Hello, dear readers of my diary! In this article, I will tell you what a nebulizer is and how to properly inhale a child to prevent a cold when the first signs of the disease appear.
When children get sick, this is a real test for mothers and grandmothers. It is very difficult to see how a small child coughs non-stop or how difficult it is for him to breathe through his nose or how he cannot eat because his throat hurts.
It is clear that it is better to try to prevent such types of diseases than to treat them later with the use of drugs and antibiotics. For us, such a salvation was the use of a nebulizer inhalation device, with the help of which my daughters and I prevent colds in our children.
For the first time, having received a doctor's order to carry out inhalations for a child using a nebulizer, many parents are interested in the question: how to use a children's inhaler. At one time we were also concerned about this issue, so I will try to talk in detail about this not very pleasant procedure for young children.
We begin nebulizer inhalations for children immediately at the first symptoms of a cold, which manifest themselves even in the form of a slight runny nose.
To carry out inhalation, the prepared solution is poured into a small nebulizer flask and tightly closed with a lid that is connected to the mask. The mask is tightly applied to the child’s face, and the device turns on.
If a child has a runny nose, we ask him to breathe through his nose, and if he has a cough or a sore throat, we ask him to breathe through his mouth or even cough, because when he coughs, the baby involuntarily inhales the solution deeper.
Each inhalation can last from 5 to 15 minutes. The number of procedures depends on the child’s condition: if a slight runny nose appears, then two procedures a day are enough - in the morning, after waking up and in the evening. If a cough or redness of the throat occurs, inhalation should be carried out 3-4 times a day.
You need to ensure that you eat and drink no earlier and no later than 30 minutes before or after the procedure, and also carry out inhalation no later than 2 hours before bedtime. This is due to the fact that immediately after inhalation the baby begins to cough and time must pass for the cough to decrease.
Medicines during inhalation with a nebulizer
We carry out the inhalation procedure with saline solution in a nebulizer for children with a dosage of 3 ml per procedure. If a cold is accompanied by a cough, add 1 ml of ambrobene to 2 ml of saline solution. We no longer use any medications, as we prevent colds before the disease becomes more complicated.
In case of a complicated form of the disease, the doctor can prescribe an antibiotic to the saline solution and perform inhalation with it - this way even the antibiotic is much more effective.
You cannot use medications based on oils, infusions and decoctions, and herbs. When sprayed, these components form a film on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, causing severe swelling. They can also lead to damage to the device.
Benefits of saline inhalation therapy for children
This safe method has a number of advantages over other treatment options. The advantages of inhalations include:
- deep penetration of the drug to the site of inflammation;
- a nebulizer allows you to inject medicine even when the child is lying down;
- possibility of treatment at home;
- the device is easy to use;
- provides quick effect;
- It is recommended to carry out preventive measures using this device.
Indications for testing
Inhalations using a nebulizer help cope with the following pathologies:
- all kinds of acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections and colds;
- bronchitis;
- rhinitis;
- pharyngitis;
- tonsillitis;
- laryngitis;
- bronchial asthma.
The procedure is carried out 30–60 minutes after feeding. Some substances with expectorants or agents that increase the volume of mucus and sputum should not be administered in the evening so that the baby does not choke in his sleep.
At what age can a child have inhalations?
The nebulizer can be used by children from birth. From 1 to 7 years, the duration of the health procedure increases from one to 10 minutes.
How old is a newborn?
For babies from 1 month to a year, the duration of the procedures is no more than a minute. When selecting medications and the number of health sessions, the individual characteristics of the baby (allergies, duration and nature of the development of colds, the presence of chronic pathologies) are taken into account.
What is a nebulizer? Advantages and contraindications of inhalation
A nebulizer is a specific device for inhalation for respiratory diseases, which sprays the medicinal substance into the smallest particles so that they enter all parts of the patient’s respiratory system.
The drug administered in this way has a positive effect on the body much faster than drugs received by the patient in the usual way.
Now there are many types of nebulizers: aerosol, steam, ultrasonic, compressor and others. They all differ in noise level, size of sprayed particles and, of course, cost.
The cost of the simplest compressor nebulizer starts from 2800-3000 rubles and more. It all depends on the manufacturer and configuration. There are devices equipped with masks of different sizes, ranging from small ones, intended for small children, to large ones, which can be used by adults.
But, in any case, once you purchase such a device for home use, it will be much easier to fight a child’s cold, so we purchased a compressor nebulizer.
Advantages of the nebulizer inhalation procedure
Inhalations are carried out in children with a sore throat, cough, or runny nose. During the session, the drug is evenly distributed throughout the mucous membrane, as a result of which the healing process is accelerated. Carrying out inhalation with a nebulizer has many advantages, among which the following can be noted:
- safe use;
- ensuring a quick and constant supply of medication thanks to the compressor;
- possibility of treatment at home;
- soft and gentle effect without damaging the mucous membranes;
- there are no side effects and it is possible to accurately adhere to the correct dosage of the drug;
- ease of use without causing any difficulties;
- Suitable for children of any age, even infants.
Contraindications for inhalation with a nebulizer
The nebulizer cannot be used in the following cases:
- in the presence of individual intolerance to the means for the procedure;
- bleeding from the nose or throat;
- pulmonary diseases and diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- elevated body temperature.
How to properly inhale a child
To get the maximum effect from this type of therapy and for the safety of the baby, it is important to perform the activity correctly. You need to fill the flask with saline solution or medicine. The medium should be at room temperature.
After completing the event, you must turn off the nebulizer. All masks, containers and tubes that have come into contact with medicinal components must be washed in hot water using detergent. Afterwards, rinse them well. Do not wipe the structure, since the remaining dust particles from the cloth can subsequently become cough irritants. You can find out about inhalations with propolis here.
How long does it take to inhale with a nebulizer - how many minutes?
The duration of the procedure depends on the following parameters:
- diagnosis;
- patient's age;
- characteristics of the drug.
The duration of the procedure is affected by age:
- Children under 5 years of age are recommended to inhale for 2–5 minutes;
- from 5 to 7 years - 7 minutes;
- after 7 years - 10 minutes. You can learn about laser treatment for vasomotor rhinitis by following the link.
The first injections are carried out for 1–2 minutes, with a gradual increase in this time. Sometimes a long session causes a child to become tired and reluctant to continue treatment. Then it is better to divide the event into 2 parts: perform throat inhalation for the first couple of minutes, then transfer it to the nose.
How often and how many times a day
The frequency of health sessions for children is 2 times a day. Some medications need to be administered three times a day. Such drugs include:
- Miramistin;
- Tussamag;
- Chlorophyllipt.
In the case of using physiological fluid, healing sessions are allowed from 2 to 4 times daily.
Course duration
The duration of treatment depends on the disease and the drug. Injections with drugs can last 5–11 days. It is not advisable to conduct sessions with Berodual or Lazolvan for more than 5 days. If mineral water is used, the duration of the activities can be up to 10 days.
Is it possible for infants to inhale with a nebulizer?
The nebulizer inhalation procedure is so safe that it can even be used to treat infants. When my youngest daughter had twin girls, immediately after they began to interact with strangers, the first runny nose and redness in the throat appeared.
On the advice of our doctor, we started trying to give them inhalations. Fortunately, you can now buy a nebulizer for inhalation for an infant in the form of a variety of toys with different attachments.
Of course, our initial attempts were not entirely successful: the children cried, struggled, and were frightened by the noise produced by the device. At first, it was possible to carry out this procedure in just 2-3 minutes.
But a person adapts to everything, and a child even more so. You just need to carry out the procedure regularly and the child will get used to it. The main thing is to learn to distract him with different toys.
And then, when they started watching cartoons, it became completely easier: the child watches a cartoon on a tablet or phone and receives the full treatment procedure of inhalation with a nebulizer.
Precautions - when not to use a nebulizer
The device replaced steam inhalers, procedures for inhaling hot steam over a pan. With its help, it is possible to perform a treatment procedure without the risk of side effects in a comfortable environment. Nebulizers are recommended for any age; they help treat even newborns.
Treatment of diseases by administering medications through a nebulizer is quite effective, but it has some contraindications. This method cannot be used if the baby has:
- frequent nosebleeds;
- purulent sore throat;
- diseases of the respiratory system;
- heart diseases.
Do not dilute the medicinal solution with plain water, as this often provokes bronchospasm. It is not allowed to use fatty oils for inhalation, as they harm the baby's respiratory system. You cannot choose the dosage of the medicine yourself. You can find out about inhalations with aminocaproic acid for children here.
The child is not allowed to go outside immediately after the hot procedure. You need to sit indoors for at least 15 minutes, otherwise you can catch complications of the underlying disease.
To perform this activity for very young children, it is convenient to use compressor devices. They release a stream of medicine under pressure. It is advisable for newborns to wear a special mask that prevents the spread of the medication into the air. But after reaching three years old, it is better for the baby to breathe in vapor through a mouthpiece. You can learn about potato inhalation in this article.
Treatment of colds with medications and folk remedies
Previously, I didn’t even know what a nebulizer was, and that you could so quickly and easily prevent a child from developing a cold. When treating my small children, I used various rubbings and mustard plasters.
During my youth, when my eldest daughter was not a year old, she fell ill with bronchitis. My mother-in-law helped me cure her in this way: she boiled jacket potatoes in a small saucepan, threw a pinch of soda into it, sat me and my baby in front of this saucepan, covered us with a warm thick blanket and made us sit like that for about ten minutes.
What I experienced myself, not to mention what happened with my little daughter, is difficult to describe in words. I myself could not stay in the dark under the blanket for a long time, because, as it turned out, I suffer from claustrophobia - the fear of closed spaces, and I simply began to suffocate.
For a small child, this was a very difficult test, since she screamed very loudly, and her grandmother said that it was good that she screamed, the steam would penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract.
Naturally, I could not withstand such a test for long, and my daughter and I quickly got out to freedom. I have never experimented with this procedure with my children again, and they didn’t get sick as often as my grandchildren get sick now.
With the advent of grandchildren, problems with the treatment of various colds began to appear again, which, as usual, are accompanied by a runny nose, redness of the throat, cough and high fever.
There are so many medications that are currently not available to treat children! Everything is produced in the form of syrups, which children consume with pleasure, because they are all sweet.
But their price is prohibitive, considering that for the treatment of one cold, the doctor prescribes several of these syrups, and the child, as a rule, gets sick several times a year, the amount comes out to be quite large. And it has a lot of negative effects on the body of a small child.
So we would be treated constantly. It was especially difficult for the little grandson, who, having first fallen ill at nine months, was constantly ill and recovered for a very long time after the next dose of antibiotics, which were constantly prescribed by the attending physician.
We were faced with a question: how can we prevent colds in a child without resorting to medications and antibiotics? After all, it’s no secret that the use of such drugs has many contraindications.
But a young pediatrician came to our town who tried to treat children in simpler ways, prescribing antibiotics only as a last resort and taught us that any cold is easier to prevent than to treat later. She immediately explained to us how to properly inhale with a nebulizer for a child.
And now, taking into account the recommendations of our young doctor, we are trying to prevent the occurrence of an acute inflammatory process. When the first signs of a runny nose or slight cough appear in the child, we immediately begin the inhalation procedure with a nebulizer with an ordinary penny saline solution.
My grandson is already seven years old, so he carries out the inhalation procedure for coughs and runny nose on his own, and he himself monitors the time of the procedure. He stopped getting sick as often as before, although he is already in first grade: even during an outbreak of viral diseases, when many of his classmates got sick, we managed to prevent colds with the help of an indispensable nebulizer and saline solution.
conclusions
- Nebulizers are recommended for any age; they help treat even newborns.
- To use this method of treatment, it is necessary to take into account the age of the baby, the characteristics of his body and the degree of neglect of the problem.
- To obtain the maximum effect from this type of therapy and for the safety of the child, it is important to perform the activity correctly.
- The first procedures are carried out for 1–2 minutes, with a gradual increase in this time.
- The duration of such treatment depends on the disease and the drug. We also recommend that you read Adrenaline for inhalation for children in this material.
