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please help! :) tricks for using inhaler with spacer with baby!
Ok- We had pulmonology appt today. After chest xray and exam Aiden as dx with reactive airway disease. They said it is contributing to his apnea (the reason we went in the first place). He now has to use steroid inhaler 2x/day. Then the albuterol inhaler as needed. We are using a spacer with a mask. I thought- no problem! WRONG! It was awful! There has to be some trick out there. I had to literally hold him to even get it over his face! Then he screamed and held his breath the whole time. Advice and tips are appreciated! THANKS! 
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Re: please help! :) tricks for using inhaler with spacer with baby!
Your son is under one, right? And they gave you an inhaler and spacer? DS's pulmonologist won't even consider an inhaler and spacer until a kid is at least 2 -- and still not for DS because of his resistance to it. Ask for a nebulizer -- that is what we use for DS for his asthma. He takes abuterol and pulmicort through it. It won't resolve the problem of fighting the mask, and it will take longer, though. For DS we special-ordered a Pari-LC nebulizer, which you can use at any angle, and use it when he is sleeping and lying down.
If I have to do it while awake, I sit him on my lap, with his back to my chest, and restrain his arms as needed. Then I bounce him, sing songs in his ear, and put on a Thomas movie.
Yeah- he turns one next week. They gave us a spacer with mask- then we picked up two inhalers at pharmacy. They showed us how to use it etc. There is a nice flap thing on it to check how many breathes they take...so he gets all the meds. Why wont they consider letting kids under two use them? Now I am worried. I will def check into a nebulizer. Any info on why they cant use a spacer would be great! Thanks!
As PP said, a nebulizer is the way to go. I think they don't give inhalers under 2 because they are too hard to try to get them to take correctly. We give pulmicort and albuterol through a neb at least 2 times a day for his reactive airways caused by his heart defect. When he was younger we used a nebulizer that was a pacifier that he could suck on as the neb was blowing into his nose. The nebulizers these days are very small as well. We rent ours through Walgreens Home Health. We put his favorite Sesame Street episode on so that he doesn't try to push it away.
Hope this helps...
This was why our pulmonlogist won't give one to DS. I haven't seen one with a flap, so I don't know how well it holds in the medicine, but I would be worried if he was fighting the mask that medicine would be escaping. I also worry about him breathing in deeply enough to take in the medicine, as opposed to the nebulizer which forces it into his airway. I know when my husband uses his inhaler, he has to breathe in pretty deeply.
We bought our nebulizer pump thing through our insurance company's preferred durable medical equipment supplier. I think it cost us about $65.
DS was in the PICU a couple of months ago and that is when he was officially diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease. We were at the children's hospital and NONE of the doctors would use anything other than an inhaler with a spacer and all spoke about how it delivers the medicine better (and faster in the case of an attack) than a nebulizer. We had been using the nebulizer for months prior.
DS was in extremely critical condition at first and so we saw the head of the ER, head of the PICU, pulmonology and respiratory therapy and they were all in agreement, so your doctor is not the only one feeling that this is best.
At first, DS really fought it so we really had to hold him down. Now, just a few months later, he grabs his spacer from where we keep it next to his changing table and holds it up to his face and is ready to go.
Is yours yellow? I'm guessing we have the same type as we count the number of breaths he takes by watching the flap. The one that we use is specifically designed for very small kiddos and the flap works perfectly to make sure that he gets the medicine. Oddly enough, he takes really slow, deep breaths when we use the spacer- it's like he knows what to do.
All of this to say - I bet if you give it a bit more time he will get much better at taking it. Good luck! If you have any questions please feel free to let me know. PM or email me at themagicofmama at gmail dot com.
Oh, and DS is also on FloVent as a preventative, Albuterol as needed and Singulair (chewable tablets).
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Oh, and on a sidenote, did the pulmonolgist talk to you about 'priming' the inhaler? I have had asthma for years and never knew about it. Also, I didn't realize that the inhaler was out of medicine long before it feels out (when you shake it and still feel stuff inside). It is so important that you either get an inhaler with a counter so you know when the medicine is gone or actually keep track of how many puffs you have used.
Let me know if you want info about either of those things. Again, having asthma since I was a kid you would think I knew about these important things, but I had no clue.
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My big girl was having asthma-like symptoms earlier in the year and the nebulizer wasn't cutting so they gave us an inhaler and said that the gusts should help us (she was around 16-18 months then). We were supposed to get a spacer for it and none of the local pharmacies carried one in the right size so we ended up just continued with the nebulizer until it got better.
On the other hand, my smaller angel has had way worse breathing issues and we've only been told to use the nebulizer, but I know that she wouldn't have the lung capacity to take deep breaths either and she sees a different set of doctors.
Thanks! Yes, ours is yellow. They said you can put a puff into the spacer and it will stay there until the child breathes it in. They said we need to see the flap move 6 times for each puff (for him to get all the medicine.) He is also on Flovent as preventative and albuterol as needed. Hopefully after he gets used to it he will be better with it!
Oh and our pulmonolgist gave us the spacer- we didnt have to get it at pharmacy. They also gave him cup thingy for chest physiotherapy...for when he aspirates too much and cant clear his lungs.
Yeah- with this spacer you just counts the flap moving and once it has moved 6 times...that is equivalent to taking in one deep breath with inhaler. I think it is specially designed for little kids. Thanks for all the info!
We use a spacer also and it has been heaven sent!! Lizzie doesn't do well with the nebs, they take forever and we end up not getting all the meds b/c she hates it so much. She will totally tolerate the spacer. Our pulm and our RT we see regularly said that the spacers get the medicine in more effectiently if used correctly.
We still have to do a pulmicort neb 2x a day, but we do it first thing in the morning and before bedtime when she is the calmest. It helps if I hold her against my chest and kind of bounce her or sing songs to her. Hopefully your guy will get the hang of it soon. It really is easier than trying to wrestle with the neb.