Asthma Treatments and Getting Kids To Do ThemAsthma treatments are essential to keeping this chronic condition under control and stopping attacks in their tracks - but kids don't like to do them! I know my son would do everything he could to keep busy, hoping we'd 'forget' to hook him up to the nebulizer. Who can blame him? As an active toddler, it was all we could do to convince him to get the mask on for an asthma treatment. Needless to say, were pretty diligent about keeping those treatments on track. We'd rather find a cure for asthma but, after all, when the kid is having trouble breathing, you do what you have to do. Here are some of the basic asthma treatments we have tried over the years: 
Our first introduction to asthma treatments began with a nebulizer and albuterol. Here's a picture of one of the nebulizers we've been known to use over the years. They seem to be getting smaller and more portable as time goes on. I remember my nephew having a breathing treatment years ago and the nebulizer was a big, bulky thing - but not so much anymore. We have no problem tucking ours into a suitcase or bag and heading off on a trip.We had no luck with the original mouthpiece that came with the nebulizer. Our then one-and-a-half-year-old was not interested in holding that thing in his mouth - he'd rather pop it out and figure out where all that 'smoke' is coming from! We've tried it again from time to time as he's gotten older, but we always find ourselves wondering if the asthma treatments are getting into his body or if they're just disappearing into the air. He has a tendency to hold his breath or breathe very shallowly when he's using the mouthpiece. Our solution?
The mask, of course! A great device. Just put it onto your child's head, and the medicine vapors collect around his mouth to give the child more time to inhale them. Our son thought they were suspicious-looking at first, but soon got used to them. Then we improved on them with:
An awesome dinosaur mask we found at a pharmacy while we were on vacation in Florida. A real life saver! We'd packed the nebulizer, but forgot the mask. By the time we found a pharmacy, he'd missed his daily maintenance treatment and had no interest in hooking up again - he'd sensed freedom! But the excitement of finding such a cool mask put him in the mood to agreeably continue his asthma treatments, even if we were on vacation. Our back-up for giving asthma treatments is the inhaler. It takes a few tries to learn how to use the inhaler correctly, so you should keep a close watch at first to make sure the meds are getting into the kid. Our son has had not had much luck with the inhaler so far. 
For a while, we thought he was getting the meds. After a bad rash of asthma attacks, we realized he wasn't getting enough of the medicine to do the trick. So we went back to the nebulizer. It takes longer, but there's security in knowing the medicines are getting in. We do carry the inhaler with us when we're away from home for a few hours, just in case. To help make it more effective, we also carry a chamber to hook up to the inhaler. It holds the medicine in the chamber and near the mouth, so the child has more time to inhale it. I would say that it worked well for us, but not nearly as well as the nebulizer does - so it's our first choice if he's having a tough time. What about asthma cures? They don't exist yet - but I do have some ideas to make the wait easier.
Return to Top of Asthma Treatments
|
