To think our house is making DC sick

[Concernedmum23]

Please, need some urgent help.

DC is 4. She used to be lively, happy and full of energy. Since about late October time she started getting colds. We thought the usual, oh it's that time of the year. Except the colds never went away and kept on coming. Since then she's been ill and "congested" every single day. She now looks pale, yes I know it's winter time but she has this weird tint to her that she gets when is run down. She has big black bags under her eyes, her energy is higher but restless and irritable. Again, we thought it could be down to her age and a phase but now I'm not so convinced. As well as permanently being congested and always choking on it, she's become highly wired at night time. She wakes up multiple times during the night sleep talking/walking. The other day she randomly woke up, complained of pain, vomited and then was fine?

The thing is we live with family and can not afford to move out at the moment. The house, to me anyways, seems riddled with black mold. When I bring this to DH or his families attention I get shut down. But there is evidence of black mold, in the corners by windows. On the floor, in the carpets, in the corners of the wall/skirting. At its worst it can go up into the ceiling and this is all just the visible external part of it, god knows what is happening behind the walls. I'm worried her sudden onset of illness and not seeming to get better despite the diet change, heavy vitamins ect is due to black mold poisoning? DH claims it's common from old homes to get this, but surely not every week/month? We clean the mold and it seems to return with about that time frame. If left untreated it can get really bad. The wall paper in the house in many places is peeling/bubbled but again it gets dismissed from just being an old house.

I feel convinced that unless it's a random allergy she has developed it's the house doing this. Her symptoms align with black mold exposure but no one seems to take me seriously. Also there isn't really anything we can do about it being in the financial predicament we are in.

The drs don't seem concerned. They have referred her to an ent and said her to sols look big but that it's "normal for most kids and she will grow into them". This feels more than that, and I'm scared for my child despite being shut down by everyone. Gp won't even do basic allergy/asthma tests on her. I'm at a loss and so so worried. Help!!!

I dont understand why you would think its ok to bring another baby into that environment?

Please, need some urgent help

I understand the situation, but struggle as to what help could be provided in this format.

It appears you have zero control over the place you are living in, as you are not the tenants on the lease, and the tenants in the lease wish to do nothing which is their right.

The only solution is for you to leave but you claim you can’t leave. Then the only thing you can do is see if you can achieve a letter from the Dr stating child’s health concerns are caused by the mould in your housing. Take that to housing and see if they can find you emergency accommodation. However, emergency accommodation can often stretch out for years potentially and you may find yourselves in one room in a hostel with drinks or addicts in the rooms next door frankly.

For the mould to be in all different areas it would seem to indicate it’s not a damp problem but a general ventilation problem so you need to address that and also clean the mould daily if necessary.

Had your child been tested for pet allergies? If it turns out to be that, what will you do, as you seem to have moved into the tenants spare space, so you can’t ask them to get rid of pets.

Ultimately, you need to move and preferably before the baby is born as the answer to your urgent problem. Whether that’s emergency temp accom (again, rarely good or fit for children), or you move away to a much cheaper area, otherwise there’s nothing else you can do really.

Look up the culbersons on Instagram. They had the same thing with their son and he was even diagnosed with adhd.

they sorted a lot of things out and he was miraculously cured.

You and your partner appear very passive in sorting your lives out. I'd be working all the hours to get myself out of this situation. You can work while you are pregnant, what were you doing before ?

Do what you can, for now. We discovered mould when we moved into our house. I cleaned the walls and windows with neat, thick bleach, left it on, then wiped away with boiling water on a clean cloth, rubbed dry with rags and threw all the cloths away. Then bought a dehumidifier and moved it around the rooms affected. I air the rooms every day. It hasn't come back.

Mould is really hard to go rid of. Our bathroom and bedroom both get mouldy. We cleaned it, painted it with anti mould paint and it still comes back (although the paint did work for several months)
We're renting so like you there's only so much we can do. As family won't listen are you on the list for a council house, which are generally cheaper, although hard to come by.
I really wouldn't want to put a baby in that environment. Ask the family about using anti mould paint short term and look up charities like Shelter and see if they can offer any advice or help.
With your DD can you take her to a different doctor? Or just keep nagging them. Chase up ENT too. If that comes back clear you will have a stronger case to insist GP does more investigations.

You need to get a job, your partner needs to get a second job, you need to get some control over your life and you need to move. All of them urgent.

DS and I would be ill living with that, we both are allergic to mould. DS was really ill when we renovated a room for him and had to move out after 3 weeks. We knew it was mould as I could feel it but couldn’t work out where it was coming from. We literally had to rip the room to pieces before finding that the electrician had split water onto sawdust created sawing joist under the floor to install new working. We cleaned it but it took years before it felt right again.

I would try a GP letter to the council and see if that works but would think it may well not, depending on your council so you are going to have to solve it yourself. Ask the landlord if you can replace the carpet with hard flooring.

This is decent for the price :
https://www.onlinecarpets.co.uk/products/castillo-7mm-laminate-flooring?Aylesbury%20Oak

Agree with the dehumidifier. Look in Facebook market place, we got one for a tenner and currently there is a free one on our local site.

As others have said, no drying washing, dehumidifier running constantly during the day. It will take weeks to improve. We find HG mould spray pretty effective to get rid of it temporarily and then Wickes anti fungal wash which keeps it at bay for some time in our unheated porch but I wouldn’t be keen on using them with young children so would treat with vinegar I think and then once cleaned off would paint with Zinsser mould killing primer and then their anti mould paint.

Daily airing, adequate heating, dehumidifier during the day and when raining check that gutters emptying properly, furniture some distance from wall. Look at outside for any cracked render or pointing and if any problem with that or gutter ask landlord to rectify.

Air and heat bedroom well, vacuum a lot. Have you tried and anti histamine?

Can you stay with your family?

The OP hasn't given any personal details regarding her situation, which is her right to be fair.
All she has done is ask for some advice on the mold problem, she appears to be stuck with. That's all she wanted.
But once again, we have the usual MN issue of posters piling on and inventing scenarios; berating the OP for having another child "she can't afford" 🙄 her husband isn't working, is useless or is lazy?! All total speculation, which isn't helpful at all.
There could be a host of reasons why OP isn't currently working; pregnancy problems or redundancy and why she has ended up in this situation. Nobody actually knows!
All I can think is it must make you feel good to be looking down from your high horses, with no sympathy or anything decent or helpful to say.
And yes, I am aware that everything is chemical, but the ones I listed are a little better for the environment. I do apologise for not wording it as "less harsh chemicals"!

Buy a dehumidifier (electric powered not a cheap one) that gives you your humidity, then aim to get your humidity below 55%. We have a Meaco arete dehumidifier.

Then ensure your house doesn’t drop below 18 degrees for long periods as this is optimum conditions for mold growth.

Then detox your daughter and yourself asap given you are pregnant. With something that contains Zeolite.

OP I’m sorry you’re living like this.
As a minimum: get a dehumidifier and run in yours/daughters bedroom. Scrub walls EVERY week if it needs it. Open windows when you can. Move furniture away from walls by a couple of inches to increase airflow. Get out the house as much as possible. Hire a carpet cleaning machine. Mould breeds so you have got to try and keep on top of it.
Can you buy a thermometer that also measures humidity so you can get an exact idea of the humidity levels and temp to 1) show your in-laws and partner. 2) try and keep them level yourself? At least then you know exactly what you’re working with/against.

I have the same symptoms from the same thing, just in one wardrobe. I have no heating upstairs. I'm getting this remedied or moving, but I am lucky to own the house.
I hope you can move. It's horrible feeling ill all the time, and not a healthy way for any of you to live. I'm sorry.

Ps if the house is cold a dehumidifier will help warm the room up.

It will almost certainly be part of the problem.

If moving isn’t an option then work on things that are.

eg.
Openonh the window in the room she sleeps in every day.
Keeping gaps between furniture and walls
Cleaning the mould away with a suitable product on a very, very regular basis.
Hoovering the room she sleeps in daily (removes spores, and moves warm air around the room).
Drying windows each morning if there’s condensation.

Contact your landlord or letting agent.

I was ill for months on end, we had a bit of black mould in the corner of the bedroom, a wooden window that was rotting. I had all the symptoms you describe in your OP.

We managed to save up to get the window replaced, when we started moving furniture there was thick black mould behind it. Shoe and storage boxes under the bed covered in green mould. We had a dark wallpaper on the wall, It was covered in green and black mould. Then - we lifted the mattress off our bed and the whole underside of the mattress was black and green mould and the bedframe was fabric and that was covered in thick white grown mould, god knows how long I had been sleeping on it!

Windows replaced, walls washed, there was a gap in the side of the roof where water had been getting in which was fixed. We cleaned the carpets, bought new bed frame and mattress. You can actually smell that the room is dry! It's a weird smell, I didn't even know you could smell dry. I have not been ill since. I had had chest x rays, nasal sprays for 6 months, constant feeling of something stuck on my chest/in my lungs. a common cold would last for minimum 6 weeks. This has all stopped.

Your home is making your child sick.

@MoonWoman69 It's not about sitting on our high horses and looking down on OP, it's about (soon) two innocent children who are forced to live in conditions that makes them ill, possibly for the rest of their lives, or could even cause death. OP says she can't move and she has no control to treat the condition herself because it's not her home, she isn't working, they have no money between them to afford to house their children. They can make their bedroom clean from mold but the mold spores will be all over the house regardless. These children do not deserve to live like this and OP and the dad needs to focus on living independently, not cleaning one room and stay.

The owners of this property have their heads in the sand regarding this! No one should be living in those condition although countless people do through no fault of their own.

Your childs health will not improve whilst ever she lives in that environment and you say you are expecting again, therefore that's another human life at risk.

Please take the photos to the GP and she them the conditions that you are living in. In you situation I would be taking myself off to the housing department, surely you qualify for a home of your own.

I am guessing the owners of the house are perhaps elderly and have lived there for years - family or not, it is not right to subject anyone, particularly children to such dire living conditions.

Why are you having another child when you can't provide a home for the one you already have?
Is the mould caused by condensation maybe leave the windows open a little bit aswell as buy a dehumidifier for your child's room!

@RoachFish
I am not denying that they shouldn't be living like this, it's absolutely shocking. But just assuming what the background to all this is, isn't helpful.
OP said she would move in a heartbeat, but clearly can't for reasons only known to her. Nobody else knows the circumstances, so it's unfair to comment at what they might be!

I don't know if I've missed as not rttft, are you renting? If so the damp/mold is legally your landlords duty to sort.

If you own then I really recommend you get a damp specialist out. It's not normal for 'old' homes to be this damp. Are you having your windows open? Also a dehumidifier is a good investment even the £60/70 ones can help a lot.

But none of it will help unless you get to the route cause.

Check your guttering as that can be a common source of water ingress. Does any brickwork need repointing? Are your windows sealed properly.

Sorry you're having to go through this op.

That's appalling. I'd not want a rat to live there, never mind a human.
Looks like a lot of these houses aren't cleansed or aired out properly- Windows open to allow fresh air in is crucial.

Mould thrives where there is damp and cold and lack of air circulation.

Get a dehumidifier for your DD’s room. Keep it running as much as possible and empty every day. Open windows for a period of time every day.
Ultimately, you need to start making plans to leave. I question the wisdom of getting pregnant over saving to leave when you are this worried.

You are crazy to be having another baby there instead of moving out!

Have we forgotten Awaab Ishak?

Try the HG mould spray. You can buy it on Amazon and it’s amazing at getting rid of patches of mould. I know it won’t deal with the underlying issues but at least it can limit her exposure. Running a dehumidifier in her room during the day might help stop the mould coming back. It’s grim though, as someone who is also in a damp house it feels like an uphill struggle.