If you know your child has an allergy, one of the most important
things to do is to reduce exposure to allergic triggers. By
trying the following measures in your home, you may be able to
avoid the cause of the allergy:
- Keep windows closed during the pollen season, especially
on windy days when dust and pollen blow around and in the
morning when some pollen counts are highest.
- Keep the house clean and dry to reduce mold and dust
mites.
- Keep the household free of pets and indoor plants.
- Avoid foods or other substances known to cause allergic
reactions in your child.
- Prevent anyone from smoking anywhere near your child,
especially in your home and car.
Since your child spends a considerable amount of time in his or
her bedroom each night, this room is one of the areas you should
focus on keeping free of allergy triggers, especially dust.
Dust is one of the major triggers of allergy symptoms. Every
house has dust hiding in and on such things as upholstered
furniture, mattresses, box springs, pillows, wool rugs, rug
pads, stuffed animals, blankets, unfiltered furnace air and
feathers. This is the cause of most allergies and is created by
house dust mites.
Fortunately, there are actions you can take to control dust.
Start by making your whole house, and especially your child's
bedroom, as dust-free as possible. To get started, empty his or
her bedroom completely and clean it thoroughly. If you can,
remove wall-to-wall carpeting and replace it with wooden or
linoleum flooring. Try covering the furnace or air-conditioner
outlets with glass-fiber or cheesecloth filters, and clean wall
or floor heating units weekly. Keep only one bed in the room and
cover the pillows, mattress and box spring (which should be
scrubbed) with dustproof casings. It's best to use cotton or
synthetic blankets, not quilts or comforters. Also, rely on
rubber or dacron pillows (not those filled with feathers because
they collect more dust), and launder sheets and pillowcases in
hot water (150 degrees Fahrenheit).
Once you've completed these initial measures, you should
clean the bedroom thoroughly at least once a week, airing it out
on that day, then leaving the doors and windows closed for the
rest of the week. When you dust, use a damp or oiled cloth to
avoid spreading dust around the room.
Another common culprit of allergy symptoms is mold. Mold
(small pieces of plants that contain spores or seeds) grows
outdoors in cool, damp, dark places, such as in soil, grass and
dead leaves. Indoors, it's commonly found in damp cellars,
closets, attics, old mattresses, and pillows and blankets that
haven't been aired out in a long time. It also grows in wicker
baskets used as planters, on dried flowers and on artificial
Christmas trees.
Mold also can be found in bathrooms and damp basements. To
limit opportunities for mold to grow, don't use carpeting and
wallpaper in these rooms. Also, make sure your bathrooms have
exhaust fans that work. Throughout the house, replace any carpet
that's been saturated by a big water spill or flood. Avoid using
vaporizers, humidifiers and swamp coolers that introduce
moisture back into the environment. And in the basement, a
dehumidifier can be helpful.
You can destroy mold with several types of disinfectants, but
be careful to store them in a safe place, away from curious
toddlers. Sometimes a room air purifier will help remove mold
spores and house dust. For some children, air conditioning
helps. But for others, it makes the allergy worse.
Outside your home, you can take steps to reduce mold by
pruning and trimming back large shrubs so that light comes into
your house. Using nonorganic material for mulching and other
landscaping tasks, and removing dead leaves and grass clippings
as soon as possible also can make it more difficult for mold to
grow.
