Other Kid-Healthy Tips
Aside from cleaning and maintaining rooms in your home to keep your asthmatic child healthy, keep in mind several other areas that may be problematic.
Toys
Dust mites, mold, and pet dander accumulate in and on children's toys, especially when pets play with them, and can trigger allergic asthma symptoms.
Essential
Encourage your child to play with washable toys made of wood, rubber, metal, or plastic. Store all toys in a closed toy box or chest. Consider reducing the number of stuffed toys your child has — keeping the washable toys — and sharply limiting those that she might want to bring to bed.
To keep them as mite-free and dust-free as possible, launder the stuffed animals weekly and dry them in a hot dryer. For unwashable stuffed toys, place them in the freezer in a plastic bag once a week for twenty-four hours to kill mites, and then shake them out.
To take the guessing game out of the task of how to clean and maintain your child's toys, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and Allergy Standards Limited (ASL), a testing organization, established a program (
Holiday Decor
Children love holidays, but sometimes the decorations you use might harbor some unexpected — and not completely welcomed — surprises for those with asthma and allergies.
First, if you carry items from dusty basements or attics or take them from garages and storage areas, you may be stirring up dust and molds. If decorations are dusty, consider taking them outside and wiping them off — before putting them up.
Some experts even recommend cleaning off artificial trees if used during the Christmas season to get rid of molds and dust from the branches. For those looking for real trees, consider Scotch pines and Douglas firs — which are usually found on most tree lots. But still be cautious: the trees' pine oils, strong smells, and pollens and molds may trigger asthma symptoms.
As for household decorations, lean more toward plastic, metal, and glass items, which are easier to clean and trap less dust than fabric decorations. If you do have fabric decorations, consider washing them, if possible.
New Habits, New Look
To eliminate triggers, your child may have to make some changes on the home front as well, such as:
Cutting clutter. If it can collect dust, it can also collect dust mites. So, suggest to your child that she remove knickknacks, trophies, books, magazines, and newspapers from her bedroom.
Eliminating wall hangings. Encourage her not to put up pennants, pictures, photos, or other dust catchers on the walls of her room.
Storing books. Most of your child's books should be stored in another room rather than on shelves in her bedroom or playroom.
Catching a few winks on her bed. Encourage your child to take naps only on her bed — and not the couch in the family room.
Keeping a clean entrance. Encourage your child to wipe her feet on a door rug when she enters your home and to hang up her coat outside of her room.
Find a place for laundry. Encourage your child not to toss dirty clothing on her bed and in her drawers — but in a hamper or laundry bag for laundering.
Specify eating locations. To cut down on visits by cockroaches, keep snacking and eating (and dirty dishes) confined to kitchen or dining areas — and clean up immediately afterward.
While making changes may seem difficult at first, practice will make them easier over time. But assure your child that the pay-off — better breathing, fewer medicines, and reduced asthma attacks — will prove to be worth her effort in the long run.
