Learning childhood asthma triggers is the first step in understanding what you can do to help your child avoid his or her asthma triggers. Asthma triggers are often simple things that are not apparent or easily seen. Follow the guide below and mark the items on the checklist that you know are asthma triggers for your child. Consult with your doctor to make a good childhood asthma plan.
Childhood Asthma Allergens
Dust Mites
A lot of asthmatic children are allergic to dust mites. They are very small bugs that are found everywhere. They literally live in every home. They live in carpet, pillows, mattresses, cloth covered
couches and chairs, stuffed animals, and just about all fabric covered items in the home. To help control dust mites follow the list and checkmark the appropriate action item.
□ Wash all bed sheets and blankets in the house weekly. To kill the mites wash in 130° hot water.
□ Don’t let your child sleep on cloth covered furniture. If you have cloth covered furniture cover it with a bed sheet. Wash those sheets weekly.
□ Remove carpet from your child’s bedroom and replace with solid flooring such as wood or tile.
□ Wash your child’s stuffed animals weekly.
□ Put a high quality non-allergenic mattress cover on your child’s bed.
□ Put a non allergenic pillowcase cover on your child’s pillow or wash the pillow weekly in hot water.
Animal Dander
All animals and humans shed flakes of skin. Along with the skin birds shed feathers and dogs and cats shed saliva covered fur. These may be a trigger to childhood asthma. The best practice is to give your pet away or to keep it outside the home. If it is not possible to keep the pet outside there are some things that can be done to minimize the asthma trigger.
□ Keep the pets out of your child’s bedroom and keep the bedroom door closed.
□ Remove all carpet and fabric covered furniture from the house or keep the animals away from the carpeted areas and furniture.
□ Change the litter in a cat’s box frequently. Change the lining in the bird or hamster cage frequently. Make sure that your child is in another room when cleaning the cages or litter box.
□ Shave your long haired cat or dog during the warmer months when shedding is most common.
Indoor Mold
Mold grows where there are dark conditions, plenty of moisture and warm temperatures.
□ Fix any leaking faucets or roof leaks
□ Clean shower curtains, tubs and showers or any place where mold is visible with a cleaner such as bleach. Make sure your child is out of the house or in her bedroom when doing so as the bleach may irritate the asthma and the mold may release spores when dieing.
□ If you re-use towels between washings make sure that they will dry quickly. If you don’t re-use them wash and dry them immediately.
Cockroaches and Other Insects
Insect droppings or body parts may be a trigger to childhood asthma.
□ Don’t leave food out. Clean any food particles and keep garbage cans closed.
□ Use bait or other similar non-odor emitting poisons to kill the cockroaches.
□ If you need to use spray poison to kill the insects use it only when the child will not be in the home until after the odor has dissipated.
Outdoor Mold and Pollen
Allergy season vary from location to location. Check with your doctor when the seasons start and end. Ask your doctor for the resource to check for high pollen or mold spore counts.
□ Keep windows closed during allergy season if possible.
□ Keep your child indoors when there are high pollen or mold counts. Unfortunately the counts are highest from late morning to late afternoon.
□ Use and keep clean a good quality entry door mat. A lot of pollen and other allergens make there way into the house on the bottoms of feet.
Dust
Dust is everywhere and is a chore that should be performed often and only when your asthmatic child is not present.
□ Clean fans regularly.
□ Dust the home using a dust attracting cloth or a cloth treated with an attracting chemical.
□ Vacuum the carpet several times a week. Use a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter or a good quality bag.
□ Replace air conditioning vents often.
Foods and Other Childhood Asthma Triggers
□ Many types of food are triggers. If your child has an asthma attack after eating it may have been caused by a food allergy.
□ Cold air may be a trigger.
□ Some medicines may cause an asthma attack.
□ High humidity is another trigger. Keep the humidity in your home under 60%. This can be done with the air conditioner or with a dehumidifier. If you have an older AC thermostat it may be a good idea to replace it with a programmable thermostat that reacts to humidity.
Asthma Irritants
□ Tobacco smoke. Do not smoke and do not let others smoke in your house or in your car.
□ Check the air quality index in your area when planning outdoor activities for your child. Follow this link to find the air quality index for your area. Find the Air Quality Index Where You Live http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.national_summary
□ Do not use a fireplace, wood burning stove or kerosene heater in your home.
□ Keep your child away from strong odors such as perfume, hair spray, fresh paint, or harsh cleaning chemicals.
This checklist is provided by http://bramates.com/nursingmothers .
