Croup - anyone have advice?

[chlobo]

So DD woke up last night with a cough that sounded like a classic croup cough. She didn't have a fever but had a raspy voice & said her throat hurt. After we calmed her down we tried to get her to sleep but she wasn't tired so was up for a while. Luckily the air here is very moist right now so we were able to open the windows to help with her breathing.

This morning she woke up bright & cheery at the usual time (we, of course, are like zombies). She said her throat felt better & she has only coughed once or twice.

Anyhow, the Dr. Sears book said its likely to reoccur for a couple of night & then possibly develop into a junky cough. Soooo, I was wondering how long is she contagious? Will it be as long as she has the junky cough or is she more or less over being contagious? Since she is acting fine I don't want to confine her unnecessarily but on the other hand I don't want her to infect her peers.

[newmomto3kids]

From what I have been told, croup is not a virus in and of itself, it is the body's reaction to a virus. So, your little one is contagious as long as she has cold symptoms, just like in any other illness. If you wouldn't normally keep her away from others if she is coughing like she is now, there would be no additional reason to now.
Does that make any sense?
I guess what I am saying is, you can't catch croup, only the underlying virus, sort of like an ear infection or bronchitis, I think.
HTH and Good luck to your little one!!

[dules]

I don't know about contagion but when DD had croup last summer she was miserable and literally slept ON me for 3 days straight, daytimes too (we were on vacation and DH and I watched a whole season of 24 like that, lol).

If she starts feeling yucky again, steaming in the bathroom is good, and lots of fluids like with any cold to try and break it up.

I hope she feels better soon. It's so sad when little ones get sick. :(

Best,
Mary

ETA if it gets really bad there is a steroid that works really fast. We ended up getting it last year and I think it worked in one, maybe two, very small doses.

[brittone2]

DS had croup when he was just under a year old. It wasn't fun.

He was barely sick at all during the daytime but at night had the barky cough and was having a hard time breathing until I'd sit him upright, and then he was much better.

Ours happened in the wintertime, and he did well with walks outside in the cold air (made a huge difference). I would steam up the bathroom by running the shower on hot for a while (without him in there) and leaving the bathroom fan off. Then I'd give him a bath while the bathroom was still steamy, and sometimes we drained the water and did it all over again because it brought a lot of relief for him. A humidifier helped too a bit but you might not need that since it is summer weather (if it is humid).

I'm pretty sure it is an airway reaction to having a cold/upper respiratory infection, so it is contagious in terms of the cold.


DS had 2 rough nights, and then I took him to the ped because the night before had been pretty bad. They gave him oral steroids but that was far better than having to rush off to the ER in the middle of the night (and you know that I am not one that would enjoy giving my DC oral prednisone by any stretch). It worked great. I think he had one day toward the end w/ a runny nose, and more sick symptoms during the day. I believe for us it was about 3 nights and then it was significantly better. He did better after the oral prednisone, but some people also say by the time croup peaks and gets bad, it is on its way out, so that may have been the case too (as in, he may have improved without it, but it kept us from having to go to the ER as in the previous nights he was having a tough time).

DS awoke from a nap recently and coughed some barky coughs and wheezed a bit (very very unusual). I actually got him into the ped that evening so we could get an RX for oral prednisone to have on hand in case of emergency (rather than having to rush to the ER if he was having a tough time breathing). He actually didn't end up with croup as his cough changed, but the first few coughs were enough to make me think it was croup again.

I think www.askdrsears.com had some good info if I remember right.

I hope Isabella is feeling beter soon. While she has the junky cough I'd still assume she's contagious IMO.


Croup sucks.

[o_mom]

Croup is really just a symptom of the underlying virus. Some viruses are more likely to cause it than others, but really any cold virus can cause a croup cough. She is contagious the same as any regular cold (3-5 days?). If you aren't already, run a humidifier in her room tonight. It does get worse at night, but is usually gone by about the third night.

There are medications that can help, but the steroids take 6-8 hours to take effect, so they won't be much use in the middle of the night. If she is fine now, then it sounds mild, but you could call your ped to check if they want to see her.

[chlobo]

Thanks for all the advice.

What's really odd is that she seems almost totally fine. I say almost because she has coughed a couple of normal coughs. I understand that doesn't mean we're in the clear and she is likely to cough again tonight.

Luckily, she calmed down quite a bit with me nursing her. Then we opened some windows and let in the most cool air and she improved significantly. I must admit I was quite freaked out for a short period of time. And she sounded very hoarse, although not so much today.

[o_mom]

That is typical for croup. The runny nose and congestion don't start until the second or third day. It is like that first day when you know you are getting a cold and you have a sore throat, but nothing else yet.