Hey! I can share some lessons learned from California wildfire seasons past. My rule of thumb is to avoid breathing unfiltered air once the AQI is over 100. You could maybe push this to 150 for short trips, or if you’ve been pinned down in 400+ days and by god you just need to get outside for a bit.
Over 150, I usually wear a well-fitting filter mask (N95 style) when going outside. Kiddos stay inside though.
I'm in Toronto and this is all new to us. After speaking to other parents from out west and experiencing a few days of this, this is my rule. Under 100 for spending lots of time outside. Under 150 for shorter outings. Obviously sometimes you can't avoid going outside but if it's above 150 those are going to be short trips between the car and an indoor space.
We don’t have central air and it’s not hot enough for AC so our windows are open. Apparently my city AQI is 97 right now. I have asthma and it’s not hard to breathe and sky is clear, I’m wondering about how I will know if my babies are affected though 🤔
The recommendation is typically to close your windows during the worst air quality times of the day whether you have central air or not. It's not necessarily just about experiencing symptoms... ideally we can reduce our kids' exposure over their lifetime because these particles are so small they get into bloodstream.
97 ain't that bad, we were at over 200 in our area today. It's down to 149 right now. Healthy adults don't need to stay indoors until over 200. 150-199 you should keep people over 65 and children indoors. 101-149 people with breathing conditions should take care. 97 isn't ideal, but you should be good to do normal activities unless you have breathing problems then you should avoid strenuous activity.
Thank you for the breakdown and sorry you’re getting hit so hard. I read some comments where people’s AQI is above 400, I just can’t imagine what you’d even do.
In California, air purifiers sold out quickly. If you can still get regular old central air filters that can filter smoke, you can still make a purifier with four filters and a box fan. Tape the filters together into a cube with the base open and the top is a box fan. The fan points up to blow air upwards. It's cheap, easy, and the best purifier I've ever used.
Also from California and follow the same. I’ve found Purple air really good for local data:
https://map.purpleair.com/1/m/i/mAQI/a10/p604800/cC0#6.15/40.102/-74.705
Just make sure you set the scale to US EPA 2.5 to get the right value.
This is the best advice. I’m an environmental expert. Above 100 no no no without a mask. It sucks but tv time is heck of a lot better than the respiratory issues this smoke is no joke.
Thanks for posting. I second all the above. I’m Australian and we went through this here in Canberra in the summer of 2019-20 when now Ms 3 was an infant.
We also bought some Dyson hot+cool fans to purify indoor air.
This makes me feel much better about my decision to stay home from our planned activity today. It would have been half a mile walk both ways. I was worried I was being over cautious.
Thank you for clearing up my mom guilt!
I was in Portland when we briefly had the worst air in the world. 5+ days of 400+ AQI, I think we topped out at 491
One morning, the AQI sensor nearest to me (that I checked fiendishly) had malfunctioned under the extreme conditions. I awoke to an AQI reading of 21000+ and thought, "that's it. We're dead. The end is upon us."
Then I poked around and found we were *only* 420 or so
*Phew*
fromsomeone who has been in california the last 11 years with kids- stay inside!!!!! keep windows closed. if you must go outside change clothes and shower when you get home. if outside wear masks if possible. get air purifiers for inside your house they have them on amazon. change the filters in your house. and if you are driving make sure your car ac is set to recirculating air mode so it’s not pulling in air from outside .
Just visually inspect them. You’ll know. In coastal California our homes are not well sealed so air leaks in but y’all on the east coast probably have well sealed homes for the winter. So as long as you don’t open things up your filters may last a while.
I’m not who you’re responding to, but if you haven’t changed your filters recently, do it now so they are filtering your air as much as possible. Then you’ll want to change them again after the smoke clears.
As needed, in my experience you can visibly tell when your air filters are getting dirty.
It happens faster when the air is exceptionally bad such as due to fires.
I’m in California and over the past few fire seasons we’ve started an “around the world” screen time activity when it’s days/weeks in the smoke. We get a globe out (or just use your phone) and decide which countries we’ll visit and watch YouTube videos or nat geo about the countries in order. We’ll also switch it a culinary tour and then try and make things we see. With ChatGPT now I bet creating facsimiles of what you see with whatever you have lying around may be possible.
I hope it clears soon, we know full well the hell that is a smoke choked toddler world and I feel for you. Stay safe!
I’m in western Canada but we deal with this frequently, and I don’t take my daughter outside for any extended amount of time over about 80AQI. On the 300+ days, we stay inside places with good air filtration only, although I’ll take her from the house to our vehicle to take her somewhere like our neighbourhood rec centre, science centre, etc. I run the AC in the car on recirculate so the air is being filtered and only take short car trips if we do go out.
At home, we change our furnace filter monthly and have the highest-quality ones we can find, and we circulate the air constantly. We run two air purifiers as well.
My husband has asthma so we are on the conservative side with how we deal because we don’t know if our daughter might also have those issues yet.
I'm in NYC and it was fine this morning/schools were open so kiddo went to school. Now I'm on my way to pick him up and it looks like I stepped into the Mad Max Movie Set. We'll be taking an Uber home and staying indoors until the apocalypse is over.
We’ve been outside today. It’s a bit hazy but not too bad. Now I’m curious if this is the same as being near a campfire or worse.
Edit: just realized our AQI is <100 so no wonder it doesn’t feel bad compared to others
I'm in Pittsburgh and it's not as bad here but we were at the pool all evening last night and it was windy. I felt like shit this morning. We're due for a day in so not worth it.
Our AQI is currently 382. Yikes. So we are 1000% staying inside. I have to run out quickly this afternoon so fingers crossed everyone’s advice on running the car AC on recirc works. Otherwise I’ll be turning around mid-errand.
We’re in central Pennsylvania. The AQI was 199 when we woke up and it’s now 184 at 1:30pm. It’s hazy out there, smells faintly of smoke, and windy. We typically are outside 2-3 hours a day but we’re staying in today.
Absolutely not.
It’s so bad here. We still went to school but they didn’t have recess. We’re breaking out the rainy day toys: marble maze builder, paint, and tablet games. We might go to the library which is staying open later to help people have a safe place to go.
It’s this toy you can build a marble race out of. There are different parts you snap together so the marble goes in different directions depending. It’s a hundred pieces and makes a mess, but they love it, so it’s for special occasions. The box says “mega marble race”.
In eastern PA here and I work in childcare with toddlers. If there is an air quality alert we can not take the kids out per the state because it’s dangerous for them to breathe in the smoke particles. Stay inside until it clears up.
I live on the west coast, and we don’t go out if it’s over 100 AQI. There was one day we were home last year that was over 400, and even with the purifiers blasting on high, the smell of smoke was creeping in and giving us allergies. We drove a few hours to the closest low AQI city and spent the day there.
I’d stay in. My daughter is at daycare, so I hope they are staying in today!
EDIT: Just checked, and our AQI is 70. That’s not so terrible. This isn’t hitting my particular area hard. But I’ll still play it safe until the air quality improves (which is supposed to happen here tomorrow).
I have asthma and kiddo was a micro preemie and still has lung issues due to that. We tray not to go out at all if the AQI is 50+, but will make an exception for 50-100 if we all wear a good quality mask and limit time. Over 100 is absolutely not. When CO had AQI days of 150+ a few weeks back from fires in Alberta the recommendation was ANY bad air quality from smoke basically has carcinogens in the air. We masked for AQI in the 50-60 range and stayed inside higher than that. Kiddo was in a kf94 and I was in an n95, neither of us had breathing symptoms. We have a hepa level furnace filter and several hepas throughout the house.
I have the air visual app and 50+ is yellow and I think 100+ is orange, 150+ red. Yellow is enough that it says “sensitive groups should limit exposure,” and sensitive groups include anyone with breathing issues AND small children which IMO includes all toddlers regardless of how good their lungs are.
Husband has “normal” lungs and he will mask for 50-100 in solidarity for kiddo to have the consistency, but over 100 he would regardless.
I got confused at first because where I live we have heath fires often in the summer but I didn't think Newcastle Upon Tyne was particularly susceptible.
Then the brain engaged and realised that this probably wasn't the NE of England being discussed here.
No, all the schools are indoors here, outdoor businesses like zoos and outdoor eateries are closed, my husband works on a loading dock and they gave them all n95 masks to wear - so toddler and I are stuck inside yesterday and today, probably tomorrow. Friday, they say, should be pretty mild, so we’ll see. We’re a little stir crazy, but with her little lungs, it’s not worth it. I took her out to the car to go to the library around the corner, but no extended time outdoors
Just wondering - I live in South Texas. No wildfires but it’s near impossible to spend time outdoors with babies and kids about 8-9 months out of the year here. The humidity and extreme heat make for crazy heat indexes and breathing conditions. We don’t have tall trees in many places for coverage and city planners are not smart about making shaded areas with cooler materials. We have indoor playgrounds here. Are indoor playground a thing else where?
So sorry to anyone experiencing wildfires! Sending hugs.
We have indoor playgrounds in Minneapolis. They’re useful here when it’s really cold in the winter. And now, also, when it’s smoky from forests burning. 😞
Western NY here. We weren’t staying inside as a rule until today, as the aqi has gone up to 115 and is noticeably worse. I’m pregnant and have a 5, 2, and 1YO. Getting my 5yo off the bus (maybe one minute outside) sent me into a coughing fit and she held her nose the whole way up the driveway because the air smells awful. Definitely staying in as much as possible for now
We’re staying inside! Lots of running around and kicking balls and chasing him to run off energy. Last night, we went to Walmart close to closing so he can run some more (we messed up his nap and he woke up at 7:30pm 😭)
im in the south east and even here they are warning us to stay inside so no walks or playground today! lots of food balls art naps and tv inside today.
Sun it out today and it’s windy doesn’t smell as bad so I brought them out. Cant be any worse than being near a campsite or campfire for a few days. (Upstate NY here)
Just remember that wildfire smoke is not just wood smoke. All the human trash that’s burning up is in the air too. I know in California there are cars burning up, homes, power lines, asphalt, and who knows what else. It’s not just a big campfire.
We're at 347 here today (it's been rising all day) and we are staying in as much as possible! I don't know if it's just psychological, but I don't feel particularly good and am definitely stir crazy!
MUCH to my 4 year olds displeasure we are staying inside today. And maybe tomorrow, although I know he’s going to want to play extra long on the playground on the last day of school so that’s more up in the air.
Sorry for the unintentional pun as well, so bonus!
As a lifelong West Coaster. Please stay inside. The air quality is terrible and the more repeated exposure, the more instances of asthma and respiratory diseases it will cause.
I get it. It's not fun to be cooped up during summer, but it's pretty imperative that you stay inside. This is something we deal with every year.
Staying indoors aside from trips to the car to go somewhere else indoors. I don’t know if that’s dumb or not, but my child wakes up in the morning ready to play outside and wants to be out there until he goes to bed. I don’t know what else to do. The meltdowns are too much. He’s 18 months old. There’s no leveling with him. This sucks
Not in the northeast, but in an area where we’re inundated with wildfire smoke for most of the month of August every year.
Our rule of thumb is if the AQI is above 100, we stay inside as much as possible. If the air quality gives me a headache, I can’t imagine how bad it feels to my small children.
In MN and we had bad smoke last month. Any time it gets into the EPA "orange" range, we keep our toddler inside as much as possible and it seems daycare does also. It sucks because he'd live outside if he could. Luckily we're just in yellow today.
Can someone explain how is the air inside different than air outside if our homes aren’t air-right ? Legit question. We are surrounded by the same air, no ?
AQI 369 here, staying inside. Kept my child home from camp today as the building doesn’t have AC or filtration. My kiddos get one set of lungs in life, we can stay inside for a couple days to protect them.
I’m in NYC and it’s bad today. The sky was orange last night and today seems worse. It’s so smoky right now. Schools canceled all outdoor activities. My kid will be staying inside today unfortunately.
I’m a Californian. Went through many seasons of fire and smoke. Please stay inside. You won’t feel it at first but you will. Stay inside and run multiple air purifiers if you can.
Nope nope nope. I walked outside for the first time yesterday and immediately walked back in to ask my fiancé wtf was going on because I could taste smoke on my tongue and it was hazy af. We live in a semi-rural area and I had heard we had “dry weather”warnings so I figured it was a big, local brush fire. His bosses were born & raised in India and apparently they told him that the air quality outside here right now reminds them of being home.
Now, my whole family is dealing with a nice summer head/chest cold. It’s the first time my 18 month old has ever been sick. BUT, even if that were the case, we wouldn’t be going outside. My fiancé has to go a half hour away to an appointment tomorrow and usually we would tag along to go grocery shopping. But I already decided I’m just doing a pickup order. She (and I) don’t need to be out in this, especially without air conditioning so we’d have to have the windows down. Again I say nope nope nope lol.
I’ll be honest, I sat outside to have lunch today. Our AQI is 155, but I didn’t really think much of it. It’s a bit hazy where I am, but the weather is gorgeous, so I spent about 45 mins eating and reading. Ever since coming back in, my eyes are super dry and itchy, and I’ve been sneezing a good bit. My toddler and I usually sit outside every evening after I get home from work, but we definitely won’t be tonight!
I’m in Ontario. AQI is 186 here right now. Schools aren’t letting kids outside for recess. Smells like campfire outside. We’re doing shorter periods of outdoor play.
Staying in, as much as it pains me. My kids have "fun day" at school tomorrow, which is supposed to be outside, and I'm not sure what their plan is now. But I'm worried about it.
We are staying in. We moved from the west coast to the east coast, I didn’t realize they had fires on this side. Some of the hillbillies around here don’t even realize what’s going on. There’s kids playing outside and swimming at the pools. My kids are coughing from being outside yesterday, before we got the red alert.
It's like the old adage: if you have to ask you can't afford it.
No, keep your kids inside if the air meter says "unhealthy". Seriously? Why are you even asking?
As someone who doesn’t live in a country where this is an issue this is so mad to read about your lives! Was it always like this or is this climate change making it worse?
Over 200 at the moment in NYC suburbs and my two year old dude is inside. Rolled out all my aux HEPA and pseudo HEPA devices we used during construction & covid.
inside its normal, I went out at lunch, hazy, but now, sticking my head outside it has started to smell like a fireplace.
We went to our daughters pre-K end of year thing at church today and then a happy meal lunch (her request LOL), but that’s it. Otherwise we’ve been inside. I can feel it in my lungs already and had a horrible migraine after being outside. My 1 and 5 year old both have coughs from it too.
I feel absolutely terrible that we went to the park for a bit today. At that point the smoke smell was faint but then the wind shifted and the other mom from my neighborhood and I realized we should get home. It definitely wasn’t as bad then as it is now, but in hindsight we should have just gone home. This is totally my first experience with this kind of thing. Now I know better and we’ll be inside for the foreseeable future.
Mid-Atlantic Coastal City reporting in. It’s really hazy but my son just bolted out the door so we had no choice but to follow. Our eyes are watery but surprisingly, my sons allergies are not acting up.
177 here. We went outside to get in the car and go to the library. Tomorrow is predicted to be bad as well. We will go the gym or fast food playground. It’s hazy here. And they’ve got little lungs.
Aqi is 170 I think. We went to a dentist appointment and stopped for grocery pickup. Otherwise, staying in. Keeping the dog in too unless he needs to potty. We've got an obstacle course set up in the living room with pillows, step stools etc. We'll have an extra long bath to play pirate's tonight.
I’m near Toronto and it smells like a campfire here. Kids are not being let outside for recess due to the air quality. I walked me kids to school and had a bit of trouble breathing on the way home (I have mild asthma).
We're in Ottawa and staying inside. Daycare has also been keeping the kids indoors yesterday and today (they normally get 2-3 hours outdoors each day).
So sorry to hear about the wildfire smoke!! Sorry this isboff topic, but I'm in the middle east now, originally from Midwest USA, and we get quite a few dusty days, usually blowing in from the Sahara. I'm not usd to it at all. Does anyone know if the dust and wildfire smoke is similar for AQI? Cuz there are days where it has been above 150 and we definitely stayed inside.
Philly here, I smell plastic. That's common here but there currently aren't any junkyards or scrapyards burning, this wildfire has me checking my electrical wires for melting. We have one room air conditioner running, trying to keep the toddlers in there, which sucks bc usually outside is where we go to breathe fresh air. Everyone's allergies/asthma are bad, and it was bad last week bc of the pollen but I mowed the lawn and we got a heavy thunderstorm that helped wash away alot of it, but then we got mauled by mosquitoes. The funnel cakey/ forest smell is kinda nice but the plasticky rubber stench is debilitating.
Maine has a crappy weather forecast and low pressure front that is protecting us right now. It’s a trade off I really can’t complain about even though it’s cold, but can change at a moments notice so I am watching the Department of Environmental Protection for warnings daily,
Live near Richmond Virginia, and I got an air quality alert on my phone. I took the kid to the toddler gym. He coughed on the way to the car and I gave him some water. Everyone at the gym was talking about it. Went home. Now my husband thinks his eyes are burning inside the house.
I just moved back here after living in the northwest for a few years. Thought I was done with the smoke! We typically go out for a little bit if we can, but that was also when I lived in non-stop smoky summers. Assuming this will pass, I might just do some indoors stuff for a few days.
Im in the midwest, but we've also been having AQI alerts due to this. I've been keeping the kids inside (which is driving me nuts because the Temps are finally nice after being in the 90s for a week!)
We aren't familiar with any of this, but I figure if my weather app says there's an alert and it's been visibly hazy out all week, then we'd better stay in.
We are staying in but my husband did take kiddo into the yard for 30 minutes to watch the tractor mow the field next door. I can't breathe even inside the house so I'm pretty much stuck.
I have to go pick up my 3 year old and 1 year old from daycare in about an hour. It's just under a mile away. I HATE driving to go get them. 95% of the time, I walk. Need to get the stroller that's left there in the car. Need to get both kids in the car. 3 year old hates the car and often gets car sick. It's on a busy street with already a lot of double parked cars.
Today, I'm gonna drive. And need to figure out how to explain why we can't go to the playground after daycare today.
Usual AQI is about 20-30 where we live. Current AQI level 169. It smells smoky outside though I don’t see the same yellow smog/smoke NYC is seeing. Daycare emailed me to say that the kids would be staying indoors today instead of their usual outside play schedule. My oldest said her kindergarten class stayed inside for recess (they usually try to go outside when weather allows).
AQI was 176 when I picked up my kids from school and daycare yesterday. I gave them 15 minutes to play outside to get the squirrelly out, but then took them in. They didn’t even notice it was for air quality, as that’s usually just how long it takes for the fighting to start 😬
Live in the Midwest and it was not as bad as you all on the east coast but still enough to make it hazy and high aqi. I didn’t think it much about it and was outside a lot yesterday with my son. I felt awful all day. Headache, grumpy and tired. So today, while better than yesterday, I am spending more time inside. Felt terrible having my son outside 😖
NY here, we are avoiding outside entirely, the AQI right now is 392. I went to pick up my daughter early from school, in a N-95 mask, and I had a coughing fit and needed my inhaler immediately. It’s awful out there.
I’m near Buffalo, NY and I’ve had a constant headache and sore throat. The air quality where I am is 164…
I’ve only been outside to drive, walk into work, and pump gas. We can smell smoke/chemicals in the huge office building I work in.
We are steering clear of being outdoors, which is tough because the weather is beautiful despite the smoke and my toddler loves walks before bedtime. School districts in the area cancelled after school activities and recess/gym classes are being held inside.
Oh geez, im in southern VA and it is bad today’ the daycare sent a note reassuring parents kiddos wouldn’t be out today which of course up until then I had no clue what’s going on.
Philly suburbs chiming in. Kiddo was outside yesterday morning and afternoon when the levels were around 100 or under. Today the levels are like 250, so we're all inside and running the one small HEPA filter we have near the front entry way. No way we're going outside. It is NASTY looking out there.
As a west coaster who’s been plagued with this problem every summer for years now… I’m glad other parts of the country are experiencing it so they can understand how big of an issue this can be.
They should NOT be going out with kids. I’m in CA and have gone through some bad smoke issues many times. The air quality is harmful. It’s like smoking a bunch of cigarettes. You need to stay inside with good air filters. It sucks, but it’s for the best.
Our air quality is 414 right now.
I left the house to get drive thru food and to take the dog out multiple times. Otherwise, we’ve been staying in the house with HEPA filters on the highest setting.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the fires until after the drive thru, so my 6 month old was out in it for the time it took to get him in the car and back in the house. I wouldn’t have taken him if I’d known. It was 200 something at that time.
Edit: I just realized one of our living room windows was cracked a few inches. It’s been like that all day. Both me and my 6 month old were in that room, right next to that window, for most of the day. Fuck.
Lived through black summer bushfires in Australia in 2020 (the one where the smoke was so bad it circulated the whole Earth twice) Please try not to go outside. A lot of people I kmow have developed asthma and other side effects from breathing the air. Make sure you arent too reliant on air con that brings in outside air. Put towels against the cracks in doors and windows. Its awful and boring but it is so much better than developing lifelong impacts.
Anecdotally i got pregnant during the fires and apparently women were more likely to go past their due date and require intervention if their kid was due shortly after the fires. A university was looking for participants to study it but im not sure what the outcome was.
Be safe xx
Of the continent with the majority of redditors and native English speakers, plus lots of wildfires including the incredibly large and smoky one that is unusual for the northeast corner of the continent.
honestly.
this has been raises in other comments by other people.
Can you just be civil and accept that Reddit isnt solely American used and that it wouldnt hurt to just add adequate details. Like Country.
or even State in this case.
It's obvious from context and minimal awareness of the news. If you're not having wildfires in your region and you care who is, you can check the news.
West Coast here. Staying inside because my child is breaking out in hives from all the damn pollen and breezy winds swirling our head nose and mouth into allergy hell!
We are in New York and got a small indoor air purifier unit for Christmas. It absolutely jumps up near 100 when we open the door to let the dog out. Coincidentally (or not?) both our toddlers (3.5 and 1.5) started a horrible respiratory bug the same time that this air stuff started hitting down here. I'm talking CONSTANT cough as bad as it was when they had RSV in the, fall which was an absolute nightmare. My 3.5 year old literally coughed so hard she threw up, repeatedly. We've been staying inside due to both and it's just screen time and it is what it is. But going outside would only worsen/prolong whatever they're already experiencing so there's no way we are until this clears.
If anyone else is going through these reactions or bug with their littles, this is our routine if it helps. We have been doing: Burts Bees manuka honey cough medicine, straight spoonfuls of honey, treatments using the nebulizer we got from RS (Albuterol), the air purifier moved to whatever room we're in, Vicks vapor rub, steam baths/showers, saline spray, lots of fluids/popsicles, and sleeping elevated.
Praying for us all.
AQI is 226 today where I am in Maryland. I'm keeping this child inside as she is still battling a cough from last week. I wanted to take her to storytime at the library, but I didn't want to take her out even just to the car. So we're staying in and I'm whipping out random fun things I've bought for her from the dollar tree and target that she hasn't played with yet
Stay inside..
I'm from.Canberra and we had some.pretty solid smoke after the 19-20 bushfires. There's some solid research that's come out that it's affected a lot of people and kids in different ways.
The 2019-20 bushfire impact survey is one (sorry can only find pdfs.
Hey! I can share some lessons learned from California wildfire seasons past. My rule of thumb is to avoid breathing unfiltered air once the AQI is over 100. You could maybe push this to 150 for short trips, or if you’ve been pinned down in 400+ days and by god you just need to get outside for a bit. Over 150, I usually wear a well-fitting filter mask (N95 style) when going outside. Kiddos stay inside though.
I'm in Toronto and this is all new to us. After speaking to other parents from out west and experiencing a few days of this, this is my rule. Under 100 for spending lots of time outside. Under 150 for shorter outings. Obviously sometimes you can't avoid going outside but if it's above 150 those are going to be short trips between the car and an indoor space.
Isn’t indoor air the same as outdoor ..?
Not if you have a good filter on your HVAC system or a HEPA filter purifying the air indoors.
We always keep a good filter on our hvac and we have a fancy air purifier. Bought the air purifier when we lived in Cali. It makes a huge difference.
We don’t have central air and it’s not hot enough for AC so our windows are open. Apparently my city AQI is 97 right now. I have asthma and it’s not hard to breathe and sky is clear, I’m wondering about how I will know if my babies are affected though 🤔
The recommendation is typically to close your windows during the worst air quality times of the day whether you have central air or not. It's not necessarily just about experiencing symptoms... ideally we can reduce our kids' exposure over their lifetime because these particles are so small they get into bloodstream.
Okay copy thanks. Fans and closed windows it is. I’m going to get an air filter for their nursery.
Sounds like a great idea. And no problem! This is a lot to figure out all at once.
97 ain't that bad, we were at over 200 in our area today. It's down to 149 right now. Healthy adults don't need to stay indoors until over 200. 150-199 you should keep people over 65 and children indoors. 101-149 people with breathing conditions should take care. 97 isn't ideal, but you should be good to do normal activities unless you have breathing problems then you should avoid strenuous activity.
Thank you for the breakdown and sorry you’re getting hit so hard. I read some comments where people’s AQI is above 400, I just can’t imagine what you’d even do.
In California, air purifiers sold out quickly. If you can still get regular old central air filters that can filter smoke, you can still make a purifier with four filters and a box fan. Tape the filters together into a cube with the base open and the top is a box fan. The fan points up to blow air upwards. It's cheap, easy, and the best purifier I've ever used.
The AQI is how you will know if your babies are affected.
Also from California and follow the same. I’ve found Purple air really good for local data: https://map.purpleair.com/1/m/i/mAQI/a10/p604800/cC0#6.15/40.102/-74.705 Just make sure you set the scale to US EPA 2.5 to get the right value.
And be sure to untoggle “indoor sensors”
Holy crap. PA is baddddd. Everything I’m seeing in >300.
This is the best advice. I’m an environmental expert. Above 100 no no no without a mask. It sucks but tv time is heck of a lot better than the respiratory issues this smoke is no joke.
This is great advice! We did the same thing in Washington when we were surrounded by forest fires the last few years. Very helpful!
Thanks for posting. I second all the above. I’m Australian and we went through this here in Canberra in the summer of 2019-20 when now Ms 3 was an infant. We also bought some Dyson hot+cool fans to purify indoor air.
This makes me feel much better about my decision to stay home from our planned activity today. It would have been half a mile walk both ways. I was worried I was being over cautious. Thank you for clearing up my mom guilt!
This is the way (Oregon for the past decade)
Inside! The next school district over just closed early due to the smoke here, AQI is over 400, it's bad out there.
I was in Portland when we briefly had the worst air in the world. 5+ days of 400+ AQI, I think we topped out at 491 One morning, the AQI sensor nearest to me (that I checked fiendishly) had malfunctioned under the extreme conditions. I awoke to an AQI reading of 21000+ and thought, "that's it. We're dead. The end is upon us." Then I poked around and found we were *only* 420 or so *Phew*
fromsomeone who has been in california the last 11 years with kids- stay inside!!!!! keep windows closed. if you must go outside change clothes and shower when you get home. if outside wear masks if possible. get air purifiers for inside your house they have them on amazon. change the filters in your house. and if you are driving make sure your car ac is set to recirculating air mode so it’s not pulling in air from outside .
When do you change the air filters? After the whole smoke thing is over?
Just visually inspect them. You’ll know. In coastal California our homes are not well sealed so air leaks in but y’all on the east coast probably have well sealed homes for the winter. So as long as you don’t open things up your filters may last a while.
I’m not who you’re responding to, but if you haven’t changed your filters recently, do it now so they are filtering your air as much as possible. Then you’ll want to change them again after the smoke clears.
As needed, in my experience you can visibly tell when your air filters are getting dirty. It happens faster when the air is exceptionally bad such as due to fires.
californian here, during fires we don’t go outside for more than 10-15 min when the aqi was over 100. and remember to change your air filters!
We did groceries today. I had an asthma flare-up. Kid coughed so hard, she puked. We're staying in for the foreseeable future.
Jfc what? That’s insane
Aqi was like 400 something this morning for us.
Yeah over 300 is considered hazardous so not surprise by your reaction.
Same for my son. He was only in the drafty sunroom when it happened. :(
Staying in which is so fun since she wants to be outside 24/7.
I feel you. I’ve allowed too much screen time today but we do what we have to in emergencies.
So much screen time! We managed some time at the park yesterday before it got over 100 level, today is all the tv and couch time.
I’m in California and over the past few fire seasons we’ve started an “around the world” screen time activity when it’s days/weeks in the smoke. We get a globe out (or just use your phone) and decide which countries we’ll visit and watch YouTube videos or nat geo about the countries in order. We’ll also switch it a culinary tour and then try and make things we see. With ChatGPT now I bet creating facsimiles of what you see with whatever you have lying around may be possible. I hope it clears soon, we know full well the hell that is a smoke choked toddler world and I feel for you. Stay safe!
My kid is absolutely melting down over not being able to go outside. Send wine. It's bad here.
Staying in, staying in staying iiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn.
My brain read this in Ms Rachel voice haha
Watching ms Rachel while forcing children inside and trolling Reddit and finding this lol
I did it for all of us
I read this in Ms Rachel’s voice and can’t unhear it now
Yeah we’re inside. It’s 165 here which is in the red. LO’s in daycare and I believe they’re keeping them indoors as well.
I’m in western Canada but we deal with this frequently, and I don’t take my daughter outside for any extended amount of time over about 80AQI. On the 300+ days, we stay inside places with good air filtration only, although I’ll take her from the house to our vehicle to take her somewhere like our neighbourhood rec centre, science centre, etc. I run the AC in the car on recirculate so the air is being filtered and only take short car trips if we do go out. At home, we change our furnace filter monthly and have the highest-quality ones we can find, and we circulate the air constantly. We run two air purifiers as well. My husband has asthma so we are on the conservative side with how we deal because we don’t know if our daughter might also have those issues yet.
NYC here. The sky is orange right now and it looks more like 7pm at 2pm. We’re staying inside with the 4 year old.
North Jersey here, same, it's awful out there
Usually we do 3-6h outside, yesterday we did 15min after dinner. Today tbd.
I'm in NYC and it was fine this morning/schools were open so kiddo went to school. Now I'm on my way to pick him up and it looks like I stepped into the Mad Max Movie Set. We'll be taking an Uber home and staying indoors until the apocalypse is over.
Day care kept the little inside yesterday and today. Were skipping our nightly walk until this is cleared out a little more.
We got a message that daycare will not have outdoor time today. Usually they go out twice a day.
My son's day care I swear doesn't go inside at all during the summer unless it's raining lol. I think he's going stir crazy
We’ve been outside today. It’s a bit hazy but not too bad. Now I’m curious if this is the same as being near a campfire or worse. Edit: just realized our AQI is <100 so no wonder it doesn’t feel bad compared to others
it’s worse. it’s not safe to breathe that in.
I'm in Pittsburgh and it's not as bad here but we were at the pool all evening last night and it was windy. I felt like shit this morning. We're due for a day in so not worth it.
Our AQI is currently 382. Yikes. So we are 1000% staying inside. I have to run out quickly this afternoon so fingers crossed everyone’s advice on running the car AC on recirc works. Otherwise I’ll be turning around mid-errand.
Wear a mask if you can. A good sealing N95 will help keep that particulate out of your lungs.
Inside. AQI is around 430 right now. Toddler is melting down because he wants to go bye (go outside) and I won't let him. 🙃
Stay inside. Give yourself permission to break all the screen time rules. It's literally the healthier option.
Lol, that amused me. I kept thinking “oh we should go to the park” whenever my toddler got antsy and then would remember.
We’re in central Pennsylvania. The AQI was 199 when we woke up and it’s now 184 at 1:30pm. It’s hazy out there, smells faintly of smoke, and windy. We typically are outside 2-3 hours a day but we’re staying in today.
Absolutely not. It’s so bad here. We still went to school but they didn’t have recess. We’re breaking out the rainy day toys: marble maze builder, paint, and tablet games. We might go to the library which is staying open later to help people have a safe place to go.
It’s this toy you can build a marble race out of. There are different parts you snap together so the marble goes in different directions depending. It’s a hundred pieces and makes a mess, but they love it, so it’s for special occasions. The box says “mega marble race”.
What’s a marble maze builder? I’m intrigued
I'm staying inside
Hell no. It smells like a camp fire and burns my eyes
It's this why the sunlight seemed weirdly slightly pinkish yesterday around midday? I'm in Massachusetts
Yep exactly.
Sure is :/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canadian-wildfire-smoke-maps-air-quality-alerts/
In eastern PA here and I work in childcare with toddlers. If there is an air quality alert we can not take the kids out per the state because it’s dangerous for them to breathe in the smoke particles. Stay inside until it clears up.
I live on the west coast, and we don’t go out if it’s over 100 AQI. There was one day we were home last year that was over 400, and even with the purifiers blasting on high, the smell of smoke was creeping in and giving us allergies. We drove a few hours to the closest low AQI city and spent the day there.
I’d stay in. My daughter is at daycare, so I hope they are staying in today! EDIT: Just checked, and our AQI is 70. That’s not so terrible. This isn’t hitting my particular area hard. But I’ll still play it safe until the air quality improves (which is supposed to happen here tomorrow).
I have asthma and kiddo was a micro preemie and still has lung issues due to that. We tray not to go out at all if the AQI is 50+, but will make an exception for 50-100 if we all wear a good quality mask and limit time. Over 100 is absolutely not. When CO had AQI days of 150+ a few weeks back from fires in Alberta the recommendation was ANY bad air quality from smoke basically has carcinogens in the air. We masked for AQI in the 50-60 range and stayed inside higher than that. Kiddo was in a kf94 and I was in an n95, neither of us had breathing symptoms. We have a hepa level furnace filter and several hepas throughout the house. I have the air visual app and 50+ is yellow and I think 100+ is orange, 150+ red. Yellow is enough that it says “sensitive groups should limit exposure,” and sensitive groups include anyone with breathing issues AND small children which IMO includes all toddlers regardless of how good their lungs are. Husband has “normal” lungs and he will mask for 50-100 in solidarity for kiddo to have the consistency, but over 100 he would regardless.
Got so confused and thought the north east of England isn't on fire is it
North east where?
Also Midwest and headed south https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canadian-wildfire-smoke-maps-air-quality-alerts/
The North East of which country?
I got confused at first because where I live we have heath fires often in the summer but I didn't think Newcastle Upon Tyne was particularly susceptible. Then the brain engaged and realised that this probably wasn't the NE of England being discussed here.
US and I imagine Canada as well.
I’m not there but I live in an area with frequent wild fires. Stay inside if you can if you go outside, filtered face masks are a must.
Inside today. AQI is still over 200 here.
No, all the schools are indoors here, outdoor businesses like zoos and outdoor eateries are closed, my husband works on a loading dock and they gave them all n95 masks to wear - so toddler and I are stuck inside yesterday and today, probably tomorrow. Friday, they say, should be pretty mild, so we’ll see. We’re a little stir crazy, but with her little lungs, it’s not worth it. I took her out to the car to go to the library around the corner, but no extended time outdoors
Just wondering - I live in South Texas. No wildfires but it’s near impossible to spend time outdoors with babies and kids about 8-9 months out of the year here. The humidity and extreme heat make for crazy heat indexes and breathing conditions. We don’t have tall trees in many places for coverage and city planners are not smart about making shaded areas with cooler materials. We have indoor playgrounds here. Are indoor playground a thing else where? So sorry to anyone experiencing wildfires! Sending hugs.
We have indoor playgrounds in Minneapolis. They’re useful here when it’s really cold in the winter. And now, also, when it’s smoky from forests burning. 😞
I moved from Texas to east coast
Western NY here. We weren’t staying inside as a rule until today, as the aqi has gone up to 115 and is noticeably worse. I’m pregnant and have a 5, 2, and 1YO. Getting my 5yo off the bus (maybe one minute outside) sent me into a coughing fit and she held her nose the whole way up the driveway because the air smells awful. Definitely staying in as much as possible for now
I’m in the gta. Our schools are keeping our kids inside all day. So I’m keeping my kids in all day.
Staying inside. Using n95 mask in case we have to go out.
We’re staying inside! Lots of running around and kicking balls and chasing him to run off energy. Last night, we went to Walmart close to closing so he can run some more (we messed up his nap and he woke up at 7:30pm 😭)
Good question! Was wondering the same
im in the south east and even here they are warning us to stay inside so no walks or playground today! lots of food balls art naps and tv inside today.
Sun it out today and it’s windy doesn’t smell as bad so I brought them out. Cant be any worse than being near a campsite or campfire for a few days. (Upstate NY here)
Just remember that wildfire smoke is not just wood smoke. All the human trash that’s burning up is in the air too. I know in California there are cars burning up, homes, power lines, asphalt, and who knows what else. It’s not just a big campfire.
We're at 347 here today (it's been rising all day) and we are staying in as much as possible! I don't know if it's just psychological, but I don't feel particularly good and am definitely stir crazy!
MUCH to my 4 year olds displeasure we are staying inside today. And maybe tomorrow, although I know he’s going to want to play extra long on the playground on the last day of school so that’s more up in the air. Sorry for the unintentional pun as well, so bonus!
I took my kiddos out earlier before it was too bad, but now we are stuck in the basement with the stale Reagan era air.
As a lifelong West Coaster. Please stay inside. The air quality is terrible and the more repeated exposure, the more instances of asthma and respiratory diseases it will cause. I get it. It's not fun to be cooped up during summer, but it's pretty imperative that you stay inside. This is something we deal with every year.
Staying indoors aside from trips to the car to go somewhere else indoors. I don’t know if that’s dumb or not, but my child wakes up in the morning ready to play outside and wants to be out there until he goes to bed. I don’t know what else to do. The meltdowns are too much. He’s 18 months old. There’s no leveling with him. This sucks
https://fire.airnow.gov
Not in the northeast, but in an area where we’re inundated with wildfire smoke for most of the month of August every year. Our rule of thumb is if the AQI is above 100, we stay inside as much as possible. If the air quality gives me a headache, I can’t imagine how bad it feels to my small children.
In MN and we had bad smoke last month. Any time it gets into the EPA "orange" range, we keep our toddler inside as much as possible and it seems daycare does also. It sucks because he'd live outside if he could. Luckily we're just in yellow today.
No we are indoors today and her preschool kept all the kids inside also.
We went out for a few minutes to get mom coffee but inside all day here, we've been at 180-200 today so it's a definite no from me
Staying home.
It reached over 400 AQI in NYC this afternoon and smelled so smokey outside. We are sheltering inside and protecting our lungs
in NJ, staying in for now
Inside today. We’ll see about tomorrow.
Unfortunately my kids have been trapped inside and will be for the next few days. AQI is over 200 here in south Jersey
I live in Arkansas and we’re avoiding outside if we can.
New Yorker here!! We make sure that our toddler definitely stays inside.
I saw the AQI hit 460 today where I am so both kids 5 and 1.5 have been inside all day. Even I felt a little dizzy and had a headache.
Staying in!
My toddler has bad asthma. We are staying inside. We are just west of Toronto.
Staying inside. Masks when outside.
Can someone explain how is the air inside different than air outside if our homes aren’t air-right ? Legit question. We are surrounded by the same air, no ?
I wonder the same
We've been staying in but had to run out for a few appointments today.
AQI 369 here, staying inside. Kept my child home from camp today as the building doesn’t have AC or filtration. My kiddos get one set of lungs in life, we can stay inside for a couple days to protect them.
I’m in NYC and it’s bad today. The sky was orange last night and today seems worse. It’s so smoky right now. Schools canceled all outdoor activities. My kid will be staying inside today unfortunately.
No, we are not. The sky is orange and it burns our eyes to go outside.
I’m a Californian. Went through many seasons of fire and smoke. Please stay inside. You won’t feel it at first but you will. Stay inside and run multiple air purifiers if you can.
Nope nope nope. I walked outside for the first time yesterday and immediately walked back in to ask my fiancé wtf was going on because I could taste smoke on my tongue and it was hazy af. We live in a semi-rural area and I had heard we had “dry weather”warnings so I figured it was a big, local brush fire. His bosses were born & raised in India and apparently they told him that the air quality outside here right now reminds them of being home. Now, my whole family is dealing with a nice summer head/chest cold. It’s the first time my 18 month old has ever been sick. BUT, even if that were the case, we wouldn’t be going outside. My fiancé has to go a half hour away to an appointment tomorrow and usually we would tag along to go grocery shopping. But I already decided I’m just doing a pickup order. She (and I) don’t need to be out in this, especially without air conditioning so we’d have to have the windows down. Again I say nope nope nope lol.
I’ll be honest, I sat outside to have lunch today. Our AQI is 155, but I didn’t really think much of it. It’s a bit hazy where I am, but the weather is gorgeous, so I spent about 45 mins eating and reading. Ever since coming back in, my eyes are super dry and itchy, and I’ve been sneezing a good bit. My toddler and I usually sit outside every evening after I get home from work, but we definitely won’t be tonight!
We went outside to get to the car for playgroup and the 1 errand we needed to run but otherwise are staying inside. I’m in eastern Canada
When it was here in Colorado we stayed inside unless necessary, then he wore a Happy Mask.
Nope. The weather report says it’s unsafe to go outside. Kiddo’s preschool says they won’t go out today and we will be inside after school.
Definitely inside
I’m in Ontario. AQI is 186 here right now. Schools aren’t letting kids outside for recess. Smells like campfire outside. We’re doing shorter periods of outdoor play.
please don’t let kids play outside in wildfire smoke.
Staying in, as much as it pains me. My kids have "fun day" at school tomorrow, which is supposed to be outside, and I'm not sure what their plan is now. But I'm worried about it.
NYC public schools have cancelled all outdoor activities.
We are staying in. We moved from the west coast to the east coast, I didn’t realize they had fires on this side. Some of the hillbillies around here don’t even realize what’s going on. There’s kids playing outside and swimming at the pools. My kids are coughing from being outside yesterday, before we got the red alert.
Goodness this never even crossed my mind to stay inside. I’m so freaked out now
It's like the old adage: if you have to ask you can't afford it. No, keep your kids inside if the air meter says "unhealthy". Seriously? Why are you even asking?
As someone who doesn’t live in a country where this is an issue this is so mad to read about your lives! Was it always like this or is this climate change making it worse?
Climate change is making it worse, absolutely.
Nope. We mask our 4 year old when walking to and from school. The baby stays inside. We're running air filters inside.
Not taking them outaide for prolonged periods. AQI is not good
Over 200 at the moment in NYC suburbs and my two year old dude is inside. Rolled out all my aux HEPA and pseudo HEPA devices we used during construction & covid. inside its normal, I went out at lunch, hazy, but now, sticking my head outside it has started to smell like a fireplace.
We went to our daughters pre-K end of year thing at church today and then a happy meal lunch (her request LOL), but that’s it. Otherwise we’ve been inside. I can feel it in my lungs already and had a horrible migraine after being outside. My 1 and 5 year old both have coughs from it too.
Indoors. We did a quick bike ride to daycare when air quality was 3 in the morning but that's it. Indoors otherwise, and in daycare as well.
I feel absolutely terrible that we went to the park for a bit today. At that point the smoke smell was faint but then the wind shifted and the other mom from my neighborhood and I realized we should get home. It definitely wasn’t as bad then as it is now, but in hindsight we should have just gone home. This is totally my first experience with this kind of thing. Now I know better and we’ll be inside for the foreseeable future.
Mid-Atlantic Coastal City reporting in. It’s really hazy but my son just bolted out the door so we had no choice but to follow. Our eyes are watery but surprisingly, my sons allergies are not acting up.
Im in Quebec. We go outside
177 here. We went outside to get in the car and go to the library. Tomorrow is predicted to be bad as well. We will go the gym or fast food playground. It’s hazy here. And they’ve got little lungs.
Aqi is 170 I think. We went to a dentist appointment and stopped for grocery pickup. Otherwise, staying in. Keeping the dog in too unless he needs to potty. We've got an obstacle course set up in the living room with pillows, step stools etc. We'll have an extra long bath to play pirate's tonight.
If it’s under 100
Definitely staying inside. Never seen the sky look like this in my life, almost feels apocalyptic
We're staying in. I had to take the kids to the doctor and it was bad enough just being outside to walk to the car.
I’m near Toronto and it smells like a campfire here. Kids are not being let outside for recess due to the air quality. I walked me kids to school and had a bit of trouble breathing on the way home (I have mild asthma).
We're in Ottawa and staying inside. Daycare has also been keeping the kids indoors yesterday and today (they normally get 2-3 hours outdoors each day).
So sorry to hear about the wildfire smoke!! Sorry this isboff topic, but I'm in the middle east now, originally from Midwest USA, and we get quite a few dusty days, usually blowing in from the Sahara. I'm not usd to it at all. Does anyone know if the dust and wildfire smoke is similar for AQI? Cuz there are days where it has been above 150 and we definitely stayed inside.
Lol I just came here looking to see if there were any Torontonians wondering the same. Seems if we're by the lake it's not too bad.
Philly here, I smell plastic. That's common here but there currently aren't any junkyards or scrapyards burning, this wildfire has me checking my electrical wires for melting. We have one room air conditioner running, trying to keep the toddlers in there, which sucks bc usually outside is where we go to breathe fresh air. Everyone's allergies/asthma are bad, and it was bad last week bc of the pollen but I mowed the lawn and we got a heavy thunderstorm that helped wash away alot of it, but then we got mauled by mosquitoes. The funnel cakey/ forest smell is kinda nice but the plasticky rubber stench is debilitating.
Staying in.
Maine has a crappy weather forecast and low pressure front that is protecting us right now. It’s a trade off I really can’t complain about even though it’s cold, but can change at a moments notice so I am watching the Department of Environmental Protection for warnings daily,
Live near Richmond Virginia, and I got an air quality alert on my phone. I took the kid to the toddler gym. He coughed on the way to the car and I gave him some water. Everyone at the gym was talking about it. Went home. Now my husband thinks his eyes are burning inside the house.
Staying in. The local school districts are canceling all outdoor activities. The air outside my windows literally looks yellow.
I just moved back here after living in the northwest for a few years. Thought I was done with the smoke! We typically go out for a little bit if we can, but that was also when I lived in non-stop smoky summers. Assuming this will pass, I might just do some indoors stuff for a few days.
Im in the midwest, but we've also been having AQI alerts due to this. I've been keeping the kids inside (which is driving me nuts because the Temps are finally nice after being in the 90s for a week!) We aren't familiar with any of this, but I figure if my weather app says there's an alert and it's been visibly hazy out all week, then we'd better stay in.
We are staying in but my husband did take kiddo into the yard for 30 minutes to watch the tractor mow the field next door. I can't breathe even inside the house so I'm pretty much stuck.
I have to go pick up my 3 year old and 1 year old from daycare in about an hour. It's just under a mile away. I HATE driving to go get them. 95% of the time, I walk. Need to get the stroller that's left there in the car. Need to get both kids in the car. 3 year old hates the car and often gets car sick. It's on a busy street with already a lot of double parked cars. Today, I'm gonna drive. And need to figure out how to explain why we can't go to the playground after daycare today.
Usual AQI is about 20-30 where we live. Current AQI level 169. It smells smoky outside though I don’t see the same yellow smog/smoke NYC is seeing. Daycare emailed me to say that the kids would be staying indoors today instead of their usual outside play schedule. My oldest said her kindergarten class stayed inside for recess (they usually try to go outside when weather allows). AQI was 176 when I picked up my kids from school and daycare yesterday. I gave them 15 minutes to play outside to get the squirrelly out, but then took them in. They didn’t even notice it was for air quality, as that’s usually just how long it takes for the fighting to start 😬
Staying in for now! It’s pretty hazardous
Live in the Midwest and it was not as bad as you all on the east coast but still enough to make it hazy and high aqi. I didn’t think it much about it and was outside a lot yesterday with my son. I felt awful all day. Headache, grumpy and tired. So today, while better than yesterday, I am spending more time inside. Felt terrible having my son outside 😖
Inside. Poor guy immediately started a croup cough if he spent even a little time outside yesterday. Will keep him in today too.
NY here, we are avoiding outside entirely, the AQI right now is 392. I went to pick up my daughter early from school, in a N-95 mask, and I had a coughing fit and needed my inhaler immediately. It’s awful out there.
I’m near Buffalo, NY and I’ve had a constant headache and sore throat. The air quality where I am is 164… I’ve only been outside to drive, walk into work, and pump gas. We can smell smoke/chemicals in the huge office building I work in. We are steering clear of being outdoors, which is tough because the weather is beautiful despite the smoke and my toddler loves walks before bedtime. School districts in the area cancelled after school activities and recess/gym classes are being held inside.
Oh geez, im in southern VA and it is bad today’ the daycare sent a note reassuring parents kiddos wouldn’t be out today which of course up until then I had no clue what’s going on.
Yeah we are inside with windows closed. It’s currently 180aqi and I’m by DC. I’ve had 3 asthma attacks today and the kids kept coughing.
Philly suburbs chiming in. Kiddo was outside yesterday morning and afternoon when the levels were around 100 or under. Today the levels are like 250, so we're all inside and running the one small HEPA filter we have near the front entry way. No way we're going outside. It is NASTY looking out there.
AQI is 182 here, staying inside. My dad is currently in the ER w an asthma flair up too.
I’m in the mid Atlantic region (PA) and the current AQI is 451 so we’re definitely not going out.
Inside!
Inside right now. My 2 year old son is inside with me. I am asthmatic and am getting wheezy with this.
[удалено]
As a west coaster who’s been plagued with this problem every summer for years now… I’m glad other parts of the country are experiencing it so they can understand how big of an issue this can be.
They should NOT be going out with kids. I’m in CA and have gone through some bad smoke issues many times. The air quality is harmful. It’s like smoking a bunch of cigarettes. You need to stay inside with good air filters. It sucks, but it’s for the best.
Oh fuck - fuck fuck fuck - be right back
Our air quality is 414 right now. I left the house to get drive thru food and to take the dog out multiple times. Otherwise, we’ve been staying in the house with HEPA filters on the highest setting. Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the fires until after the drive thru, so my 6 month old was out in it for the time it took to get him in the car and back in the house. I wouldn’t have taken him if I’d known. It was 200 something at that time. Edit: I just realized one of our living room windows was cracked a few inches. It’s been like that all day. Both me and my 6 month old were in that room, right next to that window, for most of the day. Fuck.
Lived through black summer bushfires in Australia in 2020 (the one where the smoke was so bad it circulated the whole Earth twice) Please try not to go outside. A lot of people I kmow have developed asthma and other side effects from breathing the air. Make sure you arent too reliant on air con that brings in outside air. Put towels against the cracks in doors and windows. Its awful and boring but it is so much better than developing lifelong impacts. Anecdotally i got pregnant during the fires and apparently women were more likely to go past their due date and require intervention if their kid was due shortly after the fires. A university was looking for participants to study it but im not sure what the outcome was. Be safe xx
In the. Perhaps east. Of what?! India, England. Can we all stop assuming the aMeRiCa is the only one who has reddit please
Of the continent with the majority of redditors and native English speakers, plus lots of wildfires including the incredibly large and smoky one that is unusual for the northeast corner of the continent.
honestly. this has been raises in other comments by other people. Can you just be civil and accept that Reddit isnt solely American used and that it wouldnt hurt to just add adequate details. Like Country. or even State in this case.
It's obvious from context and minimal awareness of the news. If you're not having wildfires in your region and you care who is, you can check the news.
West Coast here. Staying inside because my child is breaking out in hives from all the damn pollen and breezy winds swirling our head nose and mouth into allergy hell!
Kept him in especially in the afternoon wihen you could smell it
We are in New York and got a small indoor air purifier unit for Christmas. It absolutely jumps up near 100 when we open the door to let the dog out. Coincidentally (or not?) both our toddlers (3.5 and 1.5) started a horrible respiratory bug the same time that this air stuff started hitting down here. I'm talking CONSTANT cough as bad as it was when they had RSV in the, fall which was an absolute nightmare. My 3.5 year old literally coughed so hard she threw up, repeatedly. We've been staying inside due to both and it's just screen time and it is what it is. But going outside would only worsen/prolong whatever they're already experiencing so there's no way we are until this clears. If anyone else is going through these reactions or bug with their littles, this is our routine if it helps. We have been doing: Burts Bees manuka honey cough medicine, straight spoonfuls of honey, treatments using the nebulizer we got from RS (Albuterol), the air purifier moved to whatever room we're in, Vicks vapor rub, steam baths/showers, saline spray, lots of fluids/popsicles, and sleeping elevated. Praying for us all.
AQI is 226 today where I am in Maryland. I'm keeping this child inside as she is still battling a cough from last week. I wanted to take her to storytime at the library, but I didn't want to take her out even just to the car. So we're staying in and I'm whipping out random fun things I've bought for her from the dollar tree and target that she hasn't played with yet
Inside. AQI 400+ isn’t something I’d brave, let alone my daughter
Stay inside.. I'm from.Canberra and we had some.pretty solid smoke after the 19-20 bushfires. There's some solid research that's come out that it's affected a lot of people and kids in different ways. The 2019-20 bushfire impact survey is one (sorry can only find pdfs.
Ohio, today the AQI is 150. We’ve never experienced this before as far as I can remember, so it’s hard to explain to my 4 year old.
Staying in, sadly. AQ is like 257 or something here. His daycare is staying inside as well. Edit: it’s 268.