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how the hell!?!?!

evening ladies!!

a bit of help please brooke had been told she has asthma this afternoon and given an inhaler, how exactly do u give an 17 months old an inhaler, she has a spacer with it but she wont have it anywhere near her just screams blue murder, she needs to have it 2 puffs 4 times a day but there is no chance, hubby is going to have to pin her down so i can get it on her. so im not gunna be able to do it on my own!!

i dont know what to do! anyone else have to give their baby an inhaler?!! advice please!! xxx

Replies

  • hi honey!!

    try sitting her on your knee, with her back to your front

    put the spacer over her face, rocking back and forth singing "row, row your boat"

    2 of mine have had spacers from small, and both are great when i do this!!

    also, when she doesnt need it, let her play with it- this way she knows it wont hurt her! image
  • Poor thing,

    Could you pretend to use it yourself or on a favourite teddy? and let her touch and play with the spacer so she can become familier with it?

    To be honest, I wouldn't hold her down to use it as it will only scare her more and put her off using it more.
  • well no lol i dont really wanna pin her down coz its not nice and i dont think she will breathe it in properly if she is in a state. she is playing with it at the moment so will give it another go later and see if she will take it, i keep asking her where it goes and she puts it on my face! lol bless her!

    do u think putting some elastic on it will help to hold it into place coz she just shakes her head so i cant hold it on.. xx
  • bless her, could she put some stickers on it maybe if you have any to make it look nice?
  • i wouldnt put the elastic on for a couple of reasons - one is letting her play with it with the elastic isnt a good move, but that may just pinch into her and make her resent it more!

    the spacer should have either a yellow or orange mask (well, it's silicone, but the piping rubber should be coloured). it is quite pliable, so if you hold it firmly at her chin with the cupped palm of her hand, and gently hold her arms with your other hand / arm, she will get the hang of it.

    i def wouldnt pin her down, but if you can, dont let it get to you - she'll pick up on this in a flash. if she sleeps you maybe able to do it then - as long as you can see the little coloured disc where the mask meets the chamber moving when she breathes, she is getting the medication she needs!
  • Can i ask how they diagnose asthma?? I took Poppy to the quacks 2 weeks ago or so as she'd had a cough for weeks, he said she had asthma so prescribed the same as Brook has, she was fine with the mask and took it as prescribed but 3 days later she ended up at the emergency docs and he asked what medication she was on, I told him and he listened to her chest and told me to stop the medication straight away cos she doesn't have asthma?!! I'm confused!!
  • over the last few years, drs have been really quick to diagnose asthma, and as many children grow out of it, it is now felt that the first "attack" wasnt asthma at all!!

    the diagnosis should look at family history, symptoms, severity, when it is worse (asthmatics usually worse at night), any trigger factors (some foods will trigger, change in weather, dusty atmosphere / smoky etc)

    it is very difficult to diagnose in under 1yrs old, and many dr's will now not make any diagnosis under 4!! (usually 2yrs old, but some edge their bets!!)

    especially at this time of the yr, many lo suffer with bad chests - but dont we all?!! it is worse for them of course as they are all so little, and their defences are not as good as ours! usually, inhalers will initially help any type of respiratory distress - fast breathing, chest sinking in under the ribs when breathing etc, as it is usually the blue (salbutamol / ventolin) inhaler that is given. the purpose of this is to open the airways, allowing air to get in them better!!

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