Albuterol/nebulizer Use for a 5 Month Old

Both my kids were on one at a young age. They had RSV and needed it. I did not see anything but good results on my kids.

Take care,

jules

My son had RSV before he was a year old and pnuemoninia right after his first birthday. We used the albuterol and a nebulizer and a infant sized mask for inhaler treatments. It was more distressing for him not being able to breathe. Although he hated the treatments, he could breathe so much better when they were finished. He's a healthy 5th grader now with no breathing or health issues at all.

We gave albuterol and pulmicort to our daughter when she was a few months old and she was fine, and it helped

I've had to give my sons albuterol with the nebulizer due to asthma. I think we began at about 12 months for each of them. My oldest son is now 4 years, and doesn't need anything unless he gets a cold. THen we use albuterol (1 ampule) every 4 hours or so until he can breathe well without it. My 22 month old has one puff of Symbicort (basically, like albuterol with a steroid component) once per night. They do sometimes get the increased heart rate etc, but for the most part, the albuterol seems pretty safe. I raised concerns with my doctor and allergist, and both say it is very safe to use on young children.
Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, just email me.

S. I know you got some really good advice from the others, but just wanted to add that in the event you do start to notice the racing heart ask your doctor for Xopenex, it is used for the nebulizer and is more for people with heart risk. My peditrician put my daughter on it when she was 12 months old along with the Pulmicort, then we transitioned her to the Albuterol and believe it or not, now she uses Atravent. None of the meds have had any side affects on her. Thank God. Good luck, bottom line you have nothing to worry about.

K.

My daughter was 7 months old when she went on the treatments and I had a real hard time with giving it to her because of the side effects but after I went to the hospital with her at 6 months old because she could barley breath I decided that I was willing to do what ever it took. She was on the exact same treatment until about 4 months ago when she finally leveled out,she will be 3 in feb. She has asthma they think one of the causes was because she had a hole in her lungs when she was born. They also have her on singular, and zantac because they think allergies and heartburn can be triggers. While there are some side effects such as the incressed heart rate but the risks of not taking it is so much greater, she has turned blue before and that was the scariest thing in my life. I have found that if you give it to them aruond the same time that baby should be going to sleep is best because Angel would pass out about 10-15 minutes after her treatments. I hope that this will help you and good luck with your little one.
M. R
proud sahm of two girls Barbie-nov04 and Angel-feb07

I used albuterol and pulmicort with my daughter (who is now 13 months old) when she was only 5 months. She had been to the doctor a couple of times for sounding wheezy and she was put on both medicines. My son, who is now 3, has also been on both medicines for weeks at a time off and on since he was a few months old. I haven't noticed any side effects in either of my children and it has saved us many trips to the doctor or ER. We have a nebulizer at home and a supply of both medicines for when they start to have issues. How long will your child have to be on the nebulizer? Did they give you a time frame (such as two weeks or a month)? I hope it helps.

My son has been on a nebulizer since he was an infant (he is now almost 3 1/2 year old). He hasn't officially be diagnosed with asthma because they do not want to put the label on him for the rest of his life at such a young age. He too takes albuterol and pulmicort. He generally only needs the treatments though when he has cold. EVERY cold goes straight to his lungs!!! Occasionally, he needs the treatments if he plays too hard (especially when the air outside is really cold)! He, as an infant, never had any problems with either medications and they have always been a blessing!!! The albuterol is used for immediate result and the cough usually ends shorty after giving it to him. The pulmicort is a long term treatment that takes awhile to take effect!!! Either way the nebulizer has been a BLESSING and we never have had a single issue!!!!! Good luck to you and your family! :)

My 10 month old son was wheezing pretty heavily a few weeks ago. Our ped said he had bronchiolitis and sent us home with a nebulizer & albuterol - to do every 4 hours. The bronchiolitis has cleared up since but we were told to continue the albuterol as needed if the wheezing returns. I'm not crazy about using the albuterol but it does seem to make my son more comfortable so that's worth it to me.

My now one year old started using the nebulizer when he was about four months and it has helped him very much. He has been hospitalized for pnumonia since, but as long as I keep up the treatments and he doesnt catch a cold he is fine. The only question I have is: has anyone ever heard that long term use of a neb could cause holes in the lungs?? My kids father heard this from his aunt. So now everytime I put my son on the neb, he has a fit and keeps telling me that i'm killing him! Some advice please!

Ive never used it on an infant that young. My toddler was prescribed that dosage last year, but I felt it was too much. So I did it in the a.m. and p.m. When I worked in the daycare I used it on a child who was around 1yr old. The nebulizer that is. She was completely bug-eyed and wired the entire day. She had a poor appetite and couldnt nap either. It was actually sad to see. I would seek a 2nd opinion and research alternatives. And just in case you dont know, reactive airway disease is another term for asthma when they arent sure yet if it truly is asthma. Best wishes.

My daughter needed the treatments when she was a tiny baby, and she's fine. She was 2 months premature and would develop asthma and pneumonia. She is now 24.

Hi S.! My 8 year old daughter has had reactive airway since she was 2. When she was first diagnosed I was told the pulmicort was the "every day" treatment (preventative stuff), and the albuterol was only when she was having what I call an "episode" (of not being able to breathe) She was also put on singular. I would ask your doctor about this medication b/c it's been great for us. Doctors told me there are no side effects, so she can take it for several years without it causing problems. Although, it might only be for kids over age 2? Anyway, I was also told she would probably outgrow this thing - and for the most part she has. She only gets about 2 episodes a year now, usually in the Fall or Spring during the change of the seasons. I know it can be REALLY rough watching your baby panting for air! You are not alone :)

Hi S.,
Just reading your post from Saturday and I was wondering whether anyone has suggested you try changing some of your household products. I find that with breathing issues, doctors are very quick to find a cure for the problem, but don't address what could be the actual trigger. Most cleaning products contain chemicals such as bleach, ammonia and formaldehyde which are very irritating to the lungs and can trigger respiratory problems. I know several people who have been able to come off their breathing treatments simply by switching the products they are using in their homes. It is actually cheaper and easier than most people imagine to convert your home to naturally based products.
If you are interested in finding out more, let me know.
L. P

I know how you feel. When my son was 4 months old we started giving him albuterol (.085%) every few hours to control his cough. It actually made it worse so we switched to Xopenex which was better. We were also doing the pulmicort 2Xs a day. I understand your concerns and I think as moms we have these concerns for legit reasons. I spent many hours and hundreds of dollars on these treatments (my sons 2 now and we recently stopped using the neb) and never was confident that I was doing the right thing. We found out that he has FOOD allergies which were causing this chronic cough! (Milk, eggs, glutein, fish) Since I have changed his diet his cough has improved and he only needs the Xopenex if he has a cold. The drs are very reluctant to do any sort of allergy testing on infants because the results are not always accurate. If your baby has problems with the formula its possible she could be allergic to milk. I just went to the allergy asthma specialist here in Warrenton and asked them to test for milk allergies and he did.
Bottom line.... I dont think giving these meds is going to HURT your baby but I have also learned that as moms we need to do more research and not just trust what the drs say cause we know our kids better and that feeling in our guts is there for a reason. You can also get a second opinion if you arent comfortable. I hope this helps... good luck!

i used 2 times with my twins when they were almost 5 months and againat 8 month they were sleepy after that

Our son, now almost 4, has been on nebulizer treatments since he was about 1 1/2 yrs old. We've rotated b/t albuterol and pulmicort (and used both at the same time, too). I think both are fine, but I would only use albuterol during the day when you are not expecting your child to sleep. I does tend to make them a bit hyper. Pulmincort is fine anytime. Good luck!

My now 11 month old needed to be nebulized very frequently with albuterol at three months. At that point, I felt like it made him seem "out of it." But he needed it. There wasn't a choice. His doctor eventually put him on pulmicort as a preventative measure. I felt that had no side effects for him. When he got older, by 9 or 10 months, a specialist switched him to an inhaler with a spacer. He still uses the albuterol through the spacer when needed. It does jazz him up, as some gets into the blood stream, but he needs it. The specialist felt that the research was inconclusive as to the effect nebulizers have on eyes and that the inhaler with spacer is better. Hope this helps. There is so little about these medicines and their impact/effect on infants.

The neb was administered for my son when he was an infant, but we had to take him to the hospital for treatment. We were members of Kaiser Permanente and they didn't want us to accidentally overmedicate him and they monitored his progress and breathing rate. Our daughter didn't need the neb until she was about 2 1/2 years old, though. Until then, both children needed Prednisone to get rid of the mucuous in their lungs when they were little and were prone to pneumonia. As they got older and Albuterol didn't seem to work for eldest child, pediatrician put them on Xopenex and Pulmicort instead. At age 4, both were considered asthmatic (cold-induced).

My son has had to have breathing treatments since he was an infant. I used albuterol and others...but albuterol was the main treatment used and we are still using it if needed with him. He has always done fine and the benefit he receives from the treatment far out weighed any risk factor.