HELP!! what helps croup other than steam????

[mad4mybaby]

2.8 ds1 has croup which is making his asthma bad despite inhaler. Doc said just steam but cant spend all day and all night in the bathroom. we have a humidifier which isnt really helping. Please tell me if theres anything that can help??

[benfmsmum]

Not sure why but my mum always gave my db stewed apples when he was young with croup - as I say don't know why or how but it did help!!

[madwomanintheattic]

try the doorstep too. ten minutes wrapped in a duvet. change of scene. most kids whose parents get to the point of taking them to a & e find that by the time they get there, the breathing and barking has improved drastically.... we used to spend a lot of time on the doorstep with dd1 lol.

[lisad123]

fresh air

[duchesse]

ditto madwoman- the first time our 3 month old had it, it was midnight on a cold November night. I rushed her to A&E and by the time we got there, she was pretty much OK again. Just one bark showed the triage nurse what we'd been worrying about.

[mad4mybaby]

we had1.5 hours sleep last night and a 3 month old to deal with! so unfair on poor little things

[jumpingbeans]

I used to put a bowl/ bucket of water near a chair, and drape a wet bath towel over the back of the chair with one end in the water,it kept the air damp and seemed to help with sleeping.

[Seeline]

I used to put wet towels on all the radiators to keep the air damp. But the sitting in the bathroom with the bath full of steaming water and the shower running on hot used to be the best - take several stories in and just try and keep them calm.

[eidsvold]

I managed for my dd1 who used to get a lot of croup when we moved here from the UK - something called redipred which was a steroid that kept the airways open. She seemed to only respond to medication - steaming was no use nor was the chill of the night air.

usually dd1 would get a little croup cough morning and so she would have to have two doses of this and she was fine.

Could you not ask your Gp to prescribe some?

[mad4mybaby]

no she just said steam, we went there this am.just said be prepared for afew nights of no sleep joy

[Sushipaws]

My dd (2yo) gets croup quite often.

Getting my bathroom steamy is really hard so we used the cold air method. (I would tell dd we were blowing kisses to Nana via the moon). It seemed to calm her then calmed her breathing and the panic she often has when the croup gets really bad.

To prevent it getting too bad I would hang wet towels over the end of her cot. I would not put the heater on in her bedroom as it dried the air, I'd just leave her door open. I also put book under the end of her cot so her head was raised slightly.

I found that the karvol plug made her worse, so does medised, both dried her out. I used a tiny drop of adult olbis oil on a wet flannel and put it under her bed.

My mother claims that keeping a house well ventilated will help prevent croup. I always leave the vents in my window open now and dd hasn't had a croup fit for a few months now.

I know how exhasting it can be. If it gets too bad at night call nhs 24 and ask to see a doc straight away (you can do this in scotland, not sure about rest of UK). Then ask for the steroid drops. We've done this twice when it's been really bad for more than 3 nights in row and dd has had real trouble breathing.

[mad4mybaby]

why do they get blocked up nose? Im dreading tonight. Hes fine in himself now, just not eating/drinking alot

[seeker]

Iced drinks and ice lollies were our lifesaver they help reduce the swelling in all the little tubes and soothe the throat.

[summer111]

cold air - stand by an open bedroom window at night - helps enormously