anyone have nebulizer experience?

[shadeelady]

we went to the doctor yesterday and they thought miles had pneumonia. he doesn't, but his left lung is a little inflamed and he has to use the nebulizer every 4-6 hours. well, we did one treatment last night.....and he was so upset and crying, kicking and screaming. now i am home alone with him today and am dreading having to do this by myself.

anyone have any tips for making him a little more at ease while we do this??

[fire_rocket]

:heart: I've never had to use one, but my friend uses them on her daughter a LOT- like whenever she gets sick. I'll ask her for some advice. :heart:

[shadeelady]

thanks so much sara. :heart:

we just did one and it wasn't as bad as last night, but he still cried for most of the time.

[wabbit]

my friend's daughter has used a nebulizer for years. They have one that the mask looks like a fish.. I'll also ask to see if they had any tricks. I know she has used it since she was little little..

hopefully this will be short lived!

:heart:

[fire_rocket]

I'm sure he'll get used to it in time. It still sucks though! :(

My friend had a penguin one that was actually cute.

[shadeelady]

thanks, girls. :heart:

we have a 16 day supply for the nebulizer. i have to take him back in 2 weeks for a lung check. i am hoping that the more we do it, the easier it will be. *sigh* i hate having to hold him down. :(

[Joia]

when I used it on Yesmeen at home, I had to nurse her at the same time and point the non-mask adapter at her nose. In the hospital, they used the mask, but the treatment only took a few minutes the home nebulizer takes forever!

how old is he? I "papoose" Yesmeen when I use the bulb syringe to suck the snot out of her nose. I wrap a towel around her like a swaddle to restrain her arms. It's pretty horrific, but when she can't breath out of her nose, it's really hard for her to nurse, so I have to get the snot out of her somehow.

does he like TV or movies? you could try the swaddle, with the mask in front of the TV to divert his attention?

[little frog]

i did for many years with my oldest who had/has chronic asthma. we started it when he was three.

how old is he now?

i would put a fun show on tv so he was distracted then i'd set up the nebulizer and i'd hand it to him and tell him to put it over his mouth "like a astronaut" .. he held it himself and watched his show. no drama.

[wabbit]

good suggestion.. Joia, I should have come to you for help when I couldn't get Gabe to sit still when I have to suckie his nose.. I never even thought of that. Thankfully he has figured out how to blow his nose and I haven't had to use the nose sucker in a few months..

I need to remember that for the future.. trying to restrain a wriggly toddler safely is hard especially when you need your hands free to plug one side and squeeze the sucker with the other.. :lol:


edit... I just saw little frog's post.. great suggestion as well! I am going to write these down in case we wind up with a nebulizer as well (I am prone to asthma and allergies, and I fear that Gabe might follow in my footsteps)

[Joia]

I had to do it at 3am, I think the neighbors thought I was killing her :lol:

then she slept until 8:20!

[shadeelady]

he'll be 2 in may.....when we did the treatment this morning, i did have sprout on and we sort of cuddled in the corner of the couch. it was a little easier than it was last night with me and scott kind of holding him down. i think i may try the swaddle thing. i don't think he will hold the face mask by himself. he runs away when he sees it. ;)

thanks for all the advice! it is so appreciated. :heart: you people are the best!

[little frog]

if you let him play with the mask while it's not attached to the machine he'll get used to it and won't be so scared of it. just hand it to him, let him explore the mask himself. let him put it on your face too so he can see you're not scared of it either.

the trick to getting them to take any meds in any form is to make it non-threatening for them. if they feel like they're in control of the situation it's much less scary.

[wabbit]

the trick to getting them to take any meds in any form is to make it non-threatening for them. if they feel like they're in control of the situation it's much less scary.

This is sage advice.. :heart:

[shadeelady]

that is great advice. i am definitely going to do this when he wakes up from his nap. (he's sleeping quite soundly right now! yay!)

thanks again. :heart: :heart:

[shadeelady]

thank you so much LF!! i let him play with the face mask for a little bit before we did the treatment and he didn't even cry this time!! the five minutes only seemed to last the actual 5 minutes instead of forever!!! :heart: :heart: :heart:

[wabbit]

Awesome!!! Yah!!!

:heart:

[little frog]

YAY!!! good job mommy! xoxo

[reveur]

LF got any tips for using a nebulizer on a cat? :funny1:

[little frog]

hahaha .. don't give them catnip first? wende would be the expert here. ;)

[MissWhy]

Alot of meds like albuterol are also available in an inhaler with a spacer device made for kiddos. the spacer method usually takes about 10-15 seconds to administer vs 10 minutes on the neb. you may want to ask your pedi? I use the spacer w/ my boy every night, way easier tolerated...good luck!!!!!!!!!