Is there anyone out there that feels as if they do not do enough CPT's on their kids? There are times that we may skip a night or two. For the most part my daughter does really great except for the sinus problems which don't seem as bad as they use to be. But I feel as if I'm putting her life in jeopardy. I have a hand held wand that is used and at times will use my hands when we are playing, making a game of it. She is such an active child and seems to knock herself around, does that help by staying active (but not taking place of the actual CPT's)? Work full-time and sometimes by the end of the night when I get her settled down I'm so tired we fall asleep. Also when we do the CPT's I do not get all the positions because I cannot get her to sit still long enough, no matter what I do. Any suggestions would be helpful.Thanks to all that reply.Mom of 2yr old w/CF
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CPT's on a 2 yr old
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Is your child a sound sleeper? My daughter is a very sound sleeper, and I have discovered that sometimes it is easier to just do it when she is asleep. We often go and get her out of bed to do it. However, we are not as consistent as we should be. It's easy if they don't have any obvious lung problems to slack off, but we recently had a scare and felt that it was our responsibility...so my husband and I each take a turn. I'm a morning girl, so i do it in the a.m. and he's a night owl and does it in the p.m.We have begun to do it just as she wakes up and as she is going to sleep so she gets used to us doing it while she knows we are doing it. Now as she is half asleep she takes our hands and claps her chest to show us what we need to do. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">Good luck. Raising a two year old is hard enough, let alone needing them to be still.Christiemommy to 2year olds Malachi wocf and Mylee wcf
I have a 3 year old and a 13 month old. Both girls have CF. I can relate to feeling tired and guilty after a long day. It is a struggle sometimes to get everyones CPT done especially when we are all exhausted! There is no easy answer but I will tell you what we do. In our house, the only time the t.v. is on is when we do CPT. Morning and night is the same routine. They get to watch their shows if they sit still and cooperate, if they are wiggling around they still have to do CPT but I turn it to my "decorating shows". To my three year old this is the most boring thing she could imagine! That gets them still again so we can go back to "Dora" or whatever is on at the time. It is very effective and really works for us. Many times at night they fall asleep during their inhalation treatments and we are doing their CPT while they are asleep. They are so used to it they never wake up and we get to watch whatever we want (ha, ha)!This works well with my three year old. My 13 month old watches t.v. in the morning and lays still but only because we do it consistently, she knows there is no getting out of it, it is a 2x/day occurance and we do have it incorporated into our daily routines. At night she always falls asleep during her inhalation treatment and the physio is done on her asleep.Do you have a Child Life Specialist at your CF centre? We have spoken to ours about the girls occasionally not cooperating during treatments. She gave us suggestions for our 3 year old like: a sticker chart with a small "reward" at the end or a colouring page with a different section to colour after each successful treatment and a bigger sticker upon completion of the colouring sheet.I don't like to reward them for doing something that they are required to do on a daiy basis but if it was between rewarding them or not getting it done, I think I would reward them until CPT became more of a routine.There is no easy answer. Good luck!
Hi, I have a 3 yr old and we do therapy twice a day. There were times when we missed occasionally when she was younger but the nurse said it was ok because she was doing so well. It is not a good idea if there is any mucus.We watch TV during physio, and if she starts misbehaving I turn the tv off. Within seconds she is cooperating again. Believe it or not this is no longer necessary and if I forget therapy she will ask for it. It is also a good excuse for her not to go to bed at night ("you forgot to do my exercises" she says). Don't worry too much about it. Eventually you will fall into a routine.I work part-time, and my husband has her in the evening. His trick is to do physio while supper is cooking. We only do about 20-30 mins each session so if he times it right this usually works for him.Heather
Hi,When my daughter was first diagnosed I became a freak about doing CPT on schedule, everyday. It was a lot of work because she was getting it 3-4 times a day. Now she is down to 2 times a day and is very healthy. I was told by a friend who has an older child with CF that it is not the end of the world if they miss a CPT once in a while, just don't get into the habit of letting it go. We found that if we did Rachel's pt right before bedtime when she was around 2 or so that she would fall asleep during it, so there was less struggle getting her to cooperate. Now that she is 5 and has the vest (for almost a year now) it is so much easier to get it done. She can play or dance while she gets PT. Sometimes she likes to go on the computer during vest too.If you are having a problem getting her to sit still long enough for the full PT and all positions, try breaking it up. Do half of the positions and let her get up and have a drink or play with a toy for a few min, then do the other half of the positions. that might work for you. Good luck.Andrea
I still do chest physio on my 14 year old daughter, who is still pretty compliant with the regime. When we miss a couple of times, I don't feel guilty. but she skips twice daily to keep up her endurance. She was not diagnosed until age 6 so I can't give any advice on doing physio on infants etc.We live in Canda and no-one here uses the vest. I know it is really expensive - are there different sizes for different ages etc.Appreciate any input.Colette
Colette, i am a 15 year old boy with CF and normally i do chest clapping but when my parents are gone i use either the vest or this thing called the Acapella which is a small green machine about 8 inches (17 cm) long and like 2 inches (5 cm) high and you blow into it and a marble inside vibrates and it is supposed to vibrate your lungs. Sometimes it is more practical. I use it when we go out of town also since the vest is obviously not portable and i think it works just as well as the vest if not better. Thats just another option im not sure if you've tried. Good LuckJonathan - Seattle, WA
If you miss out on a physio with a little kid, tickle them, and tickle them LOTS the next day. Laughing makes you bring stuff out. My mom used to mention this at clinic and they would say "great!! make her laugh more". Even now, when i am not feeling so hot and am congested i go to comedy clubs. I even find that i use this on my 3 year old when he has a cold or something and is coughing lots, i will make him laugh lots before going to sleep, he will cough out the snot and crap and then sleeps a lot better, making him get better quicker.Best wishes!
Toddlers are all about routine, so if you can get yourself into a routine of doing it at the same time (set an alarm) then they will too and it will get drilled into them for life. Just keep in mind that little ones can't do it themselves and CF little ones are even more dependant. I always was told that falling asleep during physio is not good because then it doesn't get the stuff out, because they are not awake to huff after or spit things out. My mother always did my CPT at 6:30am and 7:30pm, and that is when i would watch TV as well, that was my time to pick a show, i have a bunch of siblings wocf, because i HAD to be there and couldn't go do anything else if i didn't like the show. SO yeah, rewards are ok at first, but most of all don't make it boring because this is something that she is going to have to do FOREVER, so she needs to get into the habit NOW.Julie
Heather,Thanks for yr response. I live in Ontario (Ancaster, our hospital is Mcmaster in Hamilton). I figure the reason noone mentions the vest as it certainly will not be covered by the govt due to cost. How old is yr child and how is he/she doing? Also, Jonathan from Seattle mentioned the Acapella (never heard of this through my CF centre).ColetteAlso, Jonatha<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="mailto:nobody@nowhere.com">null</a>
Hi, My child is older as well, but I remember those days. I suggest a hand held home electric massager. We even used it in the hospital during tune-ups when Nathan was younger. It seems to be similar to the vest on kids under the age of 5, the vibrations of it on high. You only have to hit 3 spots on each side and it gets the entire lung area of the smaller children, agian, it is similar to how the vest works on older children. We sometimes use it if we are trying to hit a specific area of his lung because the massager can be placed very specifically on older kids to get a trouble spot. Nathan use to love the massager, and then when he was done with his "treatment" he would give mom and dad a "massage" with it. It was great! My issue with CPT was my wrists would get so sore and the massager ended up being more effective for Nathan anyways.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.
Hi, My child is older as well, but I remember those days. I suggest a hand held home electric massager. We even used it in the hospital during tune-ups when Nathan was younger. It seems to be similar to the vest on kids under the age of 5, the vibrations of it on high. You only have to hit 3 spots on each side and it gets the entire lung area of the smaller children, agian, it is similar to how the vest works on older children. We sometimes use it if we are trying to hit a specific area of his lung because the massager can be placed very specifically on older kids to get a trouble spot. Nathan use to love the massager, and then when he was done with his "treatment" he would give mom and dad a "massage" with it. It was great! My issue with CPT was my wrists would get so sore and the massager ended up being more effective for Nathan anyways.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.
Hi, My child is older as well, but I remember those days. I suggest a hand held home electric massager. We even used it in the hospital during tune-ups when Nathan was younger. It seems to be similar to the vest on kids under the age of 5, the vibrations of it on high. You only have to hit 3 spots on each side and it gets the entire lung area of the smaller children, agian, it is similar to how the vest works on older children. We sometimes use it if we are trying to hit a specific area of his lung because the massager can be placed very specifically on older kids to get a trouble spot. Nathan use to love the massager, and then when he was done with his "treatment" he would give mom and dad a "massage" with it. It was great! My issue with CPT was my wrists would get so sore and the massager ended up being more effective for Nathan anyways.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.
Good Luck, I certainly remember those early days! The better you do now in getting those little ones in the habit, the easier it will be when they get to the "know it all 5's", "I'm in control and you can't make me phase", and the "teen years", it is funny how hard it is for them to rebell against the good habits formed early on and then when they go through those stages they usually pick other things to try and "control" or "rebell" against. Whatever device you choose to use, the accupella, pep, vest, a massager, hand CPT, whatever, it should become a habit just like brushing your teeth is a habit.