Viral-Induced Asthma Spacer vs Nebulizer

When my son started day care at 3 months (when my maternity leave was up) he got sick a lot.
Seemed like it was always something for about 2 years and then it settled down to roughly 2 colds a year.
When I started kindergarten (we were home until then) I got sick with everything that was going around - for about 2 years - and then it settled down to just a few colds per year.
I think it just takes that long to 'train up' an average immune system when anyone is introduced to public places/germs.
You could keep him home another year.
It's possible he'll still get sick for awhile when ever he goes back to school but he'll be older and his breathing passages will be larger and maybe it won't be quite as traumatic as it is right now.

Nebulizer works much better. All kids get sick in he's 3 you atPreschool. It is a fact of life, whether they go to school at 3 or 5. My daughter had asthma young Yes she got sick at preschool. You cannot keep him in a bubble. Personally I would not use puffer. Worked for ped pulmonologist for years and never had a 3 year old use it correctly. Probably why you have such a varied response.

He is 3. You are home together. Enjoy your time. Reading, writing, math, Spanish oh my!!!! There is plenty of time for that. Everyday outside he will learn about numbers, letters etc. just enjoy him. Don't worry about him missing academics in preschool. He is 3. Have fun time goes by so fast.

When shannon was a baby, the nebulizer was a better way to ensure she breathed in the full amount.

We just recently put her back on flovent, and she is doing very well with the aero chamber. She even holds it on her own face, and we count her breaths together with each 'puff'. She is developmentally around five. I like it because it is so much quicker than the nebulizer.

As far as school goes, don't rush it! Children's 'job' at this point is to learn through play, and it sounds like you are enriching through outings etc. They are little for such a short time.

Best!

I can't answer your main question, sorry. I don't have experience with a nebulizer or spacer.

For your secondary question - keep him home for a year. He has plenty of time to go to school, and preschool for a 3 year old is unnecessary. (actually, if you are an involved parent who works with your child and gives him lots of opportunites to learn to play with other kids, IMO, preschool is unnecessary in general)

My kid went to preschool, because I work and I needed the childcare. But my niece did not go at all. She just started K when she was 5. Both my kid AND my niece have always done just fine in school.

If he doesn't build up an immunity to illnesses and diseases he might never be a healthy adult...that said...

I think you should try pre-K when he's a full 4 years old, it's during the school session and is usually in the same building as the elementary school, not a paid pre-K program, real school.

I have better luck with a nubulizer. It takes longer to get the med in and I breathe in more med. It also had sterile water mixed in the vial to help the med get deeper and moistens the goo in the lungs.

I have used Albuterol and Xopenex. The Xopenex made my throat raw.

Xophenex is usually what they give kids. It's the same med as Albuterol but it's way more refined. That means no shakes, pretty much no side effects at all.

So think about it, you could try it and see if he does differently.

My son also had a tough time with his asthma at around 3 when he started preschool due to alot of colds. We do the flovent one puff twice a day and when gets sick it's upped to 2 puffs twice a day and the albuterol 2 puffs every 4-6hrs as needed....He used to be on the Singulair but came off of it just before his 8th birthday. We still have your random encounters with prednisone (yuck)...He's only needed some random nebulizer treatments which he's had at the pediatrician's office and usually that one treatment does enough where he's good with the inhalers...but the nebulizers tend to make him jittery.
As far as taking him out of school, I don't know what to tell you...I kept my son in for his 2 mornings along w/ his Friday morning language group. IMO: the only way he was going to build up his immune system was to be exposed to all that stuff...You're always going to have the germs around and have to deal with kids who get to school even if they are wicked sick(annoys me to no end because then mine will get wicked sicker but that's another rant) My son also had another rough patch in second rgade when his elentary school opened the newly reconstructed building and merged with another school and thus more kids..it was also that year with H1N1 outbreak...And then a couple of months later he came off the singulair..
Lots of hugs

Nebulizer is effective but time consuming. Inhaler with a spacer is not quite as effective but still a great option with a child. Next time you are at the doc, ask for a stand by one to keep at home in case of really bad episodes.

As for keeping you child home, that's a great idea. My kids never went to preschool and have excelled in school and college. Preschool is probably a good idea for kids who need to work on behavior issues or have delays, but otherwise, unnecessary. In your case, even slightly dangerous. That's your God given, intuition kicking in. Listen to it. A cold is a cold to most kids. You have to plan to fight a battle when your child gets a cold.

I hope he grows out of it, stronger and better than ever.

You are a smart mom, keep listening to your gut.

I'll try to answer all the parts of your question:

1. Nebulizer vs Inhaler - at age 3, you are probably much better with a nebulizer, since kids that young have a hard time doing the inhaler properly, even with a spacer. My son's doctors wouldn't even prescribe an inhaler until he was 5. Now, at 7, they still make him use the spacer. The nebulizer takes longer and is obviously more of a pain in the neck, but it definitely delivers the medicine successfully. We always just let our son watch a tv show while he used it so he would sit there quietly.

2. Maybe your son's prescription is very different than mine, but are you saying that you do six puffs of albuterol every four hours, meaning 36 puffs a day? Or do you mean one puff every four hours so 6 total in a day? The former sounds like an insane amount of medicine, but if you mean a total of 6 a day, that is much more reasonable. Anyway, my point is just make sure with the doctor that you aren't giving too much. No criticism intended, simply saying that sounds like WAY more than we've ever been prescribed.

3. Chances are, whenever you decide to return to preschool, your son will get sick an average of once a month for the first year. So, if you want to keep him out this year, that's fine, but I would definitely recommend having him go at least one year before kinder so that he isn't sick all the time as a kindergartener. Most kids get sick a lot the first year they are in school and kids like ours with the viral-induced asthma tend to be a little worse than average. It certainly isn't awful to wait until he's four for preschool. Just make sure you do something before kinder so he doesn't miss too much school when it really matters. It sounds like you're doing really well to keep him involved and socialized in the meantime.

Way, way, way prefer the inhaler with spacer to the nebulizer. The kids don't need to use the spacer properly. The adult just needs to position it correctly and let the child take enough breaths. I have no idea where our nebulizer even is at this point.

I am not sure what you mean by 'working' on math, reading, etc with a 3 year old. He should be learning by playing and interacting with the world. Not sitting and doing 'work'. He doesn't need 'school' at age 3. School at age three is essentially childcare so parents can go to work. There is nothing that he will 'miss' by not going.