Experience with Abuterol

What is it taken for and how old is the baby? My daughter uses Albuterol with a nebulizer on an as needed basis for coughs. When she starts with her cough, we use it until the cough gets better. We have permission to use it whenever it happens.

If it's for asthma, that's a different story and you should ask the ped.
But if your baby is really young, I can imagine an inhaler would even work. I don't know how they would be able to properly inhale it. You may want to discuss getting a nebulizer.

C.,

For a baby they should have given you the Albuetrol mist form to be administered through a nebulizer. The inhaler administered through a chamber (tube-like piece) is usually given to older children above 1.

My son has both, he uses the inhaler during school hours or if we're on the go and he uses the nebulizer when we're at home or on a sleep over.

Albuetrol is not a medication that will build up the system, it is for relief more as a reactor to un-inflame the lungs.

They should give you other medications (like Flovent-inhaler and there's a new red little pill-sorry forgot the name) for maintenance and is given on a daily basis. Some of these have hormones so hope his system builds up.

My sons old Dr explained the differences to me and as I saw that my son only has his asthma with bad/change weather, I weened him off the maintenance medication which is best b/c its a hormone and can cause long term use effects.

My son is only 4, and he started at about 1 1/2 yrs old with an overnight hospitalization in (@ Nov or so) and a full week hospitalization in February 06.

Ask for the nebulizer and be sure to give it your baby based on the 4 hr schedule when he/she gets sick. Continue the treatments for at least 5 days even if you see him/her better b/c this will help with the reoccurence in the following days. Think of Amoxicillan and how you have to finish the medication, sort of the same but you don't finish it, just give him/her the follow through treatment.

My son at this points knows when its too cold for him, wears both a beanie & scarf when its winter to cover up his mouth & nose. Basically avoid breathing in cold air and chest exposure to cold wind. Also avoid cold drinks, a lot of yogurt (gogurts work best), appeals, and oranges. Vitamin C also will help the child work up its system. The combo of all these things will help the child slowly.

For the past 1 yr, my son only has weather asthma (as I call it), avoiding outside play if too hot/fire season, light jacket/sweater for not so cold days and jackets for winter season.

Good luck and let me know if you need more advice on the asthma. Luckily, as the years go by our son has been getting sick less-n-less.

Thank God.

p.s. I use this website religiously for info on Health issues and medications. Try it http://www.webmd.com/

Here's the one on Asthma medications:

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/condition-1866-Bronchial+Asthm...

Sorry my response is so long...Things to avoid...
-No smokers around the child
-Get rid of cats and dogs
-Dust and vacuum frequently
-Don't use strong smell cleaners

Try to find a parent class on Asthma to become informed. I did b/c neither my husband nor I have asthma (nor family)...

Sadly my son has asthma b/c of my bad allergy problem.

hi! my daughter whos 18 months takes albuterol for a rescue inhaler. she not only taking it thru an inhaler but also a nebulizer. she also takes pulicort for her prevenative via nebulizer. this helps her a lot. when she is sick she gets the albuterol 4 times a day. yes you can only give the albuterol when your baby needs it unless told differently by their dr. albuterol will deal with the inflamation that is giving them trouble. if your baby is coughing a lot then you should give them the dose they need. if they are sick with a cold this will also help them. if your baby is sick i would say to give him/her the inhaler 4 times a day and use a cool mist humidafire at night and if theres no improvement take your baby back and maybe ask for a nebulizer. good luck i hope this is helpful :)

My son who is now 2, is an a combo of inhalers for asthma related to allergies. We give the Albuterol as needed, and Ovpar on regular basis. We started out with a breathing chamber, and after a few weeks my son got the idea and now we only using the breathing chamber when he's all worked up and I know he isn't going to get the meds inhaled.

But, talk to your pediatrician and ask your questions...that's what they're there for!

Good luck.

I have taken Albuterol as an adult and I can tell you it is not a pleasant thing. I started working with a chiropractor and no longer use inhalers. I have also used acupuncture with great success. I don't know how old your little on is, but I can tell you he/she is not too young to be adjusted. I can recommend Dr Mark Kennedy in Long Beach, near Seal Beach or Dr, Khalsa in the Fairfax area on San Vicente in LA. Both are excellent. You can also get a book on reflexology at Barnes and Noble or most any bookstore and help your child yourself with foot massage. It feels good and is a good way to bond. A salt lamp in the baby's room would be a plus. There's something very healing about salt air. Contact me if I can give you any more information.

Hi Carelyn,

My son is 1 and has been on breathing treatments since he was 4 months old. He gets congested real bad with upper respiratory junk. We started out with Xopenex and once we moved to SD our pedi switched us to Albuterol. In August his congestion had gotten so bad that we had to add Pulmecort to the mix...ugh.

When he gets sick, we give him the Albuterol on an as needed basis but we give them once or twice per day until he clears up. Unless the pedi instructs us on a schedule, we do the treatments as needed.

Ask your pedi about a nebulizer for the treatments. We also have an inhaler but have only used it once. I dont think our son gets much from it.

Good luck!

-Char

Aloha

My children and I use albuterol on an as needed basis.
We have the inhalers. When the vog (volcano smoke) is active my son then uses advair in addition to his albuterol "as needed inhaler". If he gets really bad we have a machine that works faster. My son is 12 years old.

You may not see a difference but your childs breathing is less laborsome and the lungs are clearer. Less cracky noises, wheezing.

Follow your childs doctors orders and you will save yourself many sleepless nights.

Albuterol can be given on an as needed basis, how old is the baby? Do you have a spacer for the inhaler, many children under 3 can not effectively use an inhaler, my 6 year old can do it but my 2 1/2 year old I'm not sure she gets anything. Do you have a nebulizer? That is the best way for children to recieve albuterol. Albuterol is pretty harmless, I have used it for 22 years as I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 4. My experience has been quickened heart beat and shakiness. Occassionally when I have to used it alot I get almost a feeling of nervousness. My 2 1/2 year old coughs more when we first start the treatment with the nebulizer and the pulminologist says that is fine, albuterol can irratate the bronchial tubes before they get to start opening them up again.
The best person to ask this of is your child's doctor and I would get referred to a pulminologist if you haven't already!
Best wishes
J.

Speak to the Pediatrician if you feel it is not doing anything...perhaps the dosage or type of inhaler needs to be adjusted.

But don't give baby "more" thinking more is better....it will cause headache or make him hyper etc.

Albuterol is used for "quick" opening of the lungs... I use mine as needed....or, if my asthma is particularly bad, it can also serve as a fast way to open up the bronchial passages quickly so you don't suffer.

there is also a "liquid" Albuterol syrup....maybe this is an option for your baby?

But do maker sure to check with your Doctor... asthma is a serious condition. YOu don't want baby to get worse or suffer.

take care,
Susan

Our son uses Albuterol, with a nebulizer. It works well for us.

My son has been taking Albuterol for asthma since he was two. I'm surprised you've been perscribed it in an inhaler format as my son takes the liquid version. Even at four they haven't wanted to go to the inhaler format because it is still a difficult concept for a child to understand breathing the medicine in, holding it for a period of time, and then releasing their air. I'm not sure the age of your child, but I would highly recommend discussing alternative administration methods with the doctor. My son has had it through a breathing mask at the office on rare occasion when a bad asthma attack comes on, but that's been on a very rare occasion. And as for frequency, I've only heard of Albuterol being used on an as needed basis. During a bad asthma cycle, we'll be instructed to administer it routinely for a set number of days, but once the asthma settles back down we return to an as needed basis. I hope this helps!

One more important thing to note: It is critical that you follow the dosage and frequency instructions when using it. Albuterol is a very powerful medication and must be used exactly as prescribed.

Ask your pediatrician for a breathing chamber. My daughter is a little over 2 and has been on breathing treatments since she was 9 months old and those treatments have varied, starting with the nebulizer, the liquid form and now the inhaler. The chamber has an insert that can you can place the inhaler into on one end and on the other end it's a small mask that goes over your child's mouth and nose and it usually helps my daughter, but you have to hold it against their face for at least 30 to 60 seconds. My daughter has been on albuterol, xopenex and flovent. You may want to also read into singular, that's given to them on a daily basis and it avoids those asthma attacks that are extreme. My daughter's immune system is low and constantly gets sick from kids at her pre-school and it ALWAYS turns into an asthma attack. The singular avoids the EXTREME part of the asthma attack. Good luck. W.

My son is on Albuterol and I give it to him on an as needed basis. According to what his pediatrician has told me we do not need to use it on a consistent basis to be effective. Just use it as needed for the child and it will help. Do you have a chamber to use it for your baby? Usually your childs dr. will give you a chamber to attach the inhaler to with a mask to put on the child's face. Then you keep the mask on their face for 1 min. for each puff to allow them to receive enough.

3 out of 4 of my kids need the inhaler. First, get the chamber like someone else said. Definately ask your doctor about the neubilizer. I think that would help out a lot too. always, write down the times that you give each puff and stay on a schedule. It will help. You don't want to over do it, because it gives them the shakes. That is not fun for a small body to handle. Talk to you Doctor or find one that you trust.