My Son Is Obsessed with Ceiling Fans...

My son also has a obsession with fan since he was an infant. He is four years old now and it is only getting worst. He favorite toy is tinker toys and he builds fans. He even names the fans. He favorite store is lowes and home depot and it is a must that we stop and see the fan's department or area. Everytime we go to the store he is always checking out the ceiling to see if there is any ceiling fans. When he was little he discovered that every thing that runs on electricity or battery has a fan so whenever he went outside to play, he would be checking the AC unit at every house in the neighborhood. He theme of conversation is about fan. He first drawing was a fan. I have not test my child. I personally think he is not normal. He speaks very well for his age. He does not really like playing with small children and he does not want to play anything but building fans. I am frustated myself

My son is exactly the same. He was just recently evaluated for Sensory Integration Disorder. One of the signs is an obsession with ceiling fans, lights, and/or water. There is a great website to check out.

http://www.incrediblehorizons.com/sensory-integration.htm

It is very hard to go places. Everything in our house seems to be being turned into ceiling fans now, too. Best of luck!
MM

My son who is now 18 was obsessed with vacuums when he was 3. If we went visitng, people would pull their vacuums out for him to check out. One year when we went out for Halloween, instead of saying trick-or-treat, my son would say, "Do you have a vacuum? What kind is it, can I see it?" Some of my neighbors were really sweet and did. We even had to go down to the boiler room at church just to see the vacuum.

It may take a while, but this too shall pass. I think it was kind of cute but I know when visiting it can be tough.
Hang in there.

Hi D.,

We have a lot to talk about! First of all, every kid (obviously) is unique. Nobody here, and not even every doctor, can tell you exactly "what's up" with your child.

Our son, who just turned four, has been obsessed with ceiling fans since he was a little over the age of two. We didn't have any fans in our house, so I don't know how the obsession began. He has gone through phases in terms of how he acts on the obsession, but his love of fans has held strong and we have given up on thinking it will just pass.

We installed two ceiling fans in our home, but it has made NO difference in his interest in others. He knows which restaurants, doctors' offices, friends' homes, etc. have fans. He knows what color they are, how many there are, how many blades there are, etc. When we take walks around the neighborhood, our path is governed by where he knows there are ceiling fans. I could go on and on...

We had J. evaluated a few months ago with an initial diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. We more recently had another evaluation, this one more complex, which disputed the Asperger's diagnosis. We still don't know what, if anything, J. "has"...but we know that he's a complicated, adorable, funny, lovable little boy. Who loves fans. Really, really loves fans.

We got him a real ceiling fan to play with (from a Freecycler) and a tool box with real screwdrivers. He spends hours at a time removing the screws and nuts, taking the blades then the brackets off, and then replacing all of them. For a few years now everyone has said that he's going to be an engineer someday. Maybe they're right!

Feel free to write to me if you'd like to talk about this some more. We have nearly two years' of experience on the topic!

By the way, YouTube has LOTS of videos of ceiling fans, which our little boy LOVES.

Best wishes,

T.

Uh oh...is this my future too??? My 12 month old son is the same way! Points to them, and says "up" over and over. And wants them on, anytime they're off. Has a total tantrum if they're off! He really, really, REALLY loves ceiling fans.

I figured he was just a weird child, but I guess it's not that unusual! :)

He is trying to figure things out. Dont worry, its great that he is so curious, except when he's older he will probably be taking things apart to see how they work. I have floor registers for the heat and my 2 y/o granddaughter just noticed them. The heat went on the other day and she felt it and ran to all the registers to feel the heat. Back and forth. Then the heat went off and she had to check all the registers again. This went on all day. Every time she heard the furnace go on or off she had to check.

Yes, many kids have fixations. My son's first word at 10 months was "Kaaarr" and, at 4, he's still in love with cars. That said, I wanted to point out that obsession with revolving objects such as fans, toy trains on a track and such can be a sign of autistic behavior (mostly if they come accompanied by twirling of the hands and never-ending excitement). I don't want to alarm you but, if you have observed any other odd behaviors such as lack of eye contact with you or the close family, I would talk to your pediatrician about it.
Sorry to be so negative but I once was the nanny of an autistic boy whose main obsession was ceiling fans.

Dear D.,

As everyone else said this is just a phase and it will pass. I just had to share my story. Thank goodness your obsession is indoors my son at 2 was obsessed with the sanitation trucks because we lived next door to a school. So every time he would hear them coming we would have to run outside and follow the sanitation workers to the school watch them dump the trash and continue down the block as they picked up the trash. Talk about looking like a crazy stalker!!!!! As moms we do what we have to do for our kids it is just part of their learning process. He is now 24 and thank god over his obsession!! Have a great day and happy new year!!

Oh my goodnes! I know you're frustrated but these posts really made me laugh! Especially the mom with the vacum loving son.

My 13 month old son has been obsessed for a good 2-3 months with anything having a lid. It must be opened and closed and opened and closed ad nauseum. But you know what, before that it was a spoon obsession and before that it was something else. And I know what you mean - it is more than just an interest or a preference, it is really all he can focus on. I used to get annoyed but after a few rounds of various obsessions I realized it wasn't forever and that it really was a sign of curiosity and being bright. Sometimes I avoid letting him see the tupperware or shampoo bottle or whatever, but sometimes I just see it like reading time - we sit down and open and close and open and close until he finally gets tired of it.

It is a phase. My son around 2 was obsessed with them as well. We have them in our house and anywhere we went, he was all about the ceiling fan. Now he could care less about them. Totally dont worry about it.

LOl..I don't mean to laugh but my son had an obssession with bathrooms at this age. He could not go anywhere without checking out the bathrooms first.

As far as the ceiling fans go, they are fascinating. Maybe this is a sign of what your child is going to do when he grows up.....electrician or fixing/making things that move.
I myself would not be too worried about it. If it's a phase, he'll grow out of it. If not, he'll make money from it.

Nanc