Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month is a good moment to revisit your child's plan
May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, and pediatricians are seeing the usual late-spring uptick in wheezing, coughing, and nighttime flare-ups.
About 1 in 12 U.S.
children has asthma, and roughly 80% of those kids have allergies that set off symptoms.
A quick check-in with your pediatrician to refresh your child's Asthma Action Plan can make the rest of pollen season much smoother.
Frequent coughing at night, wheezing, or shortness of breath during play often point to asthma rather than a cold. When in doubt, call your pediatrician.
An Asthma Action Plan tells you exactly what to do on green, yellow, and red days. Spring is a great time to review it with your pediatrician.
Closing windows on high-count days, washing bedding weekly in hot water, and a quick rinse-off before bed can cut nighttime triggers.
Kids of any age using a metered-dose inhaler should pair it with a spacer (and a mask for little ones). It delivers more medicine to the lungs and less to the mouth.
Most states allow children to carry and use their inhalers at school. Share an updated Asthma Action Plan with the school nurse each spring.
Use Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month as a built-in nudge: run a registry query for asthma patients without a visit in the last 6 months or with 2+ rescue-inhaler refills, and send a short outreach message inviting a spring tune-up. Pair each visit with an updated, printed Asthma Action Plan the family can share with school — a small workflow change that meaningfully reduces ED visits.
Source: AAP asthma management in schools; NHLBI EPR-3
