My daughter has had a persistant night time cough and we are pretty sure it is an allergy that has started from her goose down comforter and pillow.
she goes into an allergist next week.
so, I need an affordable replacement.
Suggestions?
I’m allergic to down pillows, etc. and I just buy the fiber-filled stuff. Dacron, polyester, or whatever. I have no problems with that stuff. It’s easier to find and cheaper than real down I’ve always found.
Pillows from Wal-Mart or similar. I like the outlet shops for the comforter-like stuff.
There are encasings you can buy that go over the comforter and pillow. That is one option.
You can also buy various types of fiberfill.
National Allergy Supply is a company that sells both, and they have a website.
While you’re getting her tested, also get her tested for dust mite allergy, which lives in bedding. When I was a kid they did a “shortcut” test for me by just switching me for a few nights to a non-down pillow, and concluded I was allergic to feathers since my symptoms cleared up. I am actually allergic to feathers and dust mites.
Used to work for a respiratory company that dealt with oxygen, asthma, allergies - treatments & products.
We sold a couple of lines of hypoallergenic bedding … which our customers swore by …
However, recently I read (sorry I can’t even think of where I read it, so I can’t cite), that the hypoallergenic bedding really doesn’t do anything to prevent the waste (i.e. poop) of dust mites (which is what people are REALLY reacting to) from reaching the sleeper.
So basically it sounds like perhaps hypoallergenic bedding is a bunch of hooey.
I personally would recommend buying pillow covers FIRST, forget the mattress cover for now … and washing all of your bed linens in HOT water and drying them on the highest setting - this is supposedly one way to get rid of the allergic effects of the dust mites’ poo. If you find the pillow covers help, but not enough, then try the mattress cover.
The covers were quite high quality and lasted a long time - as long as washing instructions were followed to the T. Don’t dry them for too long or at too high a setting, or the lining MELTS. Speaking from experience.
S.
One good thing about the replacements is that they are very affordable. I have a friend who was bragging to me about her wonderful new goose-down pillows that cost something like $70.00 each. I have a lot of allergy problems, so I just bought polyester filled pillows on sale at a department store for $14.00 each. They’re very comfortable, and I sleep well. Make sure you get pillows with firmness suitable to your daughter’s sleep habits – they usually come in different firmnesses recommended for stomach, side, or back sleepers. Also, I love my new pillows now, but they felt wrong for the first few days until I got used to them.
Specially made hypoallergenic pillows are incredibly expensive, and if your daughter is allergic to the down, rather than the dustmites, polyester ones are the way to go.
It’s pretty much all been said, but I want to emphasise the “wash pillows and comforters regularly in hot water” part. I have polyester filled pillows and a synthetic fibre filled doona/comforter/whatever you call it where you are, I wash them fortnightly, and that has solved most of my problems. They were cheap enough that replacing them won’t be a big deal when the time comes.
The other thing that helped was when I discovered my cat liked to sleep on my bed while I was out during the day :rolleyes:
Once she was banned from the bedroom, my allergy problem got a lot less…
Thanks for the responses.
My daughter’s trip to the allergist will have to delayed as she seems to have a case of pnuemonia ( veyr mild.)
I am replacing her pillow with a buckwheat pillow, which gives her more lift at night to prop her up.
After she sees the allergist, then I’ll shop around for bedding.