Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Childhood Asthma: 10 Easy Remedies to Conquer It On Your Own

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Alec Lower

Social Media Coordinator - Second Nature

 

At Second Nature, we know it’s hard to deal with childhood asthma with your own kid. Maybe you never had to deal with this before. Or perhaps you did, but it wasn’t as severe. The good news is we’re kinda pros when it comes to air quality thing. What you breathe may not be the leading cause, but we do know it plays a part.

We’re here to help, and with all the research we did, this is what we found. Following these ten home remedies for asthma may help your little one reclaim being a kid again.

1. Pets and their fluffy effect

You’ve heard it before. People are allergic to pets—cats and dogs especially. This is one of the common culprits that can cause asthma to flare up in kids.

We’ll skip straight to the good news and say that Mr. Fluffers doesn’t have to find a new home.

Let’s say your dog is rolling around on the floor, having a good time. It’s innocent enough—your dog being a dog. While your dog is doing that, he’s spreading dander and slobbering all over the place. Your floor becomes asthma’s paradise.

Maybe you’re a cat person. You love your cat (and your cat doesn’t care, but that’s not the point). The point is your cat’s adorable, especially when she does what she does best, sleep. You find her sleeping on the couch or curling up in your lap to soak up some sun. Cats and dogs are pretty different, but this is one way they’re the same. You now see what covers you and your couch: all the allergens it takes to cause an asthma attack.

So what’s the solution here? Clean! It’s that easy. If you vacuum your floors and clean your furniture, you’re golden.

In the event you don’t have a pet, and your eight-year-old can’t stop bugging you for one, you have options. There are a lot of hypoallergenic cats and dogs that may keep your kid and your couch happy.

2. Plants cleaning the air for you

This one’s pretty trendy right now, but believe us when we say the hipsters are onto something here. There are actually some plants that produce cleaner air for you! Even if you have a black thumb, these plants are resilient and very forgiving.

Since clean air is key to managing childhood asthma, we recommend shopping around at a local nursery or garden center.

3. Clean the air a little bit more with an air purifier

This recommendation is on every blog you follow, books you read, and doctors you see. They’re all right.

Air purifiers do help a lot, and there are so many out there that can fit any budget. If you’re into the simple (and more affordable option), there are air purifiers for you. If you want the air filter that’s beautiful and over the top, there’s even one of those. Whatever your preference, you’ll be parent of the year, keeping your child a little more safe from asthma attacks.

4. Carpets and rugs ruining your day

We’ve already talked about pets. What we didn’t mention is how those fibers in your carpets and rugs love to hang on to those pesky allergens. It’s not just your pet’s fault here.

Pet dander gets caught in the carpet.

For some people, getting rid of carpets and rugs altogether is what helps. For others, regular vacuuming, shampooing, and steam cleaning a few times a year are all that it takes.

The key here is to prevent places for allergens to hang out and hide.

5. Bedtime should be safe

Every allergen, especially dust mites, can wreak havoc on anyone with asthma. Sadly, you’ve learned this first hand! How can we make the bed a safe place when dust mites love to hang out in mattresses and pillows? Did you know dust mites actually breed faster in mattresses and under sheets? It’s warm enough for them to speed things up.

Here’s the easy fix: get hypoallergenic mattresses and pillow covers. They keep what’s already in there in and everything that isn’t out. Get those, clean the linens frequently, and you’ll be a hero. Your superpower? Making your kid's bedroom a whole lot safer.

6. Air filters help too!

Getting the right air filters in your house and regularly replacing them pays off in several ways. That’s our thing, so instead of boring you with all the details, we’ll leave it at this: air filters are essential. They keep the air in your home clear of airborne allergens you can’t see. As we said, air quality can directly impact asthma in children.

7. Other allergens that trigger asthma in children

We’ve talked about dogs, cats, and dust mites. What about the hundreds of other allergens that your child could be allergic to? There are so many more that can exacerbate childhood asthma, making it harder to manage.

The only thing to do here is to get your children tested. Knowledge is power. If they’re allergic to fescue grass, for example, you could look into getting bermudagrass. There’s only so much you can control in their environment, but every little bit helps.

8. VOCs...and those are what, exactly?

If you haven’t heard of them, VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. These are commonly found in paint and are released in the fumes. Remember how that fresh coat of paint made the house smell for a few days? If this triggered your little one’s childhood asthma, it’s not your fault. It’s the paint—and VOCs are in a lot more than paint, unfortunately.

Next time you’re ready to do a house project, look into VOCs and find a non-VOC alternative. They’re out there. While there’s no conclusive evidence that those nasty chemicals are harmful, we’d rather steer clear. Chemicals that we struggle to pronounce are rarely safe.

9. Pollen: how to manage asthma in a child when this stuff is everywhere

Pollen is a common asthma trigger.

Springtime is here. So why does it feel like outside has even fewer allergies than your house? It’s simple, but we don’t ever think of this. During spring, when pollen is everywhere, it attaches to your clothes. Most of the time, pollen hangs out for a little while, but once you wash everything, it’s gone, and you’re off the hook. Except this isn’t always true with clothes. Pollen can stick around for a while or even build up in your washing machine.

A lot of washers now have “allergen” cycles. That setting helps eliminate anything on your clothes and sheets that could make things like childhood asthma worse.

Don’t forget that pollen gets on everything else too. Once spring is gone, consider power washing your house and any outdoor toys or playsets. Get the interior of your car cleaned. Have your rugs, carpets, and even upholstery shampooed and steam cleaned at your house. Just remember to use the non-VOC cleaners!

10. The best home remedy for asthma could be as simple as leaving your home

Last, but not least, get outside! You might be shocked to learn that the air inside can be five times as polluted as what you breath outside.

You spend 90% of your life inside. Let that sink in.

It’s assumed that going outside is healthy, but now you have one more reason to get outdoors and play with your kids. You won’t regret it and neither will they.

Being outside can be a great way to mitigate asthma symptoms

We imagine these feel like a lot of work. We get that. No one’s measuring if you accomplish just a few or all ten. If you do implement any of them, we’d love to hear your results. Just don’t forget to do something for yourself too. If you ask us, cleaning the furniture in your house sounds like a perfect excuse for the pint of ice cream you’ve been eyeing.

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