Football season means allergy season, especially when your kids spend a lot of time playing outdoors and then track pollen and dust into your home. Fortunately, you can take several key steps to prevent allergies. Take a look at these four allergy prevention tips specific to football season.
Teach Your Kids to Shower Immediately After Practice
Football practice makes your kids dirty and sweaty. Don’t let them lounge on the couch, eat a snack, or do anything else until they’ve taken a shower. You don’t want pollen or dirt settling into your furniture and creating an allergy problem in your home. It also helps to have your kids leave their cleats, uniforms, and other football equipment near the door so that they don’t disperse allergens throughout your home. Create a designated place in your home to stash all this gear, preferably near the door.
Launder Football Uniforms Regularly
Kids can get impossibly dirty playing football. You’ll see everything from grass stains to dirt to sweat on their uniforms. It’s not always feasible to launder football uniforms after every practice, but you should wash them as frequently as possible. The pollen, grass, and dirt found on your kids’ football uniforms can trigger allergies.
Plus, it’s easier to get grass and dirt stains out of clothing when you treat these stains immediately. The longer the stains sit, the more they set in. Laundry can be a big chore, so get your kids to help. Make it a requirement that your kids wash their own uniforms if they want to continue to play football.
Get a Good Allergy Medicine for Your Kids
It’s difficult not to be affected by outdoor allergies when you’re a football mom. After all, your kids roll in the grass and breathe in the air contaminated with pollen, dust, and other outdoor allergens. You might even be affected just by watching from the sidelines.
If your kids have serious seasonal allergies, talk to their physician about an antihistamine medication to control the sniffling and sneezing. There are also over-the-counter medications that can help if you want to treat allergy symptoms yourself. You may have to try several options until you find the right one for your kids. After all, your kids should be focused on doing their best on the field instead of dry, red, itchy eyes.
Improve the Air Quality in Your Home
Even after you establish rules to prevent dirt and allergens from entering your home during football season, it’s not easy to avoid every speck of pollen. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you replace your HVAC system’s air filters regularly. These air filters trap pollen, dust, and other allergens circulating through your home. They also keep your HVAC system running smoothly during football season and throughout the year.
Football season doesn’t mean your family has to suffer through allergies. What else do you do to prevent the constant sniffling and sneezing? Leave a comment below.
