like you describe. I pushed it off as a stage, but then some other things (choking on food, repeated illness) made us get checked out my an ENT and she needed her tonsils out. ENT said the extremely large tonsils were putting pressure on her eardrums, making noises seem louder. She got her tonsils out and has not had any issues were hearing since.

Anonymous wrote:All of the examples you’re giving are of things that are actually really loud. A kid did a study on the hand dryers and they’re loud enough to do damage.

If you’re typical DCUM mom age your ears are probably not as good as they used to be.

+1

I think I must be your kid, but in a 43 yr old woman's body b/c all of those examples are loud for me too. I have the social graces not to put my hands over my ears and can deal with it, but it's not surprising your kid has a tough time how to handle it.

Is your kid naturally quiet? Might be a budding introvert...loud noises are exhausting, distracting, and bothersome.

All of the examples you’re giving are of things that are actually really loud. A kid did a study on the hand dryers and they’re loud enough to do damage.

If you’re typical DCUM mom age your ears are probably not as good as they used to be.