Is our house making us sick?







We can't figure out why daughter Kitty is still having a hard time with her allergies and asthma. Are we missing an allergy or asthma trigger in the house?

We are in the middle of a bathroom remodel (last week's post). It's REALLY fun to have 5 of us trying to all use the one shower. Sigh.

Was there anything else we are missing?

This is what we decided to focus on:
  • Make sure we vacuum AT LEAST once a week (this means everything - especially under the beds)
  • Wash the sheets for EACH bed once a week (for us, it works best to pick a day of the week for each bed. So, I wash our sheets on Friday. Kitty's sheets on Saturday, etc. My sons are supposed to wash theirs weekly........yeah, riiiiiight. I'm sure that's getting done!) 
  • Clean the vents (did that when we first moved in....but it's been 11 years. So time to do it again)
  • Change the furnace filters monthly (because we have cats - long story of why we do)

 What are we doing right:

  • We take our shoes off before we come into the house
  • We dust weekly 
  • We have roll up shades in the bedrooms instead of horizontal blinds (horizontal blinds are the WORST for building up dust - and that's one of our allergy and asthma triggers) 
  • We don't store ANYTHING under the beds (makes it easier to vacuum underneath)
  • We get new pillows for the beds every year
  • We wash the slipcovers on our couch each year
  • We wash the curtains in all of the rooms each year 
It's REALLY interesting how things in the home, work, etc can affect your asthma. 

Wondering what you can do to make your house allergy and asthma friendly? 

 Happy reading! 



Comments

  1. Nerdy galFebruary 26, 2016 at 12:07 AM

    It is probably not as humid in utah as it is in houston (never been to utah), but my allergist told me to clean out the car monthly and keep trash to a minimum. The previous owner was a smoker and I got out brown liquid when I shampooed the seats and the floor.

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    1. My Life as an Asthma MomFebruary 26, 2016 at 12:36 PM

      Oh wow! I didn't even think of that, but it makes sense if there is a lot of clutter with humidity, that could cause mold in your car too. Yikes!

      Three cheers for your shampoo machine! :)

      Delete
  2. Nerdy galFebruary 26, 2016 at 12:10 AM

    The reason I brought up humidity earlier was because cars in texas are prone to mold from opening the doors over the years from the humidity. I forgot to expand on that in previous comment

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    1. My Life as an Asthma MomFebruary 26, 2016 at 12:37 PM

      That's what I was thinking, you probably have a lot of mold issues there.

      When I visited Hawaii, they had mold on the hymnals in the church we attended!

      Delete
  3. Nerdy galFebruary 29, 2016 at 12:55 AM

    I got a summer internship at rockafeller university as an immunology intern. I will live in manhattan for 3 months. Whoa, I better get used to walking everywhere and crowded places. At least it is not during the winter

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    1. My Life as an Asthma MomFebruary 29, 2016 at 2:28 PM

      Congrats! Buy ear plugs too....New York is pretty noisy!

      Delete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 29, 2016 at 12:38 PM

    Hi Andrea, I am Ketki Gupte. I work at a company called Health Union (https://health-union.com/about-us/)

    I am reaching out to you because we are currently in the process of launching a new website for Asthma and came across your blog. After reading your blog entries, it is clear to us that you are an expert on Asthma! Specifically, being a caregiver to a person suffering from asthma. Your experience of caring for a child with asthma, the advocacy work you have done in the field of asthma education, and most importantly your passion for this cause is amazing, and we would be honored to have you be a part of our team of contributors.

    Please email me at ketki.gupte@health-union.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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