First timer using a nebulizer - any tips?

[crusoe2]

My 5yo DD was just diagnosed with a bad case of bronchitis and has to take breathing treatments. They gave us a nebulizer to use at home and an inhaler with a spacer to take to Disney with us (we leave tomorrow afternoon ). My only experience with either of these was when DS briefly used an inhaler but he was old enough that he didn't need the spacer. Does anyone have any tips? DD didn't care much for it when we did the first nebulizer treatment at the doctor's office earlier. We tried both the mask and the piece that you put in your mouth. The mouth piece worked better for her but it got uncomfortable and since she apparently couldn't swallow with it in, she ended up drooling all over. We haven't tried the inhaler yet. I'm thinking that we should take both to Orlando with us and try to give her the nebulizer treatments a couple times a day - maybe in the morning before we go to the park and at night after we get back - and use the inhaler a couple times of day while we're at the park. (Not sure yet - I need to call the dr. tomorrow and make sure I understood the directions correctly.) If we take the nebulizer, how in the world shall I go about cleaning it properly? We're staying at Pop Century so no kitchen facilities. I'd love to hear from anyone who has dealt with this. TIA

 

[pigget74]

We will be taking ours in November for our 3 and 1 year old. We do not use an inhaler so I cannot help with that. AS far as cleaning the nebulizer just rinse in the sink and let air dry. Niether one of mine like the mask. We just hold the mout piece in front of their mouth that way they can swallow.

 

[StephMK]

Definitely take it with you, better to have & not need than need & have it at home. You should be fine with a quick rinse. My kids like the mask better but we've also done holding the mouthpiece in front - as long as it's getting in their nose/mouth, it's ok. We usually look at books or I let them watch a show while doing it so they're distracted.

Have a great trip & hope DD feels better!

 

[Woodpackmom]

My 5yo DD was just diagnosed with a bad case of bronchitis and has to take breathing treatments. They gave us a nebulizer to use at home and an inhaler with a spacer to take to Disney with us (we leave tomorrow afternoon ). My only experience with either of these was when DS briefly used an inhaler but he was old enough that he didn't need the spacer. Does anyone have any tips? DD didn't care much for it when we did the first nebulizer treatment at the doctor's office earlier. We tried both the mask and the piece that you put in your mouth. The mouth piece worked better for her but it got uncomfortable and since she apparently couldn't swallow with it in, she ended up drooling all over. We haven't tried the inhaler yet. I'm thinking that we should take both to Orlando with us and try to give her the nebulizer treatments a couple times a day - maybe in the morning before we go to the park and at night after we get back - and use the inhaler a couple times of day while we're at the park. (Not sure yet - I need to call the dr. tomorrow and make sure I understood the directions correctly.) If we take the nebulizer, how in the world shall I go about cleaning it properly? We're staying at Pop Century so no kitchen facilities. I'd love to hear from anyone who has dealt with this. TIA

My middle son used a nebulizer for YEARS whenever he got sick...
He didn't like the mask until he got older, and he NEVER liked the mouthpiece. I would always just use the mouthpiece thing and hold it in front of his nose/mouth. When you do that, just try and hold your thumb over the hole you don't have in front of their mouth so that she gets more of the medication, otherwise it escapes out the back part.. Does that make sense?
I'm also a nurse and I've given many a neb treatment to kids in the hospital this way.
Definately take it with you...
As far as cleaning, the earlier posts already said what I would, just clean water rinse and air dry.
Have a good time!
The humidity in FL will actually be good for her!

 

[crusoe2]

Thank you so much. You guys have made me feel so much better. They kind of rushed through all of this at the doctor's office today. I know this stuff is no big deal to them - they deal with it all the time. But it always makes me a little nervous when I have to give my kids medication they've never taken before and now I've got to deal with it far from home and without the comfort of having doctors I know & trust close at hand. I just want to be very sure that I do this right cause the doctor commented several times that my DD's breathing sounded really bad. I have to wonder how bad it really is tho, since I was very clear about our plans to go to Disney and the doctor gave no indication that we should reconsider and stay home.

As for cleaning the nebulizer, I went back and re-read the instructions and realized that I don't have to clean the tubing, just the small parts. That helps quite a bit. I was trying to figure out where I was going to lay that thing out to dry - maybe drape it over the clothesline along with the wet swimsuits? Thanks again. Now I'd better get back to packing.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

might sound odd but i found my eldest (asthmatic) was happier using the mask if she wore sunglasses- the reason she didn't like the mask in the first place was the steam.mist that escapes out making her blink etc... sounds silly i know but to a four year old it was a big thing.

As for inhalers- have they provided you with a spacer or a self administering inhaler? When v.small my dd had a spacer chamber where you squirt the inhaler into it and then breathe in the contents of the spacer (less of a sudden inhale & hold that you get with a regular inhaler) and when she reached school age and needed to do it herself she was given and easi-breathe one where when she opens the cap it administers the dose into a holding area and as soon as she breathes in it releases- it relies alot less on them being able to time the breathing & pumping

 

[TexasBee]

We've done nebulizer treatments, although not as old as your DD. I found if you could distract them, it works better - like set them up in front of a tv show or movie they haven't seen before or really love, while you do it. The other thing that worked out well was using the wand while they slept - esp at Disney this may work well for you - let her conk out and then do the treatment for her. The only problem with that is the machine is somewhat noisy, I stuck it under the bed as far as I could before turning it on.

Good luck!

 

[mommytoe]

My 5yo DD was just diagnosed with a bad case of bronchitis and has to take breathing treatments. They gave us a nebulizer to use at home and an inhaler with a spacer to take to Disney with us (we leave tomorrow afternoon ). My only experience with either of these was when DS briefly used an inhaler but he was old enough that he didn't need the spacer. Does anyone have any tips? DD didn't care much for it when we did the first nebulizer treatment at the doctor's office earlier. We tried both the mask and the piece that you put in your mouth. The mouth piece worked better for her but it got uncomfortable and since she apparently couldn't swallow with it in, she ended up drooling all over. We haven't tried the inhaler yet. I'm thinking that we should take both to Orlando with us and try to give her the nebulizer treatments a couple times a day - maybe in the morning before we go to the park and at night after we get back - and use the inhaler a couple times of day while we're at the park. (Not sure yet - I need to call the dr. tomorrow and make sure I understood the directions correctly.) If we take the nebulizer, how in the world shall I go about cleaning it properly? We're staying at Pop Century so no kitchen facilities. I'd love to hear from anyone who has dealt with this. TIA

My older dd started using a nebulizer when she just turned 4. The Dr said to let her put stickers on the mask. That seemed to help with getting her to use it, because she decorated it herself.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My kids (ds7 and dd4) are experts with the Nebulizer - both have been using it on and off since age 2 - both have asthma. Which medication did they give you to use? Mine both use Xoepenex in the Nebulizer and we have Xoepenex as an emergency inhaler. Ds uses a Symbicort inhaler 2x daily for asthma maintenance (along with several medications). Albuteral makes my son's heart race too face and he gets very "wound up" to say the least. He shakes to the point of not being able to hold a pencil and acts like he's on speed.

They both prefer the mask over the mouthpiece. When ds was little, he had a ducky mask - dd has a dinosaur -- she's big into dinosaurs. As a matter of fact, dd4 just finished a treatment - been wheezing for the last week.

I would use the Nebulizer while in the room - before and after the parks. You can take it to the Baby Centers or First Aid to plug it up at the parks but the inhaler would be easier. We have a spacer with a mask and it's easy to use with both kids and would be fairly easy to transport to the parks.

 

[Kies99]

Definitely look around for different masks.

Our youngest used one and really enjoyed the dinosaur mask. We used to say she was breathing fire and that's what the steam was coming out of the "nostrils".

 

[crusoe2]

Awesome information and advice. Thanks so much. WantToGoNow, they said they were giving her Albuteral at the dr. office yesterday but the prescription we got for both nebulizer and inhaler was the Xoepenex. DD was super hyper after the treatment they gave her - I hope the Xoepenex doesn't affect her as much. She just got up so we haven't done a treatment yet - will be doing that in just a few minutes. Question - are there any side effects to watch for with Xoepenex? DD seemed to have a touch of diarrhea last night - probably TMI, I know, but I was just wondering if it might be from the meds. She had only had one dose of the antibiotic (Omnicef) so I don't think it could have been that.

 

[Kies99]

Side effects information:

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/leval_ad.htm

 

[crusoe2]

Just checking in to say thank you for all the advice and so long for a few days. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours but I wanted to let you all know that your advice worked beautifully with DD. I let her do the breathing treatment just holding the mouthpiece in front of her mouth rather than inside and she did much better. We also watched television, pretended that she was getting a "beauty treatment", and even shared the steam a little (I have bronchitis too unfortunately). She was actually starting to have fun with it. Thanks again.

 

[crysplefty]

Not only should you rinse and air dry the mask and mouth piece, but you should also clean it with vinegar and warm water. My husband had me do this for our kids' masks last december when they had rsv. He is a paramedic and this is how they clean the masks on the ambulances. Also, my grandmother's respiratory therapist told her to do the same with hers.

 

[thegrimdwarf]

My DS2 is a pro with breathing treatments. His first experience was a disaster - he was 8 months and very acute with bronchiolitis, barely moving air, but still managed to fight like an angry cat over having the mask over his mouth. Fast forward 2 years, and he'll wear the mask, with the elastic band around his head, and just sit and watch a show while the neb runs. It's just about the only thing in life that he's easy-going about, lol.

So - my recommendation is to maybe let your 5 year old hold it herself, and put on a show that she really enjoys (this is the neb, not the inhaler - I have no experience with those). I would make it clear to her that this is not an optional endeavor - she HAS to have the medicine - so ask her to help you decide the best way for her to do it. If she's allowed some input on what's the lesser of 2 evils, she may be more cooperative.

Good luck!