Any ideas of how to ease you baby while he is using Albuterol ?

[baby_ml]

i went to my baby's pediatritian today and she said that my 15 month old has brochitis, so he needs to use albuterol but everytime my son sees the inhaler mask he freaks out and start screaming and crying, he wont let us apply it on him...does anybody have any idea of how to ease him while we use the inhaler, he is making it really hard

[jrs]

My son went on Pulmicort (Albuterol triggered his heart condition so he could not use it) and was the same way. He was about 3 or 4 months when he went on the breathing meds (he was previously just on heart meds). As bad as the oral medications were, the inhaler was worse. It was heart-wrenching to hear his screams, hold his arms down and force him to wear that mask for five minutes. I was crying every day for at least a week having to torture my baby like that.

I was so desperate for an answer, and shocked when I finally found one. Here it is... and I'm sorry if it's not what you want.

BABY EINSTEIN

I am so serious. I put in Baby Bach once, desperate for a distraction and it worked. My baby was calm, he sat staring at the screen for the entire 5 minutes with no screams, no thrashing. It worked day after day, month after month. I will swear by it. I ended up going on E-bay and buying a 16 disk set for about $60 after a few weeks of watching Baby Bach.

I was one of those moms who was not going to let her baby sit and stare at a TV, but the nebulizer changed my mind. He was so much happier and so easy to control.

I really hope you find something that works for you, and encourage you to give it a try. I went to their website and was shocked at how many mommies were writing in the same thing that I was, it really helps.

[kristen]

Ask your doctor or pharmacy if they have any kid masks. My son got one at his asthma doctor's office...it looks like a fish face. Otherwise, is there a favorite movie, TV show or book your son loves. Try to distract him with these while he gets his treatment. Also, singing to him may help. Good luck!

[reneaumommy]

give it to him when he sleeps. just hold it in front of his mouth and nose. been giving it to my son since he was 3months and thats how the respiratory people at the hospital told me to do it

[lysistrata411]

You can also see if the pediatrician will just give you the mouth piece. My son, who was 6 months old when we started using the albuterol treatments, immediately liked the mouth piece and most of the time would put it in his mouth. Sometimes he would get restless, but it still worked because we could hold it up to his face. In the meantime my husband and I try to keep him occupied with something else- turn on a cartoon, read to him, play with a stationary toy. When using the mouth piece, we plugged the other end so that it would only come out that one side, too. Good luck. I know it is hard to do.

[Nurse Answer Mama]

Screaming and crying while getting the treatment is actually OK. It is getting into his system fully.
I got a dinosaur mask from the supply store. My son likes it a little better.
I also let my son watch his fav show while he gets treatments, but I have to turn up the sound so he can hear it.
BTW, Albuterol is going to make him restless and jumpy. It is best to try to give it to him when you aren't going to be wanting him to sleep soon. I try to give my son's when he first wakes.

[Amy L]

I agree about the sleeping, but if you have to give it to about 3 times a day, like we did it is hard.

We made it into a very special time...we blew bubbles while she sat there and popped them...they stopped if she removed the mouth piece.
We sang songs.
She got Mini M&Ms
We held her and told her stories about the good mist--and how the mist was like tiny princess's (since she loves princesses) and how they were going inside her body and making it so pretty with glitter

Also I suggest let him see it, keep it among his toys. Let him play with it while not on. Plug is in every now and again, with no medicine and let him play with it. If you own it, let him decorate it with stickers.


good luck