I am so sorry to hear your baby and you have Asthma. It can be so scary as it was for me and I am an adult. I learned the Buteyko Breathing Method and in a short time stopped having symptoms and got off the meds entirely and that was over 7 years ago. I was on Advair and Albuterol (5 – 8 puffs of albuterol a day, not managed well at all on the drugs). There are clinical trials that have confirmed it’s efficacy entirely and you can see more info on this at my website, http://www.ButeykoLearning.com

Yes, a baby at that young age is a bit more difficult to deal with. The basic idea is to help them reduce their volume of breathing (will explain below a bit on why). Some steps you can take;

1) “Please allow the baby to sleep on their stomach”. You will notice that babies naturally do this, and it is parents who don’t understand this that turn them on their back which is the worst sleeping position for the baby and all of us – because it brings their head back and causes their mouth to open and also opens up their chest causing them to Over-Breathe all night which triggers Asthma.

2) “Hold the baby face first to your body, compressing their chest just a bit (be gentle) to help reduce the volume of their breathing.”

3) “Please do not allow the baby to be too warm all the time especially while they sleep and also while outdoors.” The increased temperature is not good. Babies metabolism is much higher than adults so they are giving off more heat then we do. You can tell this with babies and kids by all the energy they have. Increased body temperature will cause Over-Breathing in an attempt to help eliminate the heat and then cause more Asthma.

4) “Pinch the babies mouth shut to train them to breathe in/out ONLY through their nose.” This is incredibly important for the baby and for ALL of us. When any of us breathe through our mouth we tend to breathe MORE volume of air, more than our body needs which is not good.

A BIT ON WHY….

Dr. Buteyko figured out in early 1950’s that breathing more volume of Air than our body needed causes all kinds of problems. The Over-Breathing or Hyperventilation means we are breathing more breaths per minute and each exhale expels carbon dioxide at about 17% or so, this quickly reduces the bodies levels of carbon dioxiide, and after 24 hours of reduced level it starts to adjust the bodies natural level downwards. This causes hypoxia or lowered levels of oxygenation in the body because according to Bohr’s Effect, carbon dioxide is the primary chemical that releases oxygen from the hemoglobin. If you have less carbon dioxide you have less oxygen being released from the blood into the body. This hypoxia causes all kinds of problems for people.

You may ask why? It is simple. Each cell needs an adequate amount of oxygen to work correctly as the oxygen is it’s fuel, too low and it does not burn correctly which causes problems throughout the body.

Another aspect of low carbon dioxide which helps you to understand the Asthma response. Carbon dioxide manages the smooth muscle tissue. When carbon dioxide levels are low, smooth muscle tends to contract and get twitchy or spasm. In the lungs this means they close up causing wheezing and attacks. Increase the carbon dioxide level and the lungs open, it is as simple as that. Now, obviously there is more to this story and please come to my website and educate yourself, http://www.ButeykoLearning.com.

I am always available to answer questions at Info@ButeykoLearning.com. I teach the Buteyko Breathing Method now and love it. I get so much from helping folks get rid of Asthma. It also helps allergies, snoring, sleep apnea and other conditions.

Wish you all the best and take care. Greg Baker, Certified Buteyko Educator.

In patients who are less than twelve years old, there is a significantly smaller number of medications available to treat asthma. This is because many drugs used to treat adult (over 12 years old) asthmatics have not been tested as safe for babies. Another problem is that babies can’t co-ordinate their breathing in the specific ways to use some of the drug delivery devices.

Bronchodilators, the drugs that are used to treat an asthma attack and sometimes to prevent further asthma attacks, are drugs that relax the muscles of the airways. Typically, Albuterol or Salbutamol (same drug, different name depending on where you live) is given via a nebulizer with a portable air compressor running it. Albuterol lasts for 4 to 6 hours and you may have to give it every 6 hours all day, every day to keep his asthma under control. If your baby has asthma that’s alright mostly, Albuterol can be prescribed for as needed use. If Albuterol isn’t strong enough or your son has side effects from it (shakiness, increased heart rate), then Xopenex might work better. Xopenex is much stronger than Albuterol, although it costs about 5 times more. It has fewer and less severe side effects. Xopenex can last from 6 to 8 hours, so fewer treatments in a day, if it is needed to cover him constantly.

Pulmicort is an inhaled steroid that is given via a nebulizer and portable air compressor. It is used when someone needs more than two treatments of Albuterol a week to have control of their asthma. Pulmicort would be taken once or twice daily at similar times each day. It works by reducing inflammation in the lungs and helps bronchodilators work more effectively. If your son were on Pulmicort and Albuterol or Xopenex at the same time, it would be best to give the bronchodilator first. This makes it so the inhaled steroid goes into lungs that are opened-up nicely, making it more effective.

In addition, Atrovent might be prescribed to help further bronchodilate his lungs. It is weaker and works in a different way, as compared to Albuterol or Xopenex, but can be very helpful. It would usually be given with the Albuterol or Xopenex. This can lead to long treatments, so it’s important to be patient.

Singulair, a drug available in granule form for patients under 4 years old, can help block the release of inflammatory substances in your son’s body before they get the chance to cause an asthma attack. It is not a steroid and you would just mix the granules into his food to administer it to him. Singulair would be given once daily.

Drug doses for people under 12 years of age should be determined by a doctor and administered in accordance to those guidelines. Infant doses are often significantly smaller than adult doses of the same drug, although they might be the same, depending on the patient.

That’s what I can think of to treat a baby with asthma. There may be more options, but they would not be commonly used. The big problem with pediatric asthma is how often medications have to be given. If you are using a home portable air compressor, a nebulizer treatment might take a half hour each. If you are doing Albuterol, Atrovent, and Pulmicort, it could take a very long time. Then, you would have a few treatment in the day of just bronchodilators, which would likely take a half hour each. In the end, your baby would likely have a nebulizer on for an hour or two a day. Sometimes doctors prescribe metered dose inhalers (MDIs) – the ubiquitous asthma inhaler, for use on pediatric patients. If used with a spacer, a device that holds the aerosol and for a baby, a face mask which your baby would breathe through for the treatment, treatments could be much faster, although may be less effective. Nebulizers are less convenient, but more likely to give your son an effective amount of medication even if you throw it on him while is his sleeping.

I hope that helped. If your son is on Xopenex, Atrovent, Pulmicort, and Singulair, then he is pretty much maxed-out for a baby. Then, your son’s doctor might consider undesirable treatments like Prednisone pills (bad, bad, bad!).
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I’m a Respiratory Therapist.

When child has the problem, massage chest and back gently. Down to up. It releases any burps as well as help the lungs .

Avoid smoke and smokey areas.
Avoid dusty areas. If you dust the house, see child is not there in the same room.
Avoid strong smell around child. Like perfumes.
he is too small to tell you it is troubling him.

Remove carpet , if any, from his rooms.
Vacuum clean his areas regularly.
Wash his sheets and pillow cases every 3 days.
See no clothes ’smell’ .

Do have a lot of patience with the child. Needs lot more love than others. It can be psychological sometimes.

I am not talking of treatments. Sure the doc will do that. But do go to the best and latest. Tablets harm in long run. But never let him suffer. Treat immediately. It is so painful. I feel awful for the child as I know how it is .

Wish you and him well. They often get OK as they grow.
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Good luck,

Dana
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