How Do You Get Thru Giving Your Infant Nebulizer Treatments????

Don't strap the mask on. Just hold it in front of him while you are holding/rocking him. After the first few times it gets MUCH better. I promise. My little girl, after the first 3 treatments or so, would just fall asleep.
Hang in there.

I hear you!! I had to do this for about 2 weeks. My doctor said the mask could be slightly away from the mouth. I just sing my daughter's favorite song over and over. There were a few treatments that she cried for (heart breaking - yes, but she needed the treatment) but overall she handled them pretty well. I also had one of my other kids try to distract her -- that worked well a couple on the times she cried.

Oh, I remember that! We did the same thing - just had to hold him down. I second the trying while sleeping strategy, except it's so noisy that it usually wakes them up! It was definitely a 2-man job! I don't know if you do tv... we don't, but I made an exception for while we were doing treatments. I had to turn it up really loud for him to hear, but it did help a little. I just kept pointing things out on the screen and tried to distract him. It was still difficult, but after about a minute he did pay less attention to the nebulizer and was a little distracted by the tv. Just know that he needs the albuterol, and even though he hates it, it's better than a hospital stay because he can't breathe, where they'll do the same thing, and he won't be in the comfort of his home. Totally speaking from experience here... Best of luck!

When my niece was this little, my sis just took off the mask and pointed the hose directly on her little face while she was nursing. He is probably more upset about being restrained than the treatment itself.
Good luck.

My daughter got frequent croup, so we had to do these a lot.

I would do them while she nursed and just point the steam at her nose. She seemed far more content when we did it this way. She knew she was safe since she was nursing and didn't squirm much.

They are loud too, so maybe rolling up a towel or baby blanket and curving it around his head would help cut the sound some.

Just close to the face- not strapped or pressed against, and you will be fine. A few drs have told me that crying is actually GOOD during the treatments, because they gasp for air and get MORE of the medicine this way. It's hard to watch though :( Just give lots of soothing coos and rock/comfort the best you can during and after.

Good luck to you...I had to do this for my son when he was about a year old with pneumonia. The nurse told me that it was actually a good thing if he cried since he was inhaling more of the medicine that helped him breathe. Try to distract him with something good on TV or a special toy. But ultimately know that you just have to do it and get through it whether he likes it or not.

1st off sweetie, been there, done that, you are not alone. #1 it is doing him absolutely no good to have the treatments if he is crying during the treatment. All the meds are going into his tummy rather than his lungs. At least that is what the specialist told us about our little one. They suggested we let her fall asleep in her swing and do the treatments while she was asleep. You do not need to actually have the mask on their little faces for it to be effective. There should be a straight tube in your neb kit, one end is a mouth piece and the other is a straight tube. We put saran wrap on the mouth piece end forcing everything to come out the tube end. We just aim the tube as close as possible to her little nose and mouth while she's asleep. We do time the treatments around her sleep patterns. Much less stressful on all of us and she is actually taking in the majority of the meds into her lungs rather than her tummy. Give it a shot. Good Luck and God Bless.

I normally don't advocate tv for infants, but sometimes you just have to try and distract them. I would try putting something on like Thomas the Tank or something with lots of colors! My dad with my niece would turn on music and turn on the swirlly colors that you can play with music. It worked like a charm.

We went through this to - luckily my son was sitting and I would sit him on the kitchen counter (so he was at my eye level). The I could play peek-a-boo or we'd sing patty-cake - those are "games" where you can hold his hands w/o making him mad. It was so much easier to do the treatments when he was very awake and happy, so we could play through them. Trying to do them when he was tired and wanted to be left alone to sleep was awful! Good luck!

I know!!! I don't have any suggestions other than try while he's asleep??? Just talk to him in a soothing voice..My 14 month old didn't like it either and we had to hold his arms...here's some hugs your way...Awww I hope he feels better soon.

It does get better after a few days and they get a bit used to it.

Two things we do with my son is let him have his pacifier (I checked with the ped and they said it was ok to do this since he will get the meds through his nose) and we watch tv. Both of those things really helped calm him down. Also don't strap the mask on just hold it.

One of us would read her a book the other hold the vapor near by. With a 4 month old just try an engaging toy, or what about wait until nap or nursing time and just hold it near her mouth or nose? We never had a mask or anything, just trying to get some vapor in.

My infant was a bit older -- 6 months at the time....and we used to turn the TV on or read a book to him....just something we had to do to distract him. Our ped told us that the mask doesn't have to be skin tight against his face but just so that he can breathe in the treatment. Good luck! We did them multiple times a day for 3 months following a particularly nasty virus and hospital stay for 3 days. It's tough!

I have many friends & colleagues who went through this horror. Now they've gotten their kids off the nebulizers & inhalers through great nutritional supplementation safe for infants. Less stress, no illnesses, no chemicals. Changed their lives.

We went through this too. It's not fun, but it does help. We put on a Baby Einstein video (the only tv she was allowed to watch since she was so little), and that would keep her still during the treatment. Of course, it had to be on REALLY LOUD to be able to hear it over the nebulizer, lol.

I feel for you. Hang in there!

We never used a mask for our sons treatment, we used the traditional mouth piece and just put it in front of his nose and mouth (thats what our ped. suggested) worked great! He even got to hold it himself which he loved. he had treatments from 2mo till 7mo. Our ped assured us he would get enough by just holding it in front of his nose and he did fine.

Our daughter started needing neb treatments around 9 months old and I promise it does get easier. (She is now at a poijt, she's 2, that she kows they help her so most of the time she will sit.) We would put on a movie she likes or read a book. I just hold it near her nose/mouth and each time she has been hospitalized for her asthama that is how the resp. therapists have showed us too! Good luck!!!

My son had pneumonia at 1 yr old and the nebulizer treatments were tough to get through, but he could breath so much better afterward.
It's emotionally draining.
But - it's GOOD he's got the fight in him to put up such a fuss.
A baby that just limply lies there through it all makes me much more afraid that he's getting weaker.
You do not want to skip the treatments.
You have to keep the mucus loose enough for the baby to cough up and not let it get sticky and hard because coughing then really tires them out.
Keep a humidifier going, take him in a steaming bathroom with you when someone is showering, keep him well hydrated but do not slack off on the nebulizer treatments. I hope he gets better soon.

My son had to have it done, but it turned ot to be somewhat easy because his aunt had visited and she has to do them at least twice a day.

He thought it was interesting and fun and got to hold the hose (it vibrates). She showed it to him ad he got used to it. She didn't have the mask, and neither did he. The docs just wanted it to be near his face. Is there any way you could let him get used to it when he doesn't have to have the treatment? Good luck!