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  1. #1
    cono0507 is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Question Looking for suggestions for helping toddler with nebulizer

    My 17mo old DD is on twice daily nebulizer treatments for asthma (darn genes...). At first, she was tolerating them well as long as she was in my lap and Clifford was on TV. That's not working well anymore. I've tried reading books and she just cries and wiggles out of my lap. I'm looking for suggestions from other moms about what has worked for you for keeping little ones content during neb treatments. This is driving us both crazy.

  2. #2
    Fairy's Avatar
    Fairy is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    You are exactly where we were when we started. DS is now 4. *sigh*. For us, TV was the only way to calm him enough to sit thru it, plus we sat right next to him or held him during the treatment. I take it you're doing the Pulmicourt (or Budecanide)? Those are very short, a few minutes till you're done. If you're also doing the occasional Albuterol, that's a much longer session. Here are some ideas:

    * Try TV, and if you can, make it the only time she gets TV is during the neb. That way she's looking forward to it. Alot of people are anti-TV and wouldn't like this option; I used to be one of them. However, ya do what you have to do, and we just made the very best choices in programming that we could for him, and it's all worked out just fine. If Clifford isn't wroking, switch to a new show. Or even a DVD, and you let her watch the whole thing, not just until the neb is done.

    * Do not mix the neb drugs into one session. There isn't really anything wrong with doing it that way, according to DS's docs, but honestly, I think they take much longer when you combine them.

    * Reward, reward, reward. If that means a cookie or some other tasty treat, then that's what it means. But other good options are trips to Chuckie Cheese, the mall, etc. So, if you do your breathing well all week, we go to Chuckie Cheese on Friday.

    * You're using the mask, right? I have found the purple dragon-ish mask is the most comfy; that blue one is awful.

    * We've been at this a long time. It becomes a way of life. You don't even notice it after a while.

    Sorry your DD is going thru it. Good luck to you!

    -- Fairy
    * Charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society
    * I do not fix my typos. I shuold, but I dodn't.
    * I regret tucking my jeans into my socks with Reebok high-tops well into 1994.

  3. #3
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    Gena is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    DS is 4.5 and has been using a nebulizer since he was 10 months old. It took him a long time to get used to it. When he was very young I would have to wrap my legs around him to keep him in place and he would cry the whole time. Eventually, as he grew and got used to it, we settled into a routine. Around age 2 or so he started to get really good at sitting for his "treatment". He had a special place to sit and a special show to watch on tv. Now he's an old pro at it.

    I agree with all of Fairy's advice in her post. (Except that the purple dragon mask fit DS well when he was really little, but starting at age 3 the blue and orange fish mask fit him better.)

    It really does get better. It just takes a while. It's really hard when they are little, but eventually it just becomes another part of the daily routine.

    Good luck!
    Gena

    DS, age 11 and always amazing

    “Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong

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    o_mom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    TV was what we used. Also, not putting the mask on them seemed to help as well - just holding it a few cm off their face. The doctor even told us that we could take the mask off and just use the tube if he wouldn't do it through the mask, but ask them about this.

    Books didn't work for us because the machine was so loud. Maybe a new DVD that is only on at treatment time?
    Mama to three boys ('03, '05, '07)

  5. #5
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    bubbaray is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Agreeing with the PPs. It took a while and at first, it was a "two-man" job -- DH would hold DD#1 down while he sat in a recliner in front of the TV and I would keep the mask on her. She started at 13m. It didn't take too long before she realized the treatments were helping and she became more compliant.

    We dont' have to do treatments very often now (before it was every time she got even the mildest cold and almost daily during her peak allergy season). We have "graduated" to an aerochamber and aerosol ventolin only. Much easier to deal with. Also, with an older child, IME, they can "ask" for the treatment, so you aren't fighting to give them one when they don't want it.

    Oh, and IIRC, we would let DD#1 pick out a DVD to watch. Her treatments were only 10min long with the nebulizer.

    GL!
    Melissa

    DD#1: April 2004
    DD#2: January 2007

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." Jack Layton 1950 - 2011

  6. #6
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    bubbaray is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by o_mom View Post
    TV was what we used. Also, not putting the mask on them seemed to help as well - just holding it a few cm off their face. The doctor even told us that we could take the mask off and just use the tube if he wouldn't do it through the mask, but ask them about this.

    Books didn't work for us because the machine was so loud. Maybe a new DVD that is only on at treatment time?
    Yeah, books did NOT work for us. And, yeah, we were given the green light to give treatments without the mask if necessary -- especially if she needed on in the middle of the night when she was sleeping.
    Melissa

    DD#1: April 2004
    DD#2: January 2007

    "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." Jack Layton 1950 - 2011

  7. #7
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    Default TV

    TV is all that worked for us. We tried coloring, play dough, markers (worked for a while) but the best was "Neb Videos". We let J pick out a DVD and it was only watched when the Neb was on. My kids can be bribed with TV time, sad I confess, but it works!

  8. #8
    lilycat88 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    DD started on the nebulizer at 8 months. Now, at 4 1/2, it's only when she has a cold. At about 18 months, DD became very interested in holding the mask herself. We had a couple of drops/spills but she was happiest holding the mask and standing next to one of us as we read books. At long as she was cooperative and happy, we didn't mind a couple of spills during the learning process. The machine was loud but reading books still worked. We never put the strap around her head, only held the mask to her face.

    When she was smaller than that, TV worked. Now, she can do the entire process herself from putting the meds in and turning it on. She acts insulted if we try to help her.

  9. #9
    Fairy's Avatar
    Fairy is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Ya know what, I never even thought of letting DS put the meds in himself. He's starting to get ornery, and I think that's a great idea! I can't wait to try this tonight!
    * Charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society
    * I do not fix my typos. I shuold, but I dodn't.
    * I regret tucking my jeans into my socks with Reebok high-tops well into 1994.

  10. #10
    SASM is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    When DS was younger, he would put up the biggest fight if he didn't have his "Rory" nebulizer mask, as opposed to the plain ones. So...do you have a character neb mask?

    Dragon ~ http://www.pediatricsupplier.com/dragon.html **This is the one that we have**

    Elephant ~ http://www.pediatricsupplier.com/elephant.html

    I think this helped b/c we'd make up stories about Rory and how we couldn't take it off until he ran out of smoke. This really helped us.

    Another thing was making sure that we had a semi-quiet one. Ours is not extremely quiet but it is a lot quieter than the one that I had previously.

    The above site also has some very cute nebulizers ~ colors, characters, shapes, etc ~ that might get your DC excited about his med time. Good luck! BTDT...not fun. You gotta do what ya gotta do to get them stationery long enough for the meds.

    Oh...Have you also tried using a NEW movie/DVD?? If I would come across a good deal on a DVD, I'd pick it up for reasons like this. I'd let DS watch it ONLY while he was doing his neb treatment. It helped him get excited about the neb time.

    Now that he is older and knows what to expect, he is all about cuddling. DS LOVES to cuddle and now he knows that neb time means cuddle time. ...or Leapster.

    Good luck!

    ETA: I agree about letting DS put in his own meds, putting on the mask, etc. My DS really wanted to start doing that stuff around your DS's age. Character masks were still key at that age.
    Last edited by SASM; 01-21-2009 at 03:33 PM.
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