In my childhood I had to use inhalers more than once because of an allergy that I wanted to have in asthma, but I remember that none of my brothers had to use them. Currently, many children suffer from bronchitis and similar diseases and go home, leaving the pediatrician, with the indication of making two puffs of Salbutamol every certain hours in order to open the bronchial tubes and improve the process.
Mine have not been less and we had to make use of the inhalation chamber and his companion the mask, since directly from the inhaler is not advisable. The problem is that they cover their mouth and nose with that they do not usually like and cry a lot, so one day, thinking, I managed to find how to make the inhalers without them crying and it was hell.
How are inhalers made?
To explain my method, I must first explain what is the usual method for young children to do inhalers. As you know, adults and older children use the camera without a mask because the diffusion is better than doing it directly.
Younger children, on the other hand, are not able to take the camera with their mouths and breathe only with it, and that is why the mask is used. Now, for the treatment to be effective, you have to seal the mask well with the child's face, or half will escape.
The process to make the inhalers is as follows:
- We take the child and we have him sitting on our lap.
- Open the inhaler, shake it and put it in the hole of the chamber vertically.
- We put the mask on the child's face, squeezing enough to get the child to catch air only from the mask and not from the outside.
- We press the inhaler.
- We maintain that position until the child makes 5 breaths, which are about 10-15 seconds.
- If you need a second application, we wait 30 seconds and repeat the process.
How to make the child not cry?
There was no problem with the elder because he never used the inhalers. The first bronchitis came with the median and putting on the mask was, well, that, a hell. Crying, lollipops, strength to take it off his face ... come on, it was fatal as we counted 10 praying for him to breathe something.
The third came and some time later his first bronchitis and we were trembling to think that we should go through the same thing again. So I thought I could do something to avoid so many cries and struggles and I had an idea, sing. Already, I know you were expecting something revolutionary, a brilliant idea or some new system, even if you couldn't. Well, no, I'm not so capable, so I simply looked for an easy and simple way to achieve my goal.
Most parents, when doing inhalers, simply count: "One, two, three, ...", because they know they have to get at least ten seconds to pass. The problem is that children don't care if you count, they just want to take that off their faces.
But nevertheless, If you sing to them, you can get them to pay attention to you. Use a song that catches the attention you need, one that you like, one that you listen to, and you will have won a lot.
My favorite song for this matter is "Happy Birthday". It is one of the first songs that children learn because they usually go to various celebrations of brothers, cousins, parents, uncles, grandparents, etc., and it is a unique song because it ends up different from the others, since it ends with a "! Bieeeeennnnn! "
So I don't know how one day it occurred to me to sing it and the miracle worked. I put on the mask, squeezed the inhaler and sang it. I didn't care if it lasted ten seconds or twenty with her, because he stood listening to me, breathing calmly. At the end I said "Good" raising my arm with the inhaler, with an expression of joy, as if that had been a triumph (much to my son's strangeness) and then we repeated the operation, being also a success.
Since then, whenever they play the inhalers I sing the song and do the whole process without any problem. I tried it with some children in the office and hey, it turns out! Although not with everyone, everything must be said ... (It is also true that I am not their father and the mere fact that I take them makes them cry sometimes).
So sing, don't lose anything. If it works, perfect. If not, I don't think he cries more than he already does… another method will have to be invented.
