Questions about spacer

My 20 month old son has been diagnosed with possible mild asthma and we currently have an inhaler to use with a spacer morning and night. Sometimes he likes using it and sometimes not but my main question is, if he pulls his mouth away from the mask before taking the 4/5 breaths does the inhaler medicine stay in the spacer? So if I could get him to take another few breaths after he has pulled away - would he still be getting medicine into him? Or once the seal has broken with his face and the mask, does it all disappear and there is no point trying again with the same puff?

I find it almost impossible to know if he has breathed anything in or not. It has helped with his night time cough so he must be getting something into him but I am not sure he is getting as much as he has been prescribed. I don't want to keep puffing more in but it does mean that sometimes I think he hasn't had any of the inhaler at all.

I have so many questions but have been told to see the doctor again in 4 weeks. Would it be neurotic of me to try and make an appointment with an asthma nurse before then? My son only has 'possible' asthma but the fact that the inhaler has helped does make me think that he does have it. I just don't know whether I am doing the inhaler right at all.

Thanks

[Thomass_mum]

Hi

Which spacer do you have? My son has the large volumatic one which I usually hold on while counting to 10 and you can tell he is breathing in by the plastic piece clicking. Also, the aero chamber plus which again we hold on count to 10, we check he's breathing it in by the yellow plastic flap moving.

Also, which inhaler does he have? Not sure about whether it stays inside the spacer if he pulls away. I know sometimes if my son does that with the blue inhaler I will give another puff not sure if this is right but was told with that one it would be ok to do that.

Have you tried calling the asthma uk nurses on the helpline they always give good advice.

Jenny x

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Thanks for replying. We have the spacer with the orange teddies on and a blue inhaler. When I hold the mask on over his face he bites it with his bottom lip and I find it impossible to stop this unless I really pin him down. So I can't really see if he is breathing it in or not. I might try phoning the asthma nurses.

Thanks again for your help.

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Hi Bethan,

When my son was little we had the same issues and I found role plying using his inhaler with a teddy really helped.

Its important to do it when you don't need them to take the inhaler themselves to begin with and taking it in turns to 'give' teddy his inhaler.

Worked for us so may be worth a go.

x