American Academy of Pediatrics - Allergies and Asthma

Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5

(English and Spanish)

Heading Home With Your Newborn:

From Birth to Reality

Mommy Calls: Dr. Tanya Answers Parents Top 101 Questions

About Babies and Toddlers

The Wonder Years: Helping Your Baby and Young Child

Successfully Negotiate the Major Developmental Milestones

Raising Twins: From Pregnancy to Preschool

Your Babys First Year

(English and Spanish)

New Mothers Guide to Breastfeeding

(English and Spanish)

Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood

Armed With Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup

A Parents Guide to Childhood Obesity: A Road Map to Health

Guide to Your Childs Nutrition

ADHD: A Complete and Authoritative Guide

Waking Up Dry: A Guide to Help Children Overcome Bedwetting

A Parents Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens:

Giving Your Child Roots and Wings

Sports Success Rx! Your Childs Prescription for the Best Experience

Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen

Through College Admissions and Beyond

Mental Health, Naturally: The Family Guide to Holistic Care for a Healthy Mind and Body

Caring for Your School-Age Child:

Ages 5 to 12

Caring for Your Teenager

Guide to Toilet Training

(English and Spanish)

CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming, and Social Media

For more information, please visit the official AAP Web site for parents,

www.HealthyChildren.org/bookstore.

Published by the American Academy of Pediatrics

141 Northwest Point Blvd, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1019

847/434-4000

Fax: 847/434-8000

www.aap.org

Cover design by Daniel Rembert

Book design by Linda Diamond

Second Edition2011

First Edition 2000 as Guide to Your Childs Allergies and Asthma: Breathing Easy and Bringing Up Healthy, Active Children

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010900143

ISBN: 978-1-58110-445-5

The recommendations in this publication do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.

Products are mentioned for informational purposes only. Inclusion in this publication does not imply endorsement by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Academy of Pediatrics is not responsible for the content of the resources mentioned in this publication. Web site addresses are as current as possible, but may change at any time.

Every effort is made to keep Allergies and Asthma: What Every Parent Needs to Know consistent with the most recent advice and information available from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Copyright 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

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Ever wish you could sit down and spend hours asking your pediatrician every question you never remember to ask at appointments? Read this practical, must-have resource for all parents of children with allergies and asthmaand youll have your answers.

Nancy Sander

President and Founder, Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics

A valuable and highly usable addition to the field of asthma and allergy management.

Bill McLin

President and CEO, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

This excellent book provides parents with the facts, the concepts, and the approach they need to care for their child with allergies or asthma. This second edition is a joy to read. It flows smoothly and covers the important issues with ample detail.

Thomas F. Plaut, MD, FAAP

Director, Asthma Consultants, and author, One Minute Asthma: What You Need to Know

This book is an excellent resource. Parents and grandparents of children with allergic diseases will find the same basic principles for diagnosing and treating these conditions as their physicians, but in an easy-to-read style. I found the Asthma Facts and Fables a particularly nice touch.

Jeffrey R. Stokes, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI

Associate Professor, Creighton University Medical Center, and spokesperson,

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

If you want a book that describes unproven therapies that may not work, stay away. But if you want a detailed and comprehensive book that describes state-of-the-art understanding and approaches to asthma and allergies in children written by the leading experts in the field, this book is essential reading. If you want to know what you should ask and what you should expect from your doctor when you have a child with asthma and/or allergiesthis book is for you. If you want to know both the natural approaches that are documented to work and how to get the most out of medications, then this book is for you.

Harold J. Farber, MD, MSPH, FAAP

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Pulmonary Section, Baylor College of Medicine; author of Control Your Childs Asthma: A Breakthrough Program for the Treatment and Management of Childhood Asthma; and editor of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology

Editor in Chief

Michael J. Welch, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP, CPI

American Academy of Pediatrics Board of Directors Reviewer

Kenneth E. Matthews, MD, FAAP

Reviewers/Contributors

Stuart Abramson, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Sami Labib Bahna, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

A. Wesley Burks, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Bradley E. Chipps, MD, PhD, FAAAAI, FAAP

John Duplantier, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Howard Eigen, MD, FAAP

Mary Beth Fasano, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Alan Goldsobel, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Douglas N. Homnick, MD, MPH, FAAP

Russell Hopp, DO, FAAAAI, FAAP

Julie Pamela Katkin, MD, FAAP

John Kelso, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Mitchell Ross Lester, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Todd A. Mahr, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Elizabeth C. Matsui, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Susanna A. McColley, MD, FAAP

Sai Nimmagadda, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP

Lynda Catherine Schneider, MD, FAAAAI, FAAP