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Asthma in Children - Living With Asthma

You can control the impact asthma has on your child's life by following your asthma action plan consistently. A management plan can reduce inflammation to prevent long-term damage to your child's lungs and reduce the severity, frequency, and duration of asthma attacks. Your child may have difficulty following the plan because of its many parts.

To help you and your child remain consistent in following the asthma action plan:

Educate yourself and your child about asthma. By doing so, you can learn to control symptoms and reduce the risk of your child having asthma attacks. This questionnaire can help you and your child see what you already know about asthma and what you may need to discuss with your doctor.
Understand your child's barriers and solutions. What may prevent your child from following his or her plan? These may be physical barriers, such as living far from your doctor or pharmacy. Or your child may have emotional barriers, such as having undiscussed fears about the condition or unrealistic expectations. Talk with the doctor about your child's barriers, and work to find solutions.
Set goals that relate to your child's quality of life. Being able to measure success gives your child greater motivation to follow asthma plans consistently. Decide together what you want to be able to do. Have symptom-free nights? Be able to exercise on a regular basis? Feel secure in knowing you both can deal with an asthma attack? Work with your doctor to make sure your child's goals are realistic and your child knows how to reach them.

In general your child's asthma treatment will consist of the following:

Seeing your child's doctor regularly to monitor the asthma. The frequency of checkups depends on how your child's asthma is classified. Doctors recommend checkups about every 6 to 12 months for intermittent or mild persistent asthma that has been under control for at least 3 months, every 3 to 4 months for moderate persistent asthma, and every 1 to 2 months for uncontrolled or severe persistent asthma. Bring your asthma plan to each appointment.
Following your child's asthma action plan. The plan helps you minimize the long-term effects of asthma and describes which medicines to take every day. The action plan also contains the steps to handle asthma attacks at home. It helps you better control your child's asthma attacks by being aware of symptoms and knowing how to make quick decisions about medicines and treatment. See an example of an asthma action plan(What is a PDF document?) . Your child also may have an asthma diary where you or your child records peak expiratory flows, symptoms, and triggers of asthma attacks. This valuable tool can help your doctor manage your child's asthma.

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WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: March 20, 2009

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.