Little One Who Hates His Treatment!

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Kerryann

New member
My almost eight month old son was diagnosed with CF 10 days after his birth. As he gets older, getting him to tolerate his treatments has become quite a challenge! He HATES wearing the masks during his nebulizer treatment and is more interested in crawling than CPT. He is a sweetie, and a cutie (did I mention he's a sweetie?), but when it comes toward the end of almost an hour of treatment, he is very frustrated!

I have tried giving him a toy to distract him and sometimes putting in a video is helpful, but I am open for any other ideas.

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated!

Kerryann, mother of Anthony, almost 8 months old, living with CF
 
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anonymous

New member
Kerryann,
Let me first say that you have a great attitude! I'll bet you both get pretty frustrated, and you both would rather him be crawling around discovering the world! Maybe try shortening his therapy sessions if you can make it work with your schedule, and do two a day. it'll be a little eaiser when he gets older, but for now stick to it and focus on stress relieving and play (for both of you) after you're done.
Debbie
23 w/ CF
 
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anonymous

New member
Kerryann,

I know how you feel. My daughter will be 2 next month and we had the same problem. SHe didn't like to wear the mask either. So i just let her hold it. It took some practice. I also used a video, I found one that she really liked and only played it during treatments. I also let her sit on my lap. She does great now and has no problem. Now for CPT, I would put on music and dance around holding her and doing the cpt at the same time. I let her use the little thumper thing on me, which she loved. Other times i would sing songs to her. She really knows her abc's and old mcdonald. Hang in there and be consistant. You're doing a great job!
Becky mom to emma (23 months w/cf)
 
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anonymous

New member
Kerryann,

The trick to giving babies their nebs are waiting until they are asleep. Use a blow by method, do not use the mask instead you the regular "grown up" circuit, and blow it by his nose/mouth. Block the mouthpice end with tape, that will allow all of the meds to come out the end. Wait until your little one dozes off and walaa, perfect neb treatment! As for CPT, can't sneak around that one. I recomend letting him watch CSI while doing his CPT, that is what I watch while my wife does mine and I tolerate it quite well!

luke RRT 29 w/cf
 
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enchantedpixie

New member
Hi Kerryann,

Have you ever heard of the line of videos "Baby Einstein", by Disney? They are amazing!! My CF Clinic recommended them to me and those videos are a God send! WHen it's time to start physio, I tell my daughter to pick a movie and I play it for her. THe movies are short, beautiful, educational and lots of fun! You should look into it...

I rarely have a problem with physio and my daughter is two now<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

Good luck!

p.s. You said that treat ment last an hour!?! That seems like quite a long treatment for such a little one! My daughgter gets chest physiotherapy 2 times a day (3 times when she is sick, like now). But on a normal day, we do each lobe for 5 minutes. In the morning, I do all 4 front and both sides, and at night, I do all 4 back and both sides again.
 
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NoDayButToday

New member
I suggested this awhile ago to someone else, and I don't know if it would work for you too (your son may be a little young), but maybe you could go to the store with your son and choose a special video that he can watch only while doing treatments. It would make them see less like a restrictive thing and more like a special thing he gets to do. 8 months may be a bit young for this, but when he gets a bit older it would probably work well.
 
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anonymous

New member
Hi,
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old with CF. They were both diagnosed at birth so we have been through your challenges as well! My girls do 2 masks in the morning plus their regular CPT. This takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes. In the evening they only do 1 mask plus CPT which is just under an hour.

What works in our household is that we ONLY watch t.v. or videos when doing masks and CPT. The t.v. is off at all other times of the day. This works really well and since it's what we've done since birth, they don't ever expect the t.v. to be on at any other time. If they are being silly during treatments we turn the t.v. off until they are ready to co-operate. If your 8 month old is too young to enjoy t.v., I tend to agree with a previous post and do it when they are asleep. When tired, my girls will both sleep through masks and CPT (amazing isn't it). I can only guess it's because they are used to it. We did do their CPT when they were very young when they were asleep so we could do a better job without them squirming.

I hope you find a way to make this daily task more manageable and tolerable for both you and your child! Good luck.
 
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anonymous

New member
You may be able to do it all while your baby sleeps. It's worth a try. Also, for the times when you can't and it is possible, invite a friend of yours over. I did this several times when my daughter was about that age. My friend would do all the distracting so I could tend to the treatment part of it. People are always looking for ways they can help, you just have to ask. God bless!
 
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LilStrawberyShortness

New member
<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0"> heh i had no problem taking it...it would put me to sleep...heres a thought (probably wont work or will have bad outcome) put something around the mouth peice to make it taste good? but heh just thought...he might try to eat it... >_<
 
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Kerryann

New member
Thank you for all of your great ideas! We have been doing the treatment while he is asleep since his diagnosis, but now he gets treatment twice a day (you know, RSV, Staph, Pseudomonas).....

You have all been a huge help!

You are all in my thoughts and prayers!
Kerryann
 
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Kaitsmom

Guest
when kait was only 8 months old and hated her treatments we usually waited until she was sleeping as well. This usually worked really well.

kaitsmom<img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
 
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anonymous

New member
Strawberry,

I think most babies use the mask. I'm not sure at what age they change over to the mouthpiece. Samantha is almost two and I've been wondering at what age they switch???


Maria (mother of three daughters, the youngest, Samantha w/cf)
 
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