Croup in a four yr old 6 weeks ago , think he is getting it again .

[travellingwilbury]

He has never had it before , was quite poorly with it (not hospital but enough to have to go to emergency gp on a sunday)

Is it one of those things that once you get it you are going to keep getting it ?

He is off today with a cough and general feeling of yuckiness but I am worried it is going to turn into croup again .

I always thought it was a baby thing but I am obviously wrong .

Any tips for how to deal with it please ?

[bumpsoon]

All mine have had it and my brother and i had it as kids , mine were 2-3 usually when they had it and it did seem to occur 2 or 3 times before it went away altogether . I never bothered with the Dr ,because although it sounded scary ,they werent unwell ,just sat in the bathroom with the windows and door shut and the shower on hot and steamed them .I believe nowadays it is reccommended that you seek medical advice though ,so perhaps a call to your GP asking if they have any advice or tips ?

[travellingwilbury]

Thanks bump , we did the whole steam thing last time which did seem to help , so if it does seem to be turning to croup we will do that again .

I am glad to hear it went away after a couple of times . Will keep fingers crossed that my ds is the same .

[Showaddywaddy]

My 3 and a half year old has just had a bout of it. I was v shocked as it's not something she's suffered from before apart from one instance as a little baby. She sounded bloody awful and it has taken a good fortnight for it to disappear. It's definitely going round here.

You might find that if the steam route doesn't work, he might respond better to cold air. Wrap up v warm and open a window wide or go outside. They realised that children often seem much better as they arrived at gp/a&e with croup and it was the cold night air that had done it.

Our gp said that it's not unusual for it to hang around for a couple of months, to seem like it's gone but just be lying dormant. He said it's a bugger for hanging around.

[travellingwilbury]

Thanks Show , it is a horrible bloody noise isn't it ? he seems fine at the minute . Will probably wait until tonight when all is quiet in the house to display the full on barking effect .

Thats good to hear about the cold air not being a complete no no . Just don't want it to get to the stage it was last time .

So hopefully it is not going to be an ongoing for ever type thing then ? Fingers and toes crossed .

[Showaddywaddy]

My MIL was saying just yesterday that BIL had a couple of bouts of croup when he was around 4 and then never again. It's probably the time of year coupled with being around other children with it and just a dose of luck.

We took dd to see a couple of primary schools a few days before she got it and a boy there had a croupy cough. DD was very interested in his 'seal noises' and offered him a tissue. DH and I both remarked that it was fortunate dd had only ever had it once as a baby (poor boy sounded really unwell). Sod's law says that of course she came down with it a few days later.

[mummytime]

I would see the GP. But then most of the local kids here had Whooping cough a few years ago, and it was just diagnosed as a persistent cough for ages. (They were (mainly) all vaccinated btw.)

[travellingwilbury]

That is a scary thought mt , as I say he seems fine at the minute , bit of a temp but not much coughing at all today .But I will be taking him to drs if it escalates .

Show , I am sure it is the school thing as well , just started in Sept so gone from mixing with about 14 children in pre school to 90 grubby oiks in reception .

Also had his first ever sickness bug a couple of weeks ago as well .

Just living the dream in this house atm .

[SparkleRainbow]

My ds used to get it regularly until he was 5. We actually asked and were given oral steriods by the hospital, to keep at home, to give to him if he started with the whole retraction thing when breathing. We only had to give them once, on the way to hospital one time, but most of all it was just a relief to know we had something to hand that would work.

My ds also had and was sucessfully treated for whooping cough last year, he has had all of his vaccinations. According to my gp whooping cough is the most underdiagnosed condition in children, by gps. It is just ignored as a possibility because of the vaccination, which is clearly not definitive!