The Croup

My son has it right now and it is awful but it sounds worse than it is they tell me. my poor little guy was up every 20 mins all night. I got no sleep at all!! But 3 weeks is a very long time for a child to have croup it is ussually gone within a week!! Also some of those symptoms are not really related to croup so he may have more than one virus, keep going to the doctor and drive them crazy until the figure it out!!

The croup is awful. My kids haven't had it in years, but my daughter started with a cough today. Cold weather works best. I had an ER doctor tell me one time (and I quote)"if he seems like he's about to stop breathing, take him outside." That guy must have bumped his head, because if my son looked like he was about to stop breathing, I'd be right back at the hospital!! Really though, it sounds like you're doing the right things, about all that can be done. It'll pass soon.

Croup is very scary for parents. Who wants to see their child go thro that...especially the coughing spells. My son is two years old and has had it 4 times already. Everytime I took him straight up to the ER for a Doc to have a look at him. Everytime it has been diagnosed there is some sort of medicine (liquid cortizone)that was given to him orally. He was given ONE DOSE and sent home. Doc told me the first time that he would be like 70% better when he woke up in the morning. I wasn't convinced since his cough and breathing was so bad. Anyway, The medicine worked miracles. He woke up the next morning (everytime it has been given to him)and you honestly would not have known he was sick!!! They dont like to give this medicine very much as it is a steroid of some sort so they did check his files to make sure there was enough time in between doses. Here where we are as well, it is only offered at the local ER. I took him to the Clinic last time and was told that they did not have it and to take him up to the Hospital.

My sister always got the croup when we were growing up and my daughter got it as well when she was younger. There is very little that can be done about it, except what was suggested by your doctor. If he has trouble breathing, rush him to the ER and they will no doubt give him liquid steroids. I found that cold air seemed to work best with my daughter, you could also try taking him to the bathroom (close the door) and run the shower nice and hot so the room gets steamy. This works for some people however as I said, I found the cold water works best. Now, I have found a type of medicine that seems to work sometimes for the croup although you son right now is too young for it. However if he is getting croup at 10 months old he probably will get it when he is older as well. Most children outgrow it by the time they are twelve, (and my daughter thankfully has outgrown it). There is a cough syrup we can buy here in Canada called Bronchial Cough Syrup. It is made by Praxis. I have found this to work quite well with croup. It's a terrifying cough, and when they are so little it can really scare the crap out of you. The cough will sound almost like a seal, that's what we always compared it to, and will not necessarily always be accompanied by a runny nose. The thing with the croup is that it is usually worse at night because the natural steroids produced by your body basically go to sleep when the sun goes down and kick back in (wake up) when the sun comes up. For this reason you may notice he gets better during the day. Most times, the worst of it is over in about a week. I'm sorry to hear your son has croup and hope he is feeling better really soon. Hope I've been able to help you out a bit as I know how scary this can be.

I was also told that my son had the croup. He really didn't have any other symptoms but coughing and the rattling in the chest. It went away after a few days with the use of humidifier and some cough medicine. Then it happened again when the weather quickly changed. This went on for about 6 months and it got to the point where he was coughing so bad it would make him throw up, at that point i decided to bring him to another Dr. and they told me it was asthma along with pnemonia I don't want to scare you but definately have him checked out for asthma they don't always catch it at first. The Dr.s put him on asthma medicine and antibiotics for pneumonia. He is doing much better now. And hasn't been waking up with that awful cough.

I'm sorry your poor son is going through this. I know croup can be tricky. Has anyone advised you to take him into the bathroom and run the shower on full hot water just to get it steamy? If not try that. Let him breathe the steam for a while. It may help. I will say a prayer for him and for you from one Logan's mommy to another.

I know the feeling...My daughter is 14 now, but had a lot of problems like this till she was about 8 years old. What I learned was liquid Benadryl worked great to keep her nose running, so that the mucas did not go into her chest and cause chest congestion. And I gave tylenol for all the aches and pains that come with being sick.We would Pat her on the back , kinda like you do when burping them, to help break up the mucas. Did not give her milk , because milk makes mucas thicker. Lots of juice works best except for diarrea, in that case try pedialite, or water. They always seem to get worse at night , so keep that humidifier going! And as for the cough, I never found anything over the counter that really worked for that ,everything I tried for a cough made her worse. The doctor always gave somthing that worked great for that. So, add a whole bunch of TLC, and I am sure you already do! and as long as there is no fever, and little guy is eating , you will be fine. I hope this helps. I like the picture of him, he is a cutie !

did the doctors give im some lab tests?? or did he undergone some tests??about the stool or the spotum or whatever..before concluding on anything he must undergone some tests..try another doctor ok..not yet experienced that on my children..

Croup is terrifying to a parent. Both my girls have had it but my first daughter had it multiple times. I HATED it. It sounds like your doctors are definitely telling you the right things, though, logansmommy. I know you want to do more or something different to make it stop but the humidified or cold air really, really helps (my doctor used to prefer leaving the window open about half an inch in the winter to the humidifier, actually, but we did invest in a good-quality, cool mist one). If you are at a location that doesn't offer either, then steam up a bathroom as much as you can, using the shower... moist air, with breathing through the mouth, can help too - stay in their with your son for at least 10 minutes. Antibiotics aren't prescribed because most croup is caused by a virus -- not bacteria. I assume those doctors all ruled out any type of bacterial infection and that's why he didn't receive a prescription. Try, as much as possible, to have him take in a lot of fluids. I remember going to my sister's for a visit and my daughter laid down for a nap. When she woke up, she tried to breathe in and I could see immediately that she was really struggling. She, too, couldn't speak. It was late November (in Canada) and I immediately threw a blanket around her and my husband ran outside with her. There he was, walking up and down in front of the house at about 11:30 at night with her. Her breathing restored to almost normal within a few minutes. We stopped by the ER on our way home and they checked her and, yep, croup again. I know I can't tell you not to worry... it's our right as moms to worry ;) But the good news is that they do outgrow it. It's most severe in children under the age of 3 but I was told that, by 5, they usually stop getting it altogether.

Has your doctor done a nebulizer treatment? My son had that and when we took him to urgent care they gave him a neb treatment to break up the crap in his chest and it helped alot. But the humidifier is good as well. To help him breath I would get some nose spray with Xyitol (XClear is the brand my pediatrician recommended. It is a nasal wash and will help him breath a little bit better with a stuffy nose or a runny nose.

that sounds just like what my son had except for the diarreaha. From what we were told is that croup is a virus, so your son's immune system needs to fight it off. For our son we use a natural rememdy to help boost his immune system. Its called sambucal. He was over the croup in just over a week. We also gave he a decongestive. This is not to stop a cough but allows the flem to loosen up so when your son coughs it will be expelled. This helps push the virus out of the body. I pray that your son gets better soon.

I would be very concerned about the diarrhea. This could lead to dehydration. I can tell you that I used to build tents for my child with the humidifier. I took a sheet and placed it over the dinning room table and put the humidifier under it. Then we would take the toys and together we would sit under the table and play. I also used to put a pillow under the mattress that would make a slight incline to help with the breathing at night. Please make sure your child has been tested for RSV I know they didn't do that for my daughter and she stopped breathing which still didn't prompt them to test it until I got really mad and she did have it. You are the mom your gut will tell you what is best for your child.

Hiya Logansmommy, MY son would always get Croup when he was little and one time it was so bad he has to have a steroid tablet to open up the tiny valves. HE also had coldlike symptons. Maybe the diahorreah is being caused by the medicines he is having. The cough almost sounds like a dog barking and is normally worse at night. I recomend going into bathroom and running hot taps till the bathroom is really steamy then take him in there as this aids breathing, Remeber that there is hot water about though and keep him close. Try this for a few days and it should help. Like the GP said though if he really is having problems breathing take him staight to ER. Hope this helps