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Small children are not physically stronger than you but they can be emotionally stronger. They know what buttons to push to get a response. If they start to cry and fight this makes the child cough and wheeze. They know that you don’t want to see them cry or cough or wheeze so you stop doing the thing that you think is to blame – the inhalers. But it’s not the inhalers causing the problem. You need to be prepared for upset for a week or 2 at the most to break the vicious circle.
If there was an effective treatment by mouth it would have been prescribed for your child first and you would avoid having to do this, but this is the treatment for asthma and wheeze. It is very hard to do but it will help your child. Get help from the practice or respiratory nurse. They know what you are going to have to do and they are someone you can call to talk to if it gets tough.
