Question about carpets and allergies

[rileyscoutmom]

Hi, sorry to be posting so many questions - but new to the forums and I have a lot.

My 6 year old and I both have environmental allergies and both live year round with "raccoon eyes". My dh wants to take out all the carpeting in our house and I know they say that is good idea, but I also worry that it will stir things up and release some of the toxic chemicals that are in the carpeting backing materials. If my dh does it during the day when everyone is at work/school - is this sufficient. Or do we have to leave the house for a period of time, and if we do - for how long? Or should we just leave the carpeting for now because of the 6 month old?

Karen

[stephienoodle]

I don't know much about toxin issues with removing the carpet & if/how long you need to be away from it, but I'd definitely go ahead and remove them even though you have a 6 month old. The main area that DS plays in is our dining room and it is hardwood with no rug. We've not had any problems because of no carpeting in his main play-place and actually feel a little better allergy-wise because of it, I think.

Also, I'm a bit jealous. Our upstairs is wall-to-wall carpeting and oh how I wish I could get rid of it! DH is just not sold on the idea and we don't want to stay in this house forever, so we're not going to spend the money to put hardwood down.

[tanyalynn]

I've never run across a recommendation to actually leave (sleep elsewhere, I mean), I think the stuff that's stirred up will just be a bit more than what you usually get on a day-to-day basis, and getting it out of the house will rapidly reduce what you're exposed to. And kids can adapt to having no carpet, the house we're in right now has none--my kids are 3yo ad 5yo, but they're still on the floor quite a bit. I keep meaning to get some pillows to sit on, but haven't quite gotten to it yet.

Raccoon eyes can also be food intolerances, or more likely a combination of things. For my daughter: getting rid of gluten, enough sleep, and good gut health are all necessary for those dark circles to get to the almost-gone stage. It's taking longer for mine to go away, but I think I'm seeing progress (I think adults take longer to bounce back).

[flightgoddess]

Having hard wood floors really helped my allergies, and a hepa filter aircleaner. My opinion, rip up the carpet. Spend the night away if you want. Run an air cleaner full blast, it will help the air circulate. My 8 mo old hasn't started crawling yet. We have one area rug in the living room, and in the baby's room we have that foamy puzzle piece mat stuff. And Baby Legs (like leg warmers for babies) which my theory is will protect his knees a little on the hard floors.

[Catt75]

Yes, get rid of the carpet. Don't have the baby in the house when the carpet is being removed but you don't have to spend the night away. Just give it a couple hours for the dust to settle then sweep/vacuum and wash the floors.