Toddler with Outside Allergies

My kids and husband also have these allergies. At this time of year we do antihistamines and decongestants everyday anyway, so we've never noticed a problem with the tree. Their dr. tells me to keep the antihistamines coming until the first snow is on the ground. Fall is the worst time for mold allergies because of all the dead leaves, so she's going to be having problems now anyway.

My daughter's allergist said "absolutely do not get a real Christmas tree anymore", when my daughter was diagnosed with mold allergies. I would strongly recommend being an advocate of your son's comfort during the season instead of what your used to. It's not worth the risk of having him be miserable. We had a real tree every year while I was growing up, but have had a fake tree now since my daughter's allergy testing (which was 5 years ago). I don't mind the fake tree one bit. As a matter of fact, I like the fact that I don' t have to pick up needles all the time.

How do you currently treat the allergies? Do you know if Christmas trees are susceptible to the molds to which your child is allergic?

The easy answer is to get a fake tree to make it easier on your child. But, if they are easily treated for their allergies with a medication you already take, it may be OK to get a real one.

Personally, I love the real ones, but we have a fake one to make it easier with 2 small kids at home.

Hi S. B!

I have this type of allergy too and had to give up on real Christmas trees. The year I was pregnant with my son, my husband and I picked out the most beautiful tree! We had to give it to his sister a few days later because I was so miserable. The problem with live Christmas trees is that the mold grows like crazy when you bring it into your nice warm house and put it in water. By New Year's there is a lot of mold in the house.

If your toddler has asthma, I would say definitely not get a real tree. If it's just allergies, you could try it and see - maybe even wait until later in December to get the tree so there isn't as much time for the mold to grow before Christmas. I put up with the allergies for a long time because I loved the tree - maybe your little one will be ok. Like the other mom said, just be prepared to undecorate the tree and get rid of it! We have a fairly inexpensive fake tree (I think we spent about $150 on it?) and once it's decorated, people think it's real.

The only way to tell if it bugs her is to get a live tree and try it. But be prepared to undecorate it and toss it out (even after a couple days) if she's miserable because of it and then buy an artificial tree you can use year after year. Have you looked at the artificial trees lately? Many of them are >very< realistic and it's actually hard to tell if they are real or fake. Heck, some even come scented so you still get that pine smell. If nothing else, you'll saving money by not having to purchase and toss a tree every year. (just trying to look on the bright side)

We've had an artificial tree for years because of our family's allergies. There are some beautiful ones out there and you can still decorate it and enjoy it like a real one. In fact the mess is a lot less than a real tree, so you will probably love it!

My daughter and I both have severe indoor and outdoor allergies. We love our real trees, so we just make sure we're religious about taking our antihistamines and decongestants while the tree is in the house. Haven't had any problems...

I am allergic, but I get the tree anyway. It itches my nose a little bit, but I still love it. I think it depends how severe your child's allergies are.

I'm actually allergic to pine trees, and didn't discover it until I was in my 20's. Primetime allergies for me run from March through October, then we'd get a christmas tree in November, so the only time I could really breath was from January through mid-March.

We tried getting live trees for the first year or two we were married (15 years ago), but we both were so allergic to them we were getting sinus headaches. When we put the tree outside, we were fine.

Then once we had kids, and knowing our allergies didn't like live trees, and knowing both our daughters are allergic to "outdoor stuff", we decided it wasn't worth the effort to get live trees, and ended up getting a pre-lit fake tree.

For what it's worth....and good luck!

There is a frmale chiropractor in Brownsburg who does allergy TREATMENTS. If you know the allergy (and you do) she does a series of treatments to GET RID OF THE ALLERGY.

I have a client who has a grandson, who's 3, and she did 3 treatments and he no longer has the dog allergy. Might be worth it rather than worry about future issues.

I suffer from outside allergys as well and growing up Mom and Dad always bought a live tree with root ball and after christmas we would plant it. They kept it watered well and I never seemed to have a problem with it.