7 year old poss asthma - practical tips for dust

[Danascully2]

My 7 year old possibly has asthma, is on an inhaler trial, I am attempting to get a doctor's appt for him to review but could be ages before we actually see anyone.
In the meantime I'm trying to reduce dust, especially in his bedroom, but am struggling with how to practically achieve that.
He loves Lego and dismantles it all to build into something else so his floor is permanently covered in a layer of Lego bits. He also loves his teddies and has about a million of them in his bed.
We don't have a room that could be a playroom. I've boxed up some of the Lego but it is still impossible to hoover his room without spending about 2 hours tidying first and I just can't see how I can do that regularly.
Any practical tips for managing dust without banning a 7 year old from playing with teddies and Lego which would be awful?

You have to find a way to dust more effectively. The dust-trap things like flash dusters are good. Lego will have to go into a box so you can hoover.

Other things to consider -

Changing from carpet to hard flooring.
Changing from fabric sofas to leather.
Teddies and soft toys can be thoroughly shaken for dust outside. Most can go through the washing machine too.
Removing all allergens from the house - flowers, perfumed air fresheners, etc
Also (and sadly) you cannot have pets around asthmatics. Anything other than a goldfish is a no-no.

We put an air purifier in our son’s bedroom.

Playing with Lego is fine, he just has to pick it up when he's done? Any 'on the go' builds can be done on a tray or something that can be picked up, but all the loose bits are collected and put in a box or in plastic tubs or something till he's ready to use it again. That shouldn't be an insurmountable problem!

Teddies are also fine, just consider having a washing rotation or at the least taking them outside and giving them a good shake to get the dust off.

Damp dusting is the best tip I've ever seen for dust - don't just wipe a duster around, use a damp cloth and regularly rinse it out, that's what actually captures the dust and doesn't just move it around.

Would running an air filter occasionally be possible?

Lego is a pain but he needs to get into the habit of putting it away.
We made DS1 a big tray on wheels that would slide under his bed for ongoing Lego builds but the rest had to be picked up every night. We insisted after a miserable incident when the floor was covered in bricks and DS woke up in the night was sick everywhere, the clean up was horrific.

All depends how serious the asthma is and if the inhaler is controlling it. I have asthma, grew up with dogs and am far from the world's keenest duster! However as it is under control it isn't a problem. I find outdoor exercise and all-round fitness also helps control it.

A lot depends on how much room you have. My DD has three boys and she bought them special low tables for Lego, with storage built in. You can often find them second hand on eBay or fb. It is probably time to insist on no Lego underfoot...otherwise it goes in the hoover!

Would you mind adding a link to what you bought so I can get one? Thanks.

Have you considered cutting dairy? That sorted out my dc's asthma

TaylorSwish · Today 12:17

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 11:46
We put an air purifier in our son’s bedroom.

Would you mind adding a link to what you bought so I can get one? Thanks

Nearly 20 years ago now so can’t recall the brand.
Thankfully, his symptoms decreased significantly as he aged and he doesn’t need one now. Barely uses inhalers, either. Hopefully, the same will happen for your son.

If you google “air purifiers, lots will come up. All the best.

Put all but a couple of soft toys post machine wash up in corner hammocks. Wipe down doors and paintwork. Open window even on cold nights. An inch or 2 helps.

I have asthma and have never made any effort over dust.

Yes, if I go somewhere really dusty it's an issue but normal level of clean is fine.

You can go mad dusting but TBH there are so many triggers around it's easier just to focus on having your asthma well controlled in normal life.

Thank you everyone, just feeling really overwhelmed trying to tackle this, not helped by being sleep deprived from him coughing all night for the last few nights. . No space for a Lego table unfortunately, sounds lovely though. He's never really 'finished' playing with it as in builds a structure and then it's done, he does a lot of imaginative play with all the different bits. All over his floor every day....
He has never needed any acute treatment or been seen by a hospital, the only real sign is a nighttime cough and sometimes a daytime cough. But when he's bad with it he is literally coughing all night every night. He'd barely coughed at all since he started an inhaler before the summer holidays so until last week I would have said it was extremely well controlled but for some reason this week he is as bad as before he went on the inhaler. I had weaned down the dose so I have put him back up to the dose he was started on so I am hoping that might help but no change so far.
I will try to get him seen by a doctor but easier said than done.

In your situation, I’d call 111. From past experience, he may need some prednisolone tablets to stabilise him until his inhaler prescription is adjusted, which an urgent care centre can prescribe.
Does he have just ventolin or beclametasone too?

DS2 was diagnosed with dust mite allergy and asthma earlier this year after having a severe asthma attack triggered by being around a dog. We had him allergy tested as, while we knew he was allergic to dogs, we wondered if there was anything else which would compound the reaction as he’d never been that bad before. That revealed a dust mite allergy and explained why his dog allergy is much worse, he’s already reacting to something else.

I hate to say it but it’s a really shit allergy to have. It’s expensive to make the changes needed such as removing carpets, boxing up toys, buying mattress/pillow/duvet encasements, HEPA air purifier and HEPA filtered hoover, etc. Then the relentless cleaning. Your DS might not need all these things depending on his severity.

Essentially, there is no single thing that helps but a combination of lots of little things. Most exposure will be in his bedroom from his bed and carpet. Encasing the mattress and pillow in allergy covers, removing the carpet (or at least hoover regularly for now) and damp dusting his bedroom regularly would be the things to prioritise.

Firstly tackle the bed. Mattress encasements like allerguard and astex are expensive (though dust mite allergy/asthma sufferers can get them VAT free). We haven’t got those yet but have found Silent Night allergy mattress protector, allergy pillow protector and an anti allergy duvet have worked well so far. We wash his bedding weekly at 60C and tumble dry it.

DS2 is 13 so was quite happy to just get rid of his remaining cuddly toys. But for a younger child, teddies can also go in the freezer for 24hours. This kills the mites but doesn’t remove the allergens already there so best to wash also. Unfortunately, to make this easier reducing the number he has (or at least the ones out on his bed at any one time) would be best.

Lego, again, he’s going to have to put away when done. Plastic boxes to help sort current builds, can get plastic display boxes for any he wants to keep built.

DAMP dust regularly. I bought microfibre cloths which I dampen and a reminder set on my phone so I’m dusting around the house every day (his room I do about 2-3 times a week). Don’t dry dust because it doesn’t catch it all and makes some airborne.

Try not to dry washing in the house and use a dehumidifier (even when not drying washing this is a good idea). If you don’t have one, can’t afford one, opening windows regularly helps to reduce the humidity in the house too. Dust mites get their water by absorbing moisture from the air; less moisture means fewer mites and less allergen.

Allergy U.K. are currently running a campaign on respiratory allergy awareness including dust/mold and pet allergies in the home. They have lots of information on their website that might be helpful https://www.allergyuk.org/wellcome-home/

Not quite what you asked but I was the asthmatic child living in an already-spotless house. When I was diagnosed my mum went nuclear and I genuinely don’t think I saw a speck of dust once for about 10 years. But then whenever I went to friends’ houses I’d always struggle to breathe because I wasn’t used to it. It took me years for my breathing to ‘catch up’ almost after my mum died and the house stopped being quite as pristine. So obviously you want to manage the dust but if he’s like me then it’s probably in his best interest to expose him to a bit of dust, if you get me.

Not what you asked, but doesn’t your GP practice have an asthma nurse? At ours it is much easier to get an appointment with the asthma nurse.

It might be colds at this time of year.

Just came back to add to all the great advice above.

I would really recommend getting a humidity sensor for his bedroom. They are a few pounds to buy. I have been using one in my bedroom recently and it's shocking how the inside humidity increases overnight. If there is no rain I try and have a window open and air the duvet, and there is quite a drop.

That made me smile - there is definitely no possibility of getting our house entirely dust free so lack of exposure to dust will definitely not be a problem....
He hasn't ever shown signs of difficulty breathing, just the cough. He is normally pretty perky in himself despite surely being tired from all the coughing. As far as I know he doesn't have an actual diagnosis of asthma and hasn't had any tests for that (or allergies) but suspected.
He's only on a preventer inhaler.
We do have an urgent care centre in a city near ish to us so I might try that if he's bad again tonight and I can't get onto the doctor's list tomorrow. Today is the first day I'm trying the full inhaler dose so I'm hoping that will help.
Thank you everyone, some helpful tips.

No apparently no asthma nurse here. I did wonder whether he maybe has a virus that has set him off.
Humidity sensor is interesting, we do have the windows open quite a lot already.

As his cough is worse he needs a reassessment of his asthma treatment.

Has he got an asthma plan on what to do when he deteriorates? If not, he needs one. Asthma nurse at the GP surgery is who you need.

Our surgery doesn't seem to have an asthma nurse. No, no plan for deterioration, it was a case of trying the inhaler over the summer and then review in the autumn possibly with a view to some tests I think. The idea was to try to wean him off the inhaler in the autumn in case it was triggered by hay fever type issues. But it doesn't look like that will be possible.

Do none of the practice nurses specialise in asthma?

Honestly if not, I would seriously consider changing practices if possible to one that offers nurse-led asthma reviews.

I will check again about an asthma nurse if I can ever get hold of anyone on the phone. There's only one practice in our town and it's in a group with nearby towns so not sure where the nearest separate one would be, possibly some distance away.

But I don't know if he'd be eligible to see an asthma nurse as nobody has said he's definitely got asthma...

In that case you phone up and say 'my son who has suspected asthma, is more short of breath. I think he is having an exacerbation and needs an emergency appointment'