Update - good vibes for dd - croup

[maestramommy]

Update
Well, last night went pretty well. Dora would've slept through had I not kept going in to check on her. We had the monitor on, and if I couldn't hear her breathing after a coughing spell I'd go in. Once I tried sliding her back onto the pillow. Big mistake; boy she was pissed (oops!). Today, her coughing is more of the slightly phlegmy hack, after which I hear a tiny bit of whistling, but otherwise her breathing is fine, and she is her normal self. I'm crossing my fingers for tonight and tomorrow though, because I know it usually peaks then. BTW, would I be contagious as well? I'm supposed to go to a Creative Memories demo tonight at someone's house, but she has a little one and I don't want to infect the family. Dora and I are staying home except for occasional walks when it's cold.
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Dora came down with croup this afternoon, literally out of the blue. It woke her up from her nap and she wasn't able to go down again. For the rest of the day she was actually fine, and only barked a few times. Her voice is normal, she has no temp, and no other cold symptoms. When we put her down tonight, we had a pillow to prop her up, but apparently it just doesn't work for her, she just keeps sliding off. I heard her bark intermittently, then that rattly breathing and went to check on her. She was sleeping, just noisily, so what do I do? I try to move her onto the pillow, which woke her up. Boy she was not happy, and it made her sound worse. She seems to have gone back to sleep now, but the sound of her breathing just kills me. Should I assume that as long as she's sleeping "peacefully" she's okay, and I should just leave her alone? She will suddenly have that bark/cough, then nothing, or something that sounds like she's clearing her throat, then she's fine. We have all the monitors on. According to the Sears website, it'll peak on night 2-3. We're only on night 1 and I'm not sure what to do. We know about the steamy shower and all if she really wakes and has trouble breathing, but for noisy breathing while asleep should I just leave her be?

Her entire life she's never had anything worse than a stuffy runny nose, so this is pretty freaky.

BTW, I have already read the most recent thread by jgriffen about croup.

[writermama]

Sending healing vibes your way.

DD had this a few summers ago. I remember it as sleepless nights for me. I slept on the floor in DD's room. I printed out the Dr. Sears info -- it was handy to refer to at 3 am when we headed for the shower.

We went to the ped on day 2 and got the prescription and it got better very fast after that.

Hope Dora rests well tonight and is feeling better soon.

[writermama]

forgot: if she slides off a pillow, can you prop under the mattress? a rolled towel works pretty well.

[maestramommy]

What was the prescription for? My ped. told me it was viral, so she couldn't give me anything for it.

[maestramommy]

Thanks, I never thought to try that, duh!

[buddyleebaby]

No advice, but sending lots of healing vibes for Dora and (hugs) for you. I hope she's better very, very soon.

[tarabenet]

Quicker than the shower, you might try opening the freezer door and holding her in front for a minute. That is what the pedi suggested for Aubrey. Just the change in the air changes the airway somehow?

[shilo]

no experience with croup, but wishing your DD a speedy recovery. hugs to you mama.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[brittone2]

Thinking of you and Dora. Logan had croup right around a year of age and it was scary for us.

He did really well going outside in the cool night air. We took walks in the evening, including one night where it was sort of misty. It worked wonders. It was near the holidays so we walked around our neighborhood looking at lights. He could breathe sooo much better outside. If you get desperate you can bundle her and head outside if the freezer or steamy bathroom aren't doing the trick. The cool air really helps.

We did the vaporizer thingie too.

By the 2nd night he was really struggling (not to scare you). His chest was starting to retract when he'd breathe. We probably should have headed to the ER but if he slept upright propped on my chest, he was better.

You know I'm pretty much a "let it run its course" kind of mom, but we did do a short course of steroids (oral prednisone) after that scary 2nd night. During the day he had very few symptoms. Yes it is usually viral but I know oral prednisone is pretty commonly used to alleviate the inflammation if their breathing becomes really labored or difficult.

The good news is that the oral pred worked well and he was over it in about 3 days total.

Hopefully it won't be too bad for her. Definitely do steamy showers (we did a few a day), walks in the cool night air if needed, and the freezer trick. Keep the room humidified if you can.

THinking of you all.

[mudder17]

Sending many healing vibes your way! Hugs and prayers!

Eileen

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[fortato]

Melinda,

I hope Dora gets better soon! I agree with PP about the freezer trick.

Big hugs and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Kristen

[Saccade]

Get better soon, Dora!

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[Marisa6826]

Melinda-

Is Dora in a crib? If so, you can take a couple books and put them under the legs of the crib at one end so that she's on an incline. If she's in your bed, put a couple pillows between the mattress and boxspring to raise the mattress a bit.

The freezer trick definitely works.

Sophie's had it, and it is just a horrible sound. :(

Hope she's better soon

hugs

-m

[denna]

Sending ((healing)) your way Dora! And ((HUGS)) Melinda. I really hope Dora feels better soon, I cant imagine how scary this must be w/ her only having a stuffy nose before.

Take care,

[o_mom]

Keep a close eye on her. Use a humidifier in her room at night. Steam from the shower or cold air (outside or freezer) can help break an attack. If it doesn't get better after 15-20 min of that, though, consider calling your ped, even after hours. If you see any signs of respiratory distress (skin pulls in between ribs or at neck, nostrils flaring) or she is having noisy breathing while at rest not during an attack you should call the ped immediately or go to the ER.

Our ped always wants to see them for croup to make sure they are not in trouble. For bad cases, they can give you steriods (oral, inhaled or injected).

ETA: We have BTDT with croup with several trips to the ER. It can be scary, but most kids are fine. Not trying to freak you out, just want to make sure you know what to look for.

[newnana]

You've gotten some great advice here, so sending healing vibes your way!
Michelle

[SnuggleBuggles]

Because ds had the stridor we went in night one and they did the steroid shot. He still had the cough the next 2 nights but no stridor (which is a scary sound!).

The humidifier helped a bunch.

I hope she feels better!

Beth

[nfowife]

My DD has had it twice and it has been the most sick she has ever been (like Dora, never had more than a cold prior to that!). Both times it led to (her first) ear infections! Anyhow, both times our ped. immediately prescribed the oral steroid- a 5 day course- even though IMO her case was pretty mild. No stridor/trouble breathing but she couldn't sleep at night due to the coughing. By the 2nd day of the meds she was much better and the barking was gone (still coughed a small amount, but it was just a normal cough by then). Since she did not have any trouble with breathing, the ped also ok'd me to give her a decongestant to help her sleep. I tried raising the crib but she sleeps all over so there is no way to keep her head on the "raised" side, you know?

[mommyoftwo]

I'm so sorry Dora is sick Melinda. I know croup can be very scary and I'll be praying she gets better soon. My sister ended up in the hospital for a week when I was little and I know it was stressful for my parents but she did just fine. [[[[[BIG HUGS]]]]]

[mommy_someday]

DS has had croup twice. The first time ended in a visit to the ER because his breathing was so noisy. I read all kinds of stuff here and elsewhere trying to figure out what exactly "stridor" was. I kept finding slightly different definitions. I tried to ask the ER nurse, but they of course have to tell you to come in due to liability issues (duh!). His breathing just sounded wheezy to me and it wasn't with every breath (just most of them). We took him in and it *was* stridor. He had to have steroids by mouth and a nebulizer treatment. We had to stay overnight for observation because the stridor came back after the treatment.

The second episode wasn't quite as bad. We were able to do the shower trick, the freezer trick (really helpful), taking DS outside into the cool humid night air, etc. I tried to prop up DS's mattress/crib but he kept rolling so that he was lying across the bottom of the incline so that his head and feet were level with each other.

Croup is really scary sounding and IMO/IME it's hard to judge what exactly you're hearing unless you've heard it before. If you're in doubt, take her in. Lots of hugs and healing vibes coming your way. I hope Dora gets better soon!

[pinkmomagain]

Hope Dora is feeling better today. My dd had this last month. We had to go to the ER because of stridor. They gave her a ricemic (sp?) epi treatment (nebulizer) in office (this is something that cannot be done at home) and oral steroids. They wanted to admit her but I refused. Came home and was religious with the humidifier plus did everything in my power not to let her cry (which made things worse). I was told that if I didn't let her be admitted into the hospital, then I must see my ped first thing am. I did and they again gave her another treatment and oral steroids...again they wanted to admit her, but I refused. She was then on the road to recovery. I also refused to continue the oral steroid for the next few days, because it made her absolutely NUTS! But I had her constantly in humidified air. Now when she even gets the slightest sign of a cold, on goes the humidifier.

Also, know that even when they start to feel better, the stridor may be heard for days after. My ped said that it takes a while for little ones to fully recover.

Gina

[o_mom]

The way the ped told me to differentiate stridor from wheeze is that wheeze is noisy when they exhale and stridor is noisy when they inhale.

[pb&j]

No advice to offer, but sending healthy vibes your way.


-Ry,
mom to Max the one year old
and my girl in heaven

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