Living With Allergic Kids
Our house turns into a tissue farm every March. I know this sounds crazy but, they seriously grow here. They grow right out from in between sofa cushions and sometimes, they multiply right in their own boxes! (We seem to also have quite the throat drop harvest every spring as well!)Springtime allergies in Pennsylvania are usually the worst at our house. Our youngest is pretty much over his as soon as summer starts. Our 10-year-old goes a little through summer and our 13-year-old is still suffering in the fall. It tends to also start back up in the fall weather for everybody in the house. This is when I am feeling icky too.
Emergency Allergy Kits
I try to stock everything we need for different types of things, in the form of kits or in a section of the house where it's accessible by everyone. Back to school supplies are kept behind a door in the kitchen. First Aid kits are available above the fridge, allergy kits are kept in the truck, behind the door with the back to school supplies, and they are in the medicine cabinet. (Of course, allergy meds are kept in the medicine cabinet only and out of our children's reach.)
We have little travel packs of antibacterial wipes, tissues, throat drops, cleaning wipes, (for faces and hands), and some sort of mint flavored sugar-free gum. (Our kids included this so, we just kept stocking this as well!) We also have Band-Aid bandages and "mom business cards" that are included in each pack. This way, the kit will cover first aid as well as personal and contact info all in one little bundle. These are great to hand to teachers at the beginning of the school year as well!
We have little travel packs of antibacterial wipes, tissues, throat drops, cleaning wipes, (for faces and hands), and some sort of mint flavored sugar-free gum. (Our kids included this so, we just kept stocking this as well!) We also have Band-Aid bandages and "mom business cards" that are included in each pack. This way, the kit will cover first aid as well as personal and contact info all in one little bundle. These are great to hand to teachers at the beginning of the school year as well!
Allergy Medications For Kids
It is always best to consult with your pediatrician regarding medicines and vitamins of any kind. Our doctor's office has an online account for their patients which is wonderful! It helps a great deal when I need to contact our doctor, ask a question, address concerns that don't necessarily require a visit, and keep him updated on what is happening with everyone and what medications we are using. Before our online portal, we relied on calling and I started a medical diary to keep track of everything for everyone in the house. (I keep a pain diary for RSD and a few other medical issues. So, I thought this was a great idea for everybody else.)
Our 13-year-old is not too keen on swallowing pills so, he is still taking children's medicine for the most part. (Depending on the type of medicine he needs.) We have been trying to change this but, he isn't budging. (Side note * I spoke with our pharmacist about this recently and she mentioned that she helped her pre teen daughters out by giving them straw to suck plain M&M's up. After a few tries, it worked for them. So, we are planning this for our son too.
For now, we use a lot of homeopathic medications for different illnesses and whether you are using children's or adult's medication, there are plenty of options for people who don't like to swallow pills. Pills that dissolve, pills you can chew, and those neat envelopes of powder to mix with water. All of our children have specific flavor preferences. That can get annoying when trying to find vitamins that everybody loves or allergy medicine. So, they take turns deciding flavors so I don't have to buy several different packages! We use a few different name brands for allergy medication and they are all chewable which is super nice!! The only thing that sometimes causes more chaos than the actual allergies themselves, is buying the proper medicine that all of the kids can agree on.
