Any tips on helping a very reluctant 8yo take her inhalers

[Howtohelpasthmaticdd]

Dd had just been diagnosed asthmatic (within the last 2 weeks).

She isn't too bad with her blue inhaler, although she would prefer not to.

Her brown inhaler is awful, 30 mins of upset, crying, begging, pleading not to take it. I'm at the end of my tether.

Is there any way to make it easier for her? We can't keep doing this twice a day for the foreseeable future.

If there an operation ouch episode explaining about asthma or some who she knows who uses inhalers who she can talk too? That would be my first step.

As harsh is this sounds- is she aware that people can actually die from an asthma attack and that taking a preventative inhaler will help protect her?

Has she got a spacer? Why does she not like taking it? Some of them can taste pretty awful but the space takes the worst of that away. I’m bad at taking mine but it now lives by my toothbrush and it’s part of my morning and nightly route that I take my inhaler before I clean my teeth.

Is she just using an inhaler or using them with a spacer?

Even as an adult I've hopeless technique without a spacer.

What's the problem with them? If it's the taste, that's a technique thing and exactly why everybody is supposed to use a spacer now (you would not believe the number of grown adults who I've seen with 90% of the medication puffing out the sides and then complaining that it doesn't work/tastes horrible).

She has a spacer, and my friend has talked to her, the asthma nurse has told her the severity of it too.

She's so sporty, and I've told her she won't be able to continue with her clubs if she doesn't take it, and even that's not doing anything, it just upsets her.

It's just awful, I've effectively got to pin her down and force her to take it. I've tried bribery, explaining, shouting, calm talks, even tried doing it in her sleep but she wakes up

I've never heard if operation ouch, but I'll go look now.

At this point I'm willing to try absolutely anything. It's breaking my heart being like this, she's normally so good, never gets told off, she is pretty perfect tbh, so it's a shock seeing her refuse something so important.

She says she doesn't like the taste of it, but it's 20 seconds of a taste vs half an hour of a pretty awful time then having to take it anyways.

Medicine is non negotiable here.

I’d talk to her about it at a time when she’s not due a dose. Something along the lines of, “You seem to get very upset when it’s time to take your medicine. Why do you think that is?” Listen to her and show appropriate sympathy - yes, it does taste horrible, yes, it’s not fair that you have to take it, yes, knowing that you have to do something you don’t want to can make you feel panic, like when you try to open a loo door and the lock doesn’t open easily and you feel trapped. Let her feel heard. Make sure she understands that she needs the medicine to be healthy, though I’d imagine she knows that already, and that you have to give it to her because you love her and you want her to be healthy and it’s your job as a mum to make sure she takes it.

It doesn’t make you feel good to make her do something that she doesn’t want to do and that makes her upset. It’s something you have to do just like taking the medicine is something that she has to do. So you can both agree that it sucks and it’s something that neither of you likes - her taking it and you making her take it- but has to be done. You can get through it together and then have a big hug and be glad it’s over.

Bribery. Two weeks of taking it without complaining and then she can have the thing she wants. Some times they just need to break the cycle of behaviour.

Which type of spacer is she using? The mouthpiece ones or the mask one? Mouthpiece gets it inside easier in one breath but she might be a bit young.

you could try cleaning her teeth just before the inhaler to mask the taste, and then clean again immediately afterwards to get rid of it (you need to clean teeth afterwards anyway).

can you give her control - so not that she is / is not taking it, but when she presses the inhaler etc? Do you do peak flow? Can she see that the medication is helping her peak flow?

DD used to be tricky about taking her inhaler, until she was about that age and had a massive asthma attack - blue lights to hospital, stayed in for three days on oxygen and inhaled steroids ever two hours. It was hell, and peak COVID so only I could be in with her and it was exhausting.

even if you have to pin her down to take it, this is definitely a case of being cruel to be kind - asthma isn’t something you should mess about with….

She has the mouthpiece one, but I have ordered a mask one to see if it makes any difference.

I bought one of those things with the 3 balls that you practise blowing into (is that a peak flow?) so ill persevere with that as well.

I've had to pin her down a few times, it's bloody awful, it's absolutely not negotiable that she takes it, it's just the 30 mins before when I'm trying to convince her to take it.

Brushing her teeth first is something I haven't tried, I've had things waiting for directly afterwards, but even having her favourite treats isn't helping much.

Talking to her during the day is something I haven't really tried, just because she gets so upset at the mere mention of it, so its literally just morning and night, I'll give that a try to though, see if its a calmer discussion.

Thank you for all the help, it's a really difficult situation.

She had pneumonia when she was younger and was very poorly off the back of that and in hospital for 6 weeks, so I think she's possibly remembering the medical stuff and how poorly she was and equating this with that on some level.

If she doesn’t like the taste, you can go back to the doctors and ask for a different one.

Don’t forget at age 8 the rational brain is only just developing, so don’t be surprised if she doesn’t get the logic of 20 seconds of bad taste vs an asthma attack etc. I think putting some emotional work in at a different time to when she has to take the medicine as @Papernotplastic said is better.

I remember this battle well. We eventually got through it by offering orange chocolate after it to get rid of the taste. We experimented with a different treat to get rid of the taste/anxiety of taste. Not great parenting but it worked.
Good luck 🤞🏻

If she doesn't like the taste and it's causing this level of anxiety and refusal I think it's worth seeing the asthma nurse at the surgery.

There are different brands of inhalers and different types of inhalers. They start you off on the most cost effective medication and rely on you going back if this doesn't suit.

Give the asthma nurse a call.

Thank you so much for all the advice, we had a chat yesterday about the severity, then watched some youtube stuff aimed at kids, I said I would buy her a treat of her choosing each week she took it well, and she brushed her teeth before she took it, and she is like a different kid.

I appreciate you all 💐

@Howtohelpasthmaticdd lovely to hear, glad she’s managing now.

Wonderful! I hope she (and you) are feeling much better about it all.

Great news! I would take the inhaler before cleaning teeth as they can taste funny and leave a bit of deposit in your mouth. I tend to take my inhaler, have a drink of water (usually with a hayfever tablet and vitamins in the morning) and then clean my teeth.

She needs to rinse her mouth after she's used it because they can cause thrush

Glad she is getting better OP.
Have you got the Rafi Tone app? The icon is a picture of a red robot waving and was recommended on the leaflet inside the spacer when we got it from the chemist. It helped my (much younger) reluctant son to take his blue inhaler.

I have a 'turbohaler' - really easy to use. It's just a big breath in. The brown preventer is tasteless (the blue reliever one does taste a bit but I use it so rarely it doesn't matter). I use it just before I clean my teeth. You might find it easier for her to use if your gp will prescribe one. Plus it doesn't look like an inhaler which might be 'cooler' for a youngster!