Dust mite and timothy grass allergy in DS, where to start

[sparkout]

Dr rang with DS allergy blood test results and he has a grade 4 reaction to house dust and dust mites and a low reaction to timothy grass. During the day he seems ok ish this time of year but at night time he is suffereing and sniffling/sneezing. When I asked the Dr what to do to help him she said clean clean and clean again. His bedroom is a tip tbh but he is a typical 6 year old lego mad lad. Anyone with any advice/tips on wher to start, I have been looking at the bedding and hepa dysons (mine is old) but everything is expensive and he has laminate so not sure I need a new vacuum just yet but tbh any tips would be really welcome as not sure where to start

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

Until a MNer with a similarly affected DC comes by, just to say my DH has a dust mite allergy too. I am not exactly a domestic goddess but try to keep the house clean. We don't have a special vacuum cleaner and we try and wipe down surfaces with a damp cloth. We have laminate (which shows up the dust very quickly whereas carpet it can be less obvious), and tiles downstairs and natural flooring like sisal and jute upstairs. He finds it helps avoiding feather pillows and duvets so we have synthetic ones.

When I met him in the 80's I loved dried flowers and always had tons of scented candles, clutter and trinkets like girls do; all that went when I moved in, his excuse being it attracts dust. I like a warm house, he always has a window open especially at night, keep the house fresh, anything artificially scented like plug-ins or air fresheners drives him crazy. We don't have a load of cushions or throws, I guess a 6 year old DS won't anyway.

I am sure lego is fine unless of course playing on a carpet or rug! Where possible, keep stuff in boxes you can shove under the bed or in a wardrobe so again it doesn't get dusty.

I hope I haven't made it sound too hard work, but it all helps.

[sparkout]

Thanks, we have his lego in boxes now but he is soo messy it takes ages to get it tidy each evening. We don't have any scented stuff as it gives me a headache!

Just been reading old threads about vacuums and bedding, is it true that the anti allergy bedding is no good?

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

I haven't heard bad press about it but if you fancy giving it a go why not? Try allergen covers for DS's pillow and mattress.

Like your GP said thorough cleaning's the best way.

I just change our bed once a week and vacuum the mattress. If there's pillows on offer I throw away pillows and replace every 8-12 months. When washing bedding I always put it on at 50 deg.

Forgot to say we've got a leather not fabric sofa and we have light curtains not thick heavy ones. Blinds seemed a good alternative until I realised how dusty they get!

[TwinkleReturns]

Hi Op I have dust and grass allergies, its not fun!

The main suggestions for the dust:
Hypoallergic duvet and pillows. You can get some fairly cheap ones if you shop around. I think I got my pillows from Wilkinsons for eg. These will not hold the dust like other types of bedding and make night times a lot easier.

Wash bedding, curtains very regularly.

I currently have to vaccuum and damp cloth all surfaces every 2 days or Im a sneezing wheezing mess. With the surfaces, dont use a duster but a damp cloth and leave them to dry off naturally.

Try to keep stuff packed away when not in use in his room, dont have a lot of soft toys sitting around, wash them regularly aswell. Once you get on top of it its fairly easy to whip a cloth round every few days to keep it at a tolerable level.

[sparkout]

I def need to wash the curtains then as I haven't washed them in ages, eek! I am not keen on the idea of the treated bedding as the allergyuk lady told me they have pesticides in them...but only a small dose...but to sleep in amongst, I'm not keen! I will look into the woven ones but the website I was looking at wanted to charge nearly £100 for a bed set. Do you just put ordinary bedding in a 60 wash, all mine say 40 degree on them

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

I get cotton bedding without fancy trimmings so yes it can go in over 40 deg.

Ironically vacuuming can get the dust flying so I usually don't do it within half an hour of DH getting in.

Realise this has sounded like I live in The World's Dustiest Place but not so! It just really helps DH get by (he has had the dust mite allergy and asthma since childhood). I don't know if timothy grass sets him off but he does get hayfever worse some years than others. No furry pets either, they're also a trigger.