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inhalers - advice please

My 10 month old son was given an inhaler today by our GP, for a wheezy chest that has been a problem for 3 weeks now. It has a spacer device with it, so you squirt the inhaler into a tube which is attached to a mask that you put over babies mouth and nose for a few seconds. The problem is, everytime I try lo screams the house down and wriggles and fights. Got to do it 4 times a day, so not looking forward to fighting wiht him every time, and worried that he is not actually getting any of the inhaler. Just wondering if anyone else has any experience of this and can offer any advice.

Thanks.

Replies

  • my son was the same!! like you i was worried that if he cried he wouldn't get the medicine correctly. when he was 18 months old he was admitted to hosp with pneumonia and needed a chest x ray, whilst he was on the nebuliser he was screaming, i asked the nurse if he'd still be able get any of the medicine whilst he was screaming and she told me that they prefer it that way cause screaming opens up the airways and allows the medicine to get inside and work properly. as for fidgeting, i used to get my son to sit on my lap with a book to distract him first, he always fidgeted and screamed thou, but you've just gotta perservere and you'll soon work out what suits you and ur lo!!! best of luck hun xx
  • sorry dbl post!!!

    [Modified by: R@chie-w on November 10, 2008 09:29 PM]

  • Hiya

    I have a 10 month old son and he was prescribed an inhaler a few months back for when he had a cold. On advice we now use it for every one. Hes just got over an horrendous cold.

    We show him what to do, so we put the mask over our faces and breath in and out and laugh and joke whilst doing it. You could maybe demonstrate on a teddy bear to show him that it doesnt hurt. Now, when my son sees the inhaler he starts to breath rapidly in and out- really cute! He does still struggle a little bit when taking it, but to ensure he gets it properly i hold his head and arms so he cant move (sounds v cruel!).

    My doc said that its probably best that he cries because you know that they are taking breaths. Theres a little bit in the inhaler that moves back and foward when they have taken a breath so this should give you some indication.

    Hope this helps and soz for the ramble! Good luck
  • i've had 2 that needed inhalers, and i found the best way was to sit them facing away from me, put the mask on and rock back and forth singing "row your boat", - they loved it, and had their inhaler no probs!! both were less than one when they needed it!
  • Cheers for the advice. I tried the teddy trick suggested by Jams and we seem to be getting somewhere - thanks Jams! I think I might need to be a bit more forceful though as he still seems to manage to wriggle away from the mask - why are lo's so strong??!!
    Thanks again.
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