age to suction self?

saywhatyouwill · #1 01-08-2009, 05:28 AM

i let emily play with the suction machine (but obviously never switch it on). she suctions everything even her plastic figures. this morning she was pretending to suction herself but obviously knew she shouldn't since she was faking it and then starting right at me to see what i would say. of course it ended up with her crying like she always does when you tell her not to do something!!!

she is much to young to suction for real. but was wondering if any of the older kids suction themselves and if so what age did they start?

cariaad · #2 01-08-2009, 06:02 AM

Well, Allison was 8 and didnt suction herself. BUT, I think it is more dependant on their level of maturity and understanding than actual age. Deb

JWorthington · #3 01-08-2009, 07:15 AM

I agree with Deb, it does depend on the child and their level of understanding. a lot of the children on this site have other problems, like mobility problems or cognitive delays, which would prevent them from being able to suction. I remember Kate posting pics of Angus suctioning his doll, and I know Angus is able to take his own trach tube out, but I can't really imagine Sam suctioning himself, or assisting in any way - he just runs away when it comes to any sort of trach care these days!

Julie x

T-bone · #4 01-08-2009, 07:37 AM

Abby is almost 8 and this is something that I have been thinking about. She should be getting rid of her trach in the next 1-2 years (I hope). If the trach would be a more longer term thing for her then I would train her to do it herself. bUt as of right now she doesn't have any interest and I don't want to teach her.
Part of her condition is that she doesn't know when she needs to be sx'd. So she wouldn't always know when she needed it. Also she has enough on her plate to worry about. She has some learning issues at school so that is a big enough of a struggle for her. I just want her to be a little kid and I think my job is to sx her and to clean her machines and what not. She can make her bed and take out the garbage for her chores.

Tess

haynjaymom · #5 01-08-2009, 10:12 AM

Jaden is 7 1/2 and we have been thinking about this lately also. We have had him use the Sims tip in the car before and he does a good job with that. I think he probably would be able to deep suction himself and it would be nice for him to know how for an emergency situation. I think we will probably wait until after his next reconstruction this spring to see where we are at and if it looks like he will have the trach for a while. I have also thought about teaching his sister, who is almost 9.

SHARGOR · #6 01-08-2009, 11:59 AM

My son is only 10 months old, but I do let my 7 year old daughter suction him sometimes. Never without supervision though. She really does a good job and understands the whole procedure. She also helps me with his trach changes too, taking the old one out and then I put the new one in. She was a great help to my husband the day Wyatt pulled his trach out and then started bleeding and desating. She held it together to help her father work on him and get him breathing again. I think it definitely depends on the individual and what they can handle.

Alethia · #7 01-08-2009, 03:03 PM

I got Angus to suction himself when he was about 3. He could do it with a bit of help taking his vent hose off, but he did find it difficult. He enjoyed doing it for a while, but the novelty has completely worn off now. Try it and as long as you're on hand to help her she won't come to any harm. Good luck!

drct1245 · #8 01-08-2009, 04:14 PM

Here's a link to Ayden pretending to sux himself. http://www.tracheostomy.com/forum/sh...hlight=suction

When he was about Emily's age, we had to keep one spare sux cath so that he could pretend to suction himself or an animal. We would give him his and we would use ours. We would sux first and then let him, however, we would put the HME or PMV back on and therefore he couldn't hurt himself. He didn't ever attempt to take off the HME or PMV, so we escaped that.

At that age, I wouldn't have ever let Ayden sux himself... he didn't know his numbers, so who knows how far down he would go, etc. But we always kept one that he could play with and was happy... don't know if that will suffice Emily. We never told him no, instead we would redirect and say your turn to sux Pooh Bear or his fav animal at that time.

saywhatyouwill · #9 01-08-2009, 05:17 PM

no...wasn't thinking of letting her have a shot :-) she isn't 2 yet. maybe next year if we are still here!

she knows that she isn't allowed to suction herself and i doubt that she would ever try to for real because she knows she shouldnt. today's crying was just part of the phase she is going through where she will push and push with intent on her face until (even though i'm not telling her off or getting annoyed or anything like that) she gets really upset.

aydenava · #10 01-08-2009, 07:48 PM

Ayden was suctioning himself at 3 1/2 with a sims cath,so he couldnt go down to far,turning the machine on & all,it made him feel more independent............Angie