Inhaler Trauma

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dd (aged 3, but only just) has been diagnosed with asthma. However she goes mental whenever we try to give her her inhaler, to the extent she practically needs pinning down to take it. Has anyone else had a similar experience, and found a way to get past it?

Thanks!

Do you have a spacer for it?

DS1 is 5 and quite sensible, but I can only imagine the pain if we had to try and convince ds2 to use one, so you have my sympathies.

It's a tricky one at that age.

You could try a sticker on her spacer every time she does her puffers, a chocolate button after each episode (bribery has it's place!), saying that teddy/dolly has to have puffers too and making teddy/dolly go first.

I find doing it the cuddle way helps too - sit behind the child so your arms are around them holding the spacer in front of their face. Cuddle them back into you and rock, sing, count, watch TV etc.

I do have the spacer. I think decoration of it (and use on Woofy) may be a useful exercise to make the thing "hers" rather than a toture implement.

I've been using the "cuddle way" to date, but she seems too preoccupied with having the screaming habdabs to concentrate on games or TV, and it needs a vice like grip to keep her in place. Even chocolate buttons don't work (which is when I knew we were in trouble!).

I'm considering going back to the GP tomorrow and getting a home nebuliser instead, even if I have to pay for the thing myself. A hundred quid to never again have the whole family in tears as dd1 is forcibly medicated would be the deal of the century.

my ds is 16 months and we do have to hold him down. But he's much much worse with nebulisers! we have to chase him and pin him down with those!

Home nebulisers aren't recommended and shouldn't be routinely used.

Persevere, it WILL get better as she gets used to it, honestly. You can even try doing her evening dose when she's asleep which cuts out one screaming torture session of the day!

I'd like to echo the advice to be careful considering the nebuliser route.

Can you take the whole inhaler to bits, explain it, and have her help put it back together.
Puff a bit into the air so she can sniff it
Puff some into the spacer so she can see it
See if she can make the same hiss by getting her to puff it into the spacer with help

Waft some kettle steam so she & you can see it and inhale it

Its a more familiar object in Foootles house.
For your daughter, it's only brought out when she's wheezing andvfeeing rough and scared I guesss, maybe make it mre commonplace

We had that trouble fir a while with ds2 (2.7) he gradually got used to it, after teddy and I had our turns first. He likes putting the spacer together himself and helping to press it. Hope it gets easier for you, if it's any consolation the doctors told us even if he crys, he will take it in well. It's awful to see them upset though, the more often your dd uses it, it will hopefully just become part of her routine.

For, not fir

I agree that a nebuliser is not a solution to an inhaler problem, and may be far more threatening to a child that learning how to use an inhaler.

You should find that as your DDs familiarity with the inhaler grows she should be less reluctant. The speed that salbutamol acts with should make it easy for your DD to realise that it is a helpful thing for her.