Tips for an asthma friendly house

[Wimpwannabe]

My dc 1 & 3 both ended up admitted to hospital with breathing problems last week. They were treated for asthma triggered by a viral infection. Was very scary to say the least. I have been given inhalers for them both and they seem to be recovering well, just a lingering cough.

I would be very grateful if anyone could offer me advice regarding keeping my house as asthma friendly as possible.

hi wimpwannabe, sorry to hear about your dcs

my ds suffers in the same way, he reacts to a viral infection only and doesn't have any other symptoms of asthma

he has been hospitalised many times

with regards to the house, the most obvious being to have non feather pillows and duvets on all the beds, yours included as invariably they will end up with you

another being, to remove as much carpet as you can although, I know this is not always possible

I dress my ds in cotton as much as I can as he can be irritated by synthetic fibers whilst an attack is in progress

and regular cleaning, when he was very little I actually had a cleaner as I wanted to ensure that the house was cleaned irrespective of weather I had the time or not, I preferred having the option of a cleaner to having a take out once a week!

thats all for now, I am sure there will be loads of other suggestions along after me, good luck

Hi passmyglassplease, thanks for your suggestions, especially about the feathers as although our duvets and pillows are feather free, I just thought ds's coat is filled with feathers/down Kicking myself now as he actually wore it to the hospital while he was having the attack... shall be passing that on to a non-asthmatic child asap!

Luckily we don't have any carpet, mainly floorboards and the odd rug.

We do have a dog though and I'm starting to wonder if he will be a problem.. ?

The dog might be an issue, it would be for my dd.

Lots of hoovering, including hoovering curtains, sofa, soft furnishings. Wash all bedding at 60 degrees, this kills the house dust mites. Put soft toys in the freezer for a few hours to kill the dust mites - I do this when I change the sheets.

Lots of good info on the Asthma UK web site. You can also call the helpline and request their booklet for parents of kids recently diagnosed with asthma.

Thankyou for the tips, I was wondering about their soft toys.. so far i've just removed the ones from ds's cot and I've been washing and cleaning like a nutter since it happened! Will take a look at the Asthma UK site.