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.