How to do inhalation for a child?
It is almost impossible to find a child who has never suffered from a cough.If you do not take timely measures to combat this symptom, the cough can become chronic.There are a number of techniques that help get rid of cough;One of the most effective of them is inhalation.
In the course of inhalation, biologically active substances and medications are introduced into the patient's airways.By reducing the viscosity of phlegm, cough becomes productive, and breathing is facilitated.To quickly get rid of cough inhalation is recommended to combine with ingestion of diluting( mucolytic) and expectorant drugs.
Table of contents: Inhalations using nebulizers Contraindications for inhalation to children Rules for treatment with inhalants Medicinal plants for inhalationInhalations using nebulizers
It is best to administer inhalation to children through modern nebulizer devices.More details about these devices you can read on our website in the article "Kinds of nebulizers: what to choose for home use?"
Some types of such devices are specially adapted for babies.They are equipped with facial masks of small sizes and attachments in the form of funny animals.
If for some reason you do not have the opportunity to purchase a special device, then you can use the usual funnel made of cardboard( it is easy to make it yourself from improvised materials), which you need to put on the tip of a kettle with hot water.
Important: the younger the child, the longer the auxiliary tube should be.Do not make babies inhalation with boiling water!
The duration of each procedure is 1-3 minutes.A day requires 1-2 inhalations.
We recommend to read:Contraindications for inhalation for children
With a variety of inhalation diseases, not only will they not bring relief, but may harm the child's body.
In particular, they can not be done with angina, as pathogenic microflora in a warm and humid environment will multiply much more, which will lead to a deterioration in the condition of the small patient.
Do not inhale with otitis.During the procedure, the mucous secret, accumulated in the Eustachian tube, swells, causing the child very severe pain.
Other contraindications for steam inhalations:
- age under 1 year;
- elevated body temperature;
- pain in the ear;
- diagnosed bacterial infections;
- presence of blood in sputum( hemoptysis).
Important: steam inhalations for children under 6 years old can only be done by the prescriber of the pediatrician!
Rules for treatment with inhalation
Steam inhalers and "grandmother's method"( pot with hot potatoes) help to affect only the upper respiratory tract.They will be useful for inflammation of the throat, pharynx and nasal passages.
If the child is diagnosed with bronchitis, pneumonia, or if the cause of the cough is bronchial asthma, the inhalation can be carried out solely for the purpose of the doctor in charge.Only the specialist determines what type of inhaler and drug substance is required.The doctor also sets the temperature and time of the procedures.
Conventional steam inhalations do not require the addition of additional substances, since they do not penetrate deep into the respiratory system, but hot vapor is enough to dilute sputum and moisten the mucous membranes.
Steam inhalation can be dangerous for children under 6 years old, because they have underdeveloped respiratory musculature.During the procedure, clots of the mucous secretion of the airways increase, and the baby can start not to cough but choke.
Note: breathing over a pot of soda or hot potatoes may cause blockage of breathing passages with the development of a life-threatening condition.The younger the baby, the higher the risk!
Inhalation should be done by staying at least an hour and a half after the end of the meal.Otherwise, vomiting may develop with aspiration of gastric contents.After finishing the procedure, the child needs to lie down for 30 minutes, and in no case to strain his throat.If the doctor prescribed several drugs at the same time, first of all they are inhaled with a bronchodilator.Withstood the interval of about 30 minutes, you can proceed to inhale expectorant drugs.Anti-inflammatory drugs and antiseptics are introduced into the respiratory tract in the last place.
The old way - inhaling steam boiled potatoes or inhalation with eucalyptus extract, camphor or anise oil, involves the use of a saucepan and a terry blanket.The technique is unsafe: there is always a risk of getting burned by a person's ferry.In addition, there have been cases when children turned over a container with hot water.From using the "grandmother's method" it is better to refuse.
Medicinal plants for inhalation
Traditional medicine recommends for inhalation various parts of medicinal plants.When coughing, the root of elecampane, linden flowers, eucalyptus leaves and nettle, and the mother-and-stepmother's grass help.
If a child has tracheitis or laryngitis, a collection is useful, which includes:
- thyme - 2 parts;
- elecampane - 4 parts;
- chamomile - 2 parts;
- mint - 2 parts;
- eucalyptus leaves - 3 parts;Pine tree kidneys - 3 parts
- ;
- sage - 4 parts.
2 tablespoons of the collection is recommended to pour 0.5 liters of boiling water and let it brew for half an hour.To conduct inhalation, the infusion should be heated to the required temperature.
If a child has a painful, unproductive cough, it is advisable to alternate herbal inhalations with soda.Instead of soda food, alkaline mineral water can be used.
In the absence of allergy to essential oils, inhalations can be made with decoction of needles.In them there is a huge amount of phytoncides killing the pathogenic microflora.
Inflammation of the laryngeal mucosa with the stenosis of its lumen( "false croup") causes the baby to have a rough bark of "barking" character.Close with the child in the bathroom and let hot water flow to the room filled with steam.After a while, the attack will come to naught.
More detailed information on the rules of inhalation for children you get by watching this video review of the Union of Pediatricians in Russia:
Plisov Vladimir, medical reviewer
