Tips for turning expander with thumb guard

My 8 year old had an upper palate expander with a long thumb guard placed this week. Any tips for turning the expander when you can’t approach the key area in the device directly? The process is taking forever and ends in tears (hers and mine haha). Partial turns more common because I’ll hit the guard and the key disengages since its connection is more tenuous coming from a side-ish angle. Would welcome any tips for this tired momma.