Ay experience with loud nebulizers?

[Erin0183]

My son has RSV and needs Albuterol in a nebulizer until he gets better, but its so loud. He is scared of it. I would also like to do his night time treatments without waking him. Any ideas on how to keep it quiet? The last thing I want to do when he's having trouble breathing is get him screaming and crying

[TalkinBoutMyGirl]

Unless your willing to shell out a bunch of $ your gonna be stuck with a loud neb. And even the "quiet" neb we bought wasn't really quiet and it was for kids lol DD was never scared of hers so I'm not really speaking from having dealt with this but I have had a noisy neb in my life for 4 years now so I'll try to help. I would suggest turning it on in a different room so that he hears it but its not loud. He needs to realize it's not scary. Let him slowly get closer until he realizes it won't hurt him. That's how I handle things with DD. She has an aversion to SOME loud noises. How old is he? What about ear plugs? or putting your hands over his ears? Turning the tv up louder than the neb? Sit on the couch and put the neb out of sight. Also you can get extra long tubing so you could technically put the neb in another room. If he is old enough you could ask the doctor for an inhaler and a spacer. We use an inhaler with DD as its much easier and quicker! As for the night time...long tubing is really the only thing I can think of. DD rarely woke up during night time nebs because she was so tired from being sick. Hope some of that helps mama!

[blondeviolin]

My kids do it fine if I'm reading a book or they're watching TV. BUT, it's okay if he's screaming. It's miserable for you, but it means he's breathing deeper and the medication is getting deeper.

[Erin0183]

He's 19 months... Too little for inhaler. Thanks for the suggestions!

[WVflipflopmama]

I've never known a kid who enjoyed the nebulizer. DS had to use one since he was 8 mths. My best advice is to choose an activity your LO enjoys like reading a book together, singing songs, or watching a special show on tv and make that a routine so that breathing treatments are associated with a special activity that is fun and not so scary.

[Kimmyann]

My son were terrified of his as a toddler and even at 6 doesn't like it. He is sensitive to noise anyway but I used to pile pillows over it to dampen the noise and my son wore sound dampening headphones. He uses these headphones for alot of things like when we go to fireworks displays, or monster truck shows. They did help alot.

[stevensmom]

DS had to use a neb starting at 5 months old. It was horrible once he got older and could move.

DD had to start a neb last year and it was torture.

But like pp said it's actually good that they are screaming because they are opening up their lungs.

[jaelynsmommy61607]

My kids weren't scared it it. I've always found it easier to no force it. Or put the mask on their face.

[stevensmom]

Originally Posted by jaelynsmommy61607 My kids weren't scared it it. I've always found it easier to no force it. Or put the mask on their face.

we never used the mask either...except for ds when he was 5mo we did it once and went with the tube instead

[luvsviola]

We did it watching Barney when DS was little. We saved special DVDs for neb time.