Pollen, dust mites, and animal dander, are among the worst of environmental allergens that your baby will be bothered by if he has eczema. A part of treating his illness and preventing flare ups are concerned with reducing the threat that these allergens pose.
To affect these allergens there are a number of things that you can do. These activities would all be recognized as ways of trying to “avoid” coming into contact with the allergens in question.
HEPA
To deal with the pollen, you may want to employ the use of air filters. The air filter you will want to use would be a genuine HEPA filter. Hepa filters were designed by the U.S. military for use in clean up of the environment in the event of a nuclear attack.
Hepa filters are able to trap and contain particles as minute as nuclear debris, and a secondary use for them had been discovered in the field of healthcare.
Vacuuming
When you vacuum the places that your baby frequents, again you will want to use a vacuum cleaner that uses a HEPA filter. The reason for this is that when the motor on the vacuum starts, if you are using a regular filter bag, whatever is already in the environment will just be blown around the room. While it appears that the room is cleaner, there would still be an unaffected amount of allergens in the air that can still affect the baby.
Dusting
When dusting for the purpose of allergen avoidance, you will want to use a damp cloth so that dust particles are not blown around the room, and also so that more of the offending particles are removed. Your goal is to remove offending particles, not just rearrange them so that they are not visible to the human eye.
Carpets
Carpets with long fibers will hold large quantities of dust. Dust is likely to always play a negative role in the incidences of eczema. When your baby has eczema, the best thing that you can do with carpets in your home is to remove them. You will also want to do the same with upholstered furniture. You will want to use hardwood or laminate floors, and furniture that is made of harder materials like leather and synthetic leathers. For health reasons you may want to cover upholstered furniture with plastic.
If you can not remove carpeting and upholstered furniture, then you will want to make sure that you not place your baby directly onto these materials. It would be better if you can use a plastic mat or sheet so that he is protected from the dust that is in the carpet.