Small baby, barking cough

[JanewaysBun]

Just posting here as I can sometimes be too relaxed about things so wanted a second opinion.

DD is nearly 4 .months

She s had a cold for a couple of days, today I think she has had croup as she has had a barking cough and laboured breathing.

She's sleeping in my arms now. It doesn't seem mega bad, am I ok to just ride it out?

Oh poor both of you ... laboured breathing I'd be taking her to hospital just to check her out . Croup is horrible and I know a few babies (midlands) who've had bronchiolitis(sp?).

Get a GPS appointment ASAP and if not I'd call 111 just to be safe. DD is 2 and gets croup often, starts out exactly as you describe and every time we end up in A&E. I'd be wary with a baby that small having laboured breathing.

Laboured breathing is worth getting checked out.

How laboured is laboured? If the skin is sucking under her ribs either front or back then she you need to ring 111. It's called a strider.

I'd also get them checked out if breathing is fast/seems like an effort. One of mine gets croup relatively often and has never needed a dr for it, but they have for other respiratory illnesses which various treatments have resolved.

Thanks all,
The laboured breathing isn't too bad, more like when you get a chesty cough, definitely not sucking in or what I would class as "bad" it's not all the time either just when she s coughing which makes sense I suppose.

She s feeding now so I might call 111 if I can put her down, she had a dummy in before which helped ingress because ibhavr a like a throat lozenge?

I'd honestly call 111 just to be on the safe side, they'll get a doctor or nurse to call you back I'm sure. It'll put you at ease

Just called 111 and a doctor will call me back but they seem to think it's ok just to let her sleep, she seems better now so hopefully she will sleep well

Hi there OP. Sorry to hear about your little one.

I too think you should call 111 or get her seen ASAP. You can't be too careful with these things when it comes to such small babies. My daughter was diagnosed with whooping cough at 7 months and her symptoms seemed very much like a normal cold. And less than a week later she was hospitalised. I'm not saying it's whooping cough. Just it's best to get anything like this checked out ASAP when it comes to breathing problems.

I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully your little one feels better soon x

Sounds like croup to me. Please be aware it can get worse very quickly.

If she makes a seal type noise when she breathes in then that’s called stridor and it can be treated with steroids. It means there’s a swelling/obstruction in the airways.

I’d get her checked in the morning to be on the safe side.

My DS has croup at the moment and has needed 3 doses of steroids to get it under control.

I hope she feels better soon

Spoke to 111 doctor late last night he said as long as she wasn't really fighting for breath she is ok. No coughing in the night so hopefully she s on the road to recovery. Thanks for your advice all! Xx

If she coughs in the night again then wrap her up and take her outside, the cold air will help her out :) My DS got croup (mildly) every time he caught a head cold for the first maybe four years of his life. I got very practiced at this.. Poor wee thing, glad she's doing better!