Teaching Kids to Manage Their Own Asthma

I have friends with little kids who tell me that I’m lucky that my kids are adults now. They tell me it must be nice to have kids that don’t need me anymore.

I almost choked on my glass of water when they said that.

Anyone with adult kids knows parenting does not end when your kids become adults.

How do you help your kids become more independent? Especially when they have chronic health conditions such as asthma?

Start when they are small

As my kids were growing, I taught them to do things on their own. Laundry, cooking, emptying the dishwasher, taking the trash out, etc. They were not very happy about it, but I told them I was not going to college with them, so they needed to know how to take care of themselves.

Along with doing chores, they were responsible for taking their controller inhaler morning and night, as well as letting me know when it needed to be refilled. When they lived at home, we would take a trip to the pharmacy and refill everyone’s inhalers. I joked with the pharmacist that I would just sign over my paycheck to pay for all of the inhalers.

I hauled them to countless visits to the pediatrician, asthma specialist, ER, or hospital. I encouraged them to speak directly to the doctor and tell her how they were feeling, rather than having me do the talking. I also let them be part of the decision-making process when it came to a change in their care plan.

I spent countless hours giving breathing treatments, checking oxygen levels, and looking for signs of an asthma emergency. I also taught them how to give themselves a breathing treatment, how to clean the nebulizer mouthpiece and medicine canister, and what to do if they dropped to the yellow or red zone of their asthma action plan.

Preparing my kids to self-manage their asthma before they move out

I have seen funny commercials of parents celebrating when their kids move out. They wave goodbye to the last kid, then measure their old room for a hot tub.

I had mixed feelings. I was glad I had raised my kids to take care of themselves, but it was REALLY quiet around the house. And I was not used to cooking for two.

Part of the college campus tours always included me asking the guide where the student health center was. I knew my kids would need to access it at some point! I made sure they each had everything they needed to self-manage their asthma. The two with the worst asthma each took a nebulizer and an oxygen monitor.

I made sure they each had an insurance card since they were still covered under our insurance until they were 26.

They also knew how to call and make a doctor’s appointment. (Sounds easy, right?!) However, I know plenty of adults in their 20's who will not make a doctor's appointment or call in a prescription!

We talked about the after-hours options at the doctor's office, the hours for the closest Urgent Care, and the ER. They know how to get to each facility and what the co-pay is for each one.

Are they ready?

So, do they self-manage their asthma? Yes. But – it's still nice to get texts from them when they are sick. They are doing okay on their own, but just want to check in and let me know they are sick. If they live close enough, that gives me a chance to drop off chicken soup, orange juice, and tissues!

And nag them to clean up their apartment! Ha!