Tips for croup

[tny915]

DD's had a fever for a day and a half and last night started a croupy cough. She's never had croup before but I'm assuming, that's what it is because I've never heard her cough like that before.

I have a humidifier running and she's drinking plenty of liquids and getting lots of rest. She has a raspy voice but can still breathe fine, just breathing a bit more shallow sometimes. The cough is just occasional, not constant so I wasn't very concerned until I happened to search the boards and found that folks are bringing their DC's to the ER for croup. What am I looking for to prompt a doctor visit? Anything else that I can be doing to help her?

She's very lethargic and barely getting out of bed. I can tell she's getting stir crazy but when she tries to sit up or walk around she immediately tells us she wants to lie down more. No other symptoms then this stubborn fever and the cough.

[egoldber]

Amy had croup over Thanksgiving. We were away from home and I REALLY didn't want to take her to the ER. I found this very helpful her helping me gauge her need for ER services:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t084200.asp

I did call my on call ped and she said to take her in, but I ignored that advice. She just didn't feel that sick to me and I didn't want to deal with an ER in a different city. I also called a friend who is a PICU nurse and she gave me good advice too, which was basically if they are breathing fine with no retractions during that day and at rest, then they don't need to go in. If they are having retractions/struggling to breathe while at rest, then they need to go in.

The lethargy would worry me a bit, but if she is breathing fine I wouldn't worry about it too much. Amy did end up sleeping on my chest for 3 nights because that was the only way I could keep her elevated.

[LBW]

Cold air actually helps more than warm, moist air if they are coughing a lot. We bundle the boys up and take them outside. This usually improves the croupy cough really quickly.

[JoyNChrist]

Avery has croup right now.

We haven't been to the doctor yet. He started with the coughing Tuesday morning (very occasionally...maybe once an hour). Tuesday night I noticed that he was coughing frequently while he slept, so I hooked up the humidifier. He has continued to be happy and smiling and playing like normal. He ran a low-grade (100.7) fever yesterday, but that's it. It doesn't seem to be getting worse, and he's not having trouble breathing. Very occasionally he'll wheeze a bit, but it's only if he's been playing really hard (his new favorite thing is to crawl around and have me chase him), and his breathing goes back to normal as soon as he calms down.

I noticed last night that he didn't cough nearly as much (maybe 5 times all night). He's sleeping fine, eating fine, playing fine, and breathing fine...I figure he can't possibly be too sick. If it doesn't pass by Tuesday, I'll bring him in to see the ped, since it will have been a week at that point. But I'm really not too worried.

The Dr. Sears link is great. A humidifier is invaluable, and he did seem better after we walked around the neighborhood yesterday evening looking at Christmas lights, so the cold air probably helped.

Good luck - it's scary when they're sick!

[brittone2]

DS has had it every winter at age 1, 2 and then 3.

I agree, cold air always helped him the most. In the evenings we'd take him out for walks in the stroller (this time of year is nice if you can at least look at lights ) I've heard that w/ a bad attack, sometimes if you are in a hurry to get things calmed down, standing right in front of the freezer can help.

We would also open the windows at night and sleep with him on our chest. That seemed to help quite a bit.

We did the humidifier too, and occasionally a steamy bath in the evening, but I agree that cold was more helpful to him.

I'm not an MD but if their chest starts drawing inward or you hear stridor, that can be a sign that they need to go to the ER. DS would get that way but we were always able to alleviate it enough to stay out of the ER, and then get into the doc the next morning. Oral steroids helped him get through the night after that.

ETA: I hope you can get some relief for your kids soon. The first round of croup was the scariest for us, but since that time it has gotten a little easier to manage as he has gotten older and we feel more comfortable getting things calmed down for him.

[MelissaTC]

Another nod for cold air. My DS is going to be 5.5 and he has had it every winter since being an infant. My DH got it until he was 10 years old so I am hoping that Matthew outgrows it sooner.

I hope that your cutie (love the sunglasses ) feels better soon.

[tny915]

Amy did end up sleeping on my chest for 3 nights because that was the only way I could keep her elevated.

Thank you to everyone, you have all been very helpful. DD got a short break from the croup today and started to get her voice and energy back, and the fever subsided for a bit, but apparently all of that was temporary. We just now had our first coughing fit where she couldn't catch her breath, and I was running from open window to steamy bathroom to open freezer door based on all your recs. It all has helped DD's breathing for now. She's resting again, in front of an open window under 4+ blankets and a down jacket.

One more question. How important is it for DD to stay elevated when she sleeps? Both Beth (brittone) and Beth (egoldber) mentioned it. Today, she's been wanting to sleep flat on the bed or couch without a pillow. I can't comfortably put her on my chest to sleep and DH is working tonight so won't be able to help.

[egoldber]

Well Amy is a lot smaller than your DD, but I never said it was comfortable. I basically didn't sleep that weekend. But keeping her elevated definitely helped her to sleep because she was also very congested, but everything I read said it was very important with croup not to give any meds that may dry them out.