Hi - my son has been on albuterol since he was an infant. On and off ...when he is sick it is mostly always bronchial. It does help...and works...the side effects...makes him super hyper. We have had the machine since he was 6 months old..he is now 6 years old...this morning he did the machine...he was really coughing a lot..so we did the treatment.

hi -- i am a 37 year old who has had asthma since i was 2, and have been a constant user of albuterol during my life time. so i truly understand your concerns.

has your doc said anything about your child having asthma or is it just bronchitis? i am sure that you have discussed most aspects of your child taking albuterol inhalers and the use of nebulizers but have you discussed with your doctor about advair? the reason i ask is that the problem with albuterol is that it increases heart rate and will give children the shakes and jitters (i know it was for me) which may prove to be a problem with school issues. it also has been proven that albeuterol can actually cause bronchitis.

advair for me and many others proven to be a life saver. as a daily treatment it helps the coughing and asthma attacks subside. in fact, in the past 6 months i have gone from using my inhaler 10-15 times a day to not using it at all.

also, bronchitis is not contagious, but rather symptomatic. meaning, environmental or allergy related. has your child done any type of allergy testing in the past? there could be many things that contribute to your childs symptoms.

i wasn't as lucky to have a nebulizer at home, so i acquired many hospital visits during my youth. but i do see many side effects in children who use medications along those lines. dry mouth, sores on the tongue and cheeks, weakening of the dental enamel (so be sure your child rinses the mouth after each treatment), head rushes, increased heart rate, shaking and other things along those lines.

i am not trying to scare you or give you great concern, but i think doctors are too quick to put a young child on a nebulizer treatment without exhausting all the other possibilities first. i wish you and your family the best of luck. do your research on any new meds the doc prescribes and with the grace of god your child will have a wonderful and fulfilling childhood.

incase i forgot to mention, i was a competition swimmer, tennis player, and an avid skier. the reason i say this is to prove that even as a classified severe asthmatic the best thing my mom could have done for me was to put me into sports as a child. it made me healthy and strong, please dont restrict your childs activities due to bronchitis. once they feel good enough to be active. let them run some of that wonderful pent up child like energy.

cheers