To be freaking out about my son’s dust mite allergy

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My DS2 has rather bad eczema which we’ve learnt today is most likely being caused by a dust mite allergy. I’ve done a bit more research into it and now I’m freaking out because I don’t know how we’re going to get this under control.

First of all a lot of the preventative measures seem to involve spending a shitload of money. Replacing mattresses and bedding with allergy free. Buy covers for bedding (he and DS1 share a room so would have to get 2 of everything). Getting rid of carpets and getting wooden floors. Buy an air purifier. Get rid of the curtains and replace with blinds. A new vacuum with a filter.

And the sheer amount of laundry and cleaning! Change the bedding at least once a week if not more, hoover every day, including under all the furniture, dusting every other day. Wash teddy every week. Put teddies/bedding in the freezer. We have 3dc, one of which is only 7 months old, DH and I both work, we live in a tiny 2 bed flat with no tumble drier. How the fuck am I supposed to find the time for all this washing and cleaning? How the hell do I get it all dried without turning the place into a Chinese laundry 24/7 or spending a king’s ransom at the launderette?

I really wish it had been something like dairy. Dead simple. Just cut out dairy. But I feel so guilty about how much my poor boy suffers with his eczema. I feel completely overwhelmed by this.

I have this allergy and didn't realize until I was iny 30s. Very annoying! However I've now managed to get it completely under control.

I take an antihistamine most days. It just helps.

I am a bit hoover obsessive. I won't use any but Dyson, because I can tell the difference very quickly!

We wash sheets every fortnight but don't need to be obsessive.

My DD has a dust mite allergy amongst others
You simply cannot get rid of all dust so be pragmatic and do what you can
air filters and laundry cleansers can help
yes to freezing soft toys
if you can afford it get an allergy approved hoover with good filter
other than that, you can’t rip your carpets up or eliminate dust altogether
clean as much as you can but if you can’t do it every day then you can’t
lots of kids grow out of asthma and allergies too
yes to a good anti histamine regime tho

We do give him antihistamines but to be honest it doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference. I might ask the GP if there’s a stronger one he can have, at the moment we just give him an OTC one, but he’s only 2 1/2 so he might not be allowed another.

Do what you can and make changes when you can

In order if having the most impact I would think

Wash his bedding weekly and freeze teddy weekly
Think about Mattress covers, pilllow covers for his bed
Vaccum cleaner with filter ( we have meile ) ( Dyson were annoying as it was bagless so you get a dust cloud when emptying )
Wash curtains every summer
Bedroom carpet

One of my dc has this (amongst other allergies). An air purifier is a non negotiable for us but it’s not a cure so I’m seriously considering ripping up the carpets in their bedroom as the doctor said carpets are the main culprit.
washing bedding at 60 degrees really helps (don’t think you need to go out and buy special allergy products) too.

I.m not great at cleaning but my daughter is much improved by medication.
I did get the filter and allergy wrap, but to be honest her teddies need attention

He’s over two so can have prescribed citirizine twice daily, will be better than piriton

Can you move? It sounds like you’re in desperate need of extra space anyway.

I’m just looking in their room at all the stuff that will need to be changed. They’ve got two of those canvas sling bookcases, they’ll have to go. The glider chair, the covers don’t come off so I can’t wash them. There’s a fireplace in there FFS!!

We’ve been trying to move for nearly a year and had no luck at all, and now I feel more desperate than ever to get the hell out of here. We can’t just go ripping up carpets and stuff at the moment.

If you can’t afford to rid up carpets, get them cleaned well, then lay a large flat sheet over the top for them to play and launder every day or two. My daughter has the same allergy and the washing is epic, but you will find a routine. Dyson hoover and cuz it’s daily it is quick! Flash dust magnet daily to is super fast

My son has quite a severe dust mite allergy, only recently diagnosed at the age of 10. He has other allergies and I think these masked the dust mite allergy for so long! We now realise how much the dust mites affected him. Since we've put a few things in place we've noticed improvement.

• HEPA filtered hoover... We hoover a couple times a day.
• We moved a couple years ago, and were able to make the upstairs completely carpet free... We noticed this helped massively! We have carpets downstairs but have made upstairs lino/laminate, and have blinds instead of curtains.

I know this might not be an option, but it was really a noticeable improvement. Even if just their room rather than the whole floor/house!

• wet dusting. Usually just once a week, he seems fine with that. Particular about under the bed tho which gets quite dusty.
• Allergy protective pillow cases and bed sheets. Deffo helps.
• minimise cuddly toys! Mostly these have been removed from the bed. Wash maybe once a month.

That's all we do and he seems pretty ok with that. Whenever he goes on school trips/sleep overs I give him his own pillow and he takes antihistamines.

It's daunting but you will find a way that works.

Don’t panic. Every change you can make will help but you can’t do everything at once.

Not all antihistamines work on everyone. It may not be a case of getting a 'stronger' one, often a different one helps. And during a flare up then change it to a different one again because your body can be less affected by them every so often so it's been good for me to change them up

My son has this, he is on an immunotherapy course for three years; is this something you could look into?

This is what he is on, it's working amazingly.

He wasn't sleeping, had a constant runny and inflamed nose so could only breathe out of his mouth. He's 12, so unsure in age you can start it. But the difference within 10-12 weeks was amazing.

www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/acarizax-treatment-for-patients-with-severe-house-dust-mite-allergy/

Oh this is interesting above. My gp has prescribed loratadine and a steroid spray but referred us back to paediatrics. I wonder if my dd will be offered it.

You've got this momma, I promise it just becomes the new normal. As PPs have said, invest in a good vacuum with a HEPA filter, as well as an air purifier, stay on top of the dust, change the sheets once a week if you can and just do your best. These will all make him a lot more comfortable.

You can also rent a carpet cleaner with attachments for furniture cleaning but do some research on the solution you use (I can't remember what we used, but we had to be quite picky about it). Maybe consider putting down some plastic carpet protectors in their bedroom, yes, I know - HIDEOUS - but super easy to clean, and non permanent. I didn't do this by the way 🤣

Antihistamines are evolving all the time, so def speak to his GP about getting an Rx that's more targeted to his specific allergy.

My DS grew out of his by early teens, still suffers from seasonal/pollen etc allergies but the dust one just faded off in to the sunset thankfully.

Fortunately, my son has private healthcare through my mum! So, I am unsure if this is something the NHS offer but as it's on their website, it is a possibility?

What GawdHelpMe said.

For the short term, just get the all the fabric you can out of the room - extra soft toys, blankets, cushions, the canvas you mentioned, curtains if possible. One soft toy each makes it much easier to manage washing and freezing them - big ziploc plastic bags that can be reused are handy for this. Basically, you’re removing the stuff dust mites live on. Less stuff = less mites and less to keep clean. Hard plastic is your friend for toy storage because it’s easy to wipe clean and doesn’t harbour mites.

Buy or borrow a better vacuum cleaner and hoover the hell out of the carpet, curtains (if you have to keep them wash once and then hoover regularly) and the mattresses. Air the room. Damp dust surfaces (with a wrung out j cloth) so the dust isn’t just stirred up. Instead of making the bed as normal, fold back the duvet on itself every morning and leave it like that all day so the bed can air - dust mites like warm, damp environments. If you have access to a washing line, hanging stuff like duvets out in direct sunlight for a few hours will kill off mites. Hiring or borrowing a carpet cleaner and having the duvets service washed would help.

When it comes to buying new things, you might end up buying 2 of everything eventually because they share a room but I’d buy a full set of everything (mattress cover, new pillow etc) for your DS before worrying about buying anything for your other DC’s bed.

I too have a dust allergy but it has improved as I got older-so there is hope his might improve with time.

I did a huge amount of research into air filters, more so for air pollution as I lived on a main road, but also for dust. Often the cheaper ones are pretty useless- not all. We bought one from this company. It was expensive, but made a massive difference.
https://allergycosmos.co.uk/collections/allergy-air-purifiers

If you can't take up the carpets, get a Dyson. I have a dust mite allergy and it helped so much. I use the attachments to vacuum all soft furniture, you'd be shocked how dusty they get.
Is a daily antihistamine out of the question? Makes my life bearable.
An air purifier. We got air conditioning installed but don't do that if you plan to move as moving it is as expensive as installing.
Put baby wipes in every room and when you're in a room, wipe any dust. Takes two minutes and helps you keep on top of it.

My son has this, recently diagnosed at the age of 12. He started taking Chloropheramine twice a day and has a nasal spray too. He hasn't sneezed since I don't think, it was worked so well and he is much happier. Obviously don't know if that's suitable for younger ones but don't lose hope.

You don’t have to do everything at once. Just do what you can now, and bare in mind when you replace items

Canvas and all teddies out of room. Jellycat teddies can be washed for future reference. Just one teddy or two each on bed.

You can just hoover chair in bedroom with hoover attachments. Swap in future for leather version.

Bedding is main thing. You can just get an allergy mattress protector and pillow one for his bed, not all beds needed. When you change bedding in future gradually add into other bed.

Eufy robo hoover. It’s only £100 ish and can just run daily in his bedroom and living room whilst out. Make a children tidy toys also before so they don’t get eaten.

Ds was discovered to have the highest level of dust mite allergy.
I'll admit at the time I went a little mad. He also had had about 6 months of being seriously ill, which didn't help.

But nearly 10 years later, I don't worry too much. He tells me if he's noticing it, and then we normally get his airfix planes down and remove the dust and his Lego models (shower is the best for that). And he'll try and avoid it if there's a reason it's going to be dusty (eg when I'm beating a rug in the garden or similar).
I don't ask him to empty the hoover is probably the one thing I actively do avoid him doing.

I have a very allergic child so understand your initial panic but take a breath - you’ll be ok. Trust me you do not want a food allergy in place of a dust allergy. My son has both - food allergies are terrifying and as they get older not nearly as simple as just cutting something out- but I digress. I also have a dust allergy, we live in an old and very dusty flat.
he takes antihistamine twice a day, he also has a brown inhaler - this was only
given once he was older though they don’t diagnose asthma until around 5.
He has allergy protection covers (JL basic range) on pillows, duvet, mattress under the normal bedding. He also has allergy friendly pillows and duvet, I got these gradually but they aren’t too expensive from JL or dunelm. His sheets are changed weekly like all of ours. I was his soft toys in a pillowcase. We clean and dust his bedroom with more care than other rooms and hoover behind bed etc too every week but he still has carpet etc.
i totally understand your fear because every time I come out of his annual allergy check I am Seriously freaked out even 7 years in, but it will settle and you’ll find your level. Dust is not such a bad one at all. Every so often he will have a random reaction - stay away from home renos!
For summer has a bladeless fan , things like this.

it sounds like eczema is your biggest issue - strongly suggest you sort this out first. We’ve found that once we resolve a flare it settles very well with moderate allergy control measures. The specialist we see recommends thorough treatment with steroid creams until improved, then reduce to weekend, then weekly. Lots of moisturiser.

I haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if repeating but take a deep breath, will be ok!