4-year-old's asthma getting out of control?

[imaginaryfriend]

My lovely dd is 4 and 3 months old. She's been prone to asthma since she was about 18 months old but only had her first real asthma attack when she was just over 2. Since then things like colds coughs make it worse but mainly it's contact with animals and close contact with dusty carpets /curtains.

This weekend I've been at my mum's. She's 70 and lives alone in a small cottage with her very hairy dog. On new year's eve dd had the most horrendous asthma attack I've ever seen (I have had quite severe asthma all my life and never been this unwell with it). By the time the ambulance arrived she was unconscious and had been unable to speak to us for a good 10 minutes prior to that. She was taken to hospital and responded well to the nebulisers and steroids so got discharged the next day. That night she had another attack, not so bad as the first, one nebuliser plus oral steroids kept it at bay but we were advised to come home from my mum's as the allergy would likely trigger another attack.

So we've come home. My mum's heart-broken, dd's traumatised and I'm left wondering if it means we never dare stay with her again. She lives 200 miles away so we can't do day trips and she's too frail to come to us even if we did have a spare room.

What do other people with allergic kids do with relatives living in allergic environments?

I'm afraid we have to avoid them. I can not visit my parent during the summer because DS eczema would go wild, I can not visit in February because that's the windy season and living in a desert that makes it difficult for DS who also has asthma.

I'm sure I have offended my mother at some points by taking up to vacuum clean and dusting her house but as I said, living in a desert is not easy, the cleaner dusts everything in the morning but by the end of the day it looks as if a month have elapsed!

Having said that... my parents just saw DS having an asthma attack last week so I guess they wouldn't mind my over cleaning as much as they did before.

oh, and forgot to add, we arrange to meet people in neutral places (restaurants, parks, our place etc) to avoid houses with cats.

how terribly frightening for you, glad that she is okay...

Hi Aitch!

bonjour chandra. was in bed but forgot about some work i had to do and am supposed to be doing it right now but seem to be mning instead.

where are your folks from if they live in/near a desert?

We have a relative who smokes like a chimney and as smoke makes allergies worse we can only visit for an hour at a time I'm afraid. In summer we sit outdoors and in winter ask for windows to be kept open.

If this was my child I would have to try and rent a place elsewhere and visit for short periods or only visit without the child. Is there a kind neighbour who would have the child to stay? My neighbour has stayed with the people next door when visiting her dad.

If nothing else is possible can you arrange for one room to be kept dog free? Then take an air filter with you, vacuum and bath the dog when you arrive. There are sprays (to use on the pet) said to help with pet allergies but fortunately that's a problem we don't have so I haven't tried them.

You could also try putting your child on probiotics and giving her an antihistamine before you arrive. I would ask your allergy consultant if she should have an epipen if the allergy is so severe.

Tatt, and others, thanks. I'm taking dd to the GP tomorrow to ask for some further measures to have to hand to avoid this happening again.

I always ask my mum to leave one room dog-free but I don't think she does. And even though she witnessed this awful attack she didn't seem to feel 'responsible', not that I wanted her to feel bad but just to feel that she'd take more care with the house in future. I'm beginning to think that maybe I should sleep in a b&b if we go again as there isn't a neighbour who could put us up or really anybody else there that we know well enough. My mum will be totally offended if I don't stay with her but basically it's that or nothing.

Incidentally does anybody on this board know if having carpets in general is a no-no with such bad asthma? We're moving in a week or so and the floors need covering. In our current flat we have floor tiles throughout but dd and dp both want some carpets and I'm not sure it's a great idea?

YEs a totally no no specially if you have pets. Fortunately, carpets can be cheaply replaced (to a point) with laminates.

If you don't want to go into the expense just yet, at least ensure they get a good profesional wash to remove the dust... unfortunately the wash may not do much to remove pet dander if there where animals in the house.

BTW... I have heard long time ago that 90% of the dust you will find in a carpet is located near the edges so... rugs are far more higienic (and easy to vacuum clean too)

Now, if you insist in the carpet get the best vacuum cleaner you can (Miele Solution and Cat&Dog are great).

laminates definitely better for asthma. This website might be useful

www.asthma.org.uk/applications/site_search/search.rm?term=carpet&searchreferer_id=101

and while trying to find something else came across this one www.healthy-house.co.uk/products/asthma_products.php

which reminded me that nose plugs might be some help to your child if you are around dogs. I believe they are a bit uncomfortable to wear though.

Intersting personal air purifier there too.

Thanks. Just to clarify, the flat we're moving into currently has no flooring whatsoever, just hardboard flooring which needs covering with whatever we choose. I'd like to go for a laminate but we're on such a tight budget I'm not sure we can, a very low pile carpet would be much cheaper.