To ask for tips for croup

[Hmum0fthree]

My little boy has croup, he is only 2 and a half, he has seen the doctor who has told us to ring an ambulance if he gets worse

I know it gets worse at night but iv never had to deal with it before! Has anyone got any tips? I'm petrified tbh!

Not sure if it's still the thing but ime steam is a huge help. Sit him in the bathroom with the shower running, or make a "steam tent" with sheets and a humidifier.

Hope he's okay, the cough is horrible!

My eldest still starts every cold with a night of croup, she’s nearly 6 and the noise of it panics her which makes it worse. We take her outside in the cold air for a cuddle which is the only thing that’s worked for her.

Wet towels on warm radiators help keep the room moist. I used to put a bit of vicks on the towel too.

The mayo clinic also has some good advice www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/croup/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350354

Sitting next to an open window or door snugly wrapped up works great. It's not that you want them to be cold, but that the cold fresh air is the best thing. I once spent most of a night with DS on my lap in an armchair by the window. I didn't really sleep but it was quite lovely to hold him like that again.

I second the fresh air.

when you can, ask the GP to prescribe you a bottle of the stuff called dex-something (sorry can’t remember the full name). Then next time the croup starts you can give him a spoonful and it nips it in the bud. Hope he feels better soon!

This always works for my son as well and the nurse advised this once when we were in A&E it

Taking a child wrapped up into the cold air

More of a reassurance than a frighten I promise... but my toddler ended up in hospital with croup. They gave him steroids, and monitored him for 2 days and he was absolutely fine. Hopefully you'll avoid hospital but if you don't it will be fine and the steroids kick in quickly!x

Also I don't want to go above anyone else's advice but when I did call 999 due to breathing issues, the paramedic said my stream bath I gave my son before the call made matters worse!

@ivfbabymomma1 I’d second this actually, DS gets croup all the time and the paediatrician at a&e (regardless of who we get) always says don’t do the steam thing.

Sit upright and fresh air usually (although we always end up with steroids)

Yes you’re right, the NHS page on croup says not to put your child in a steamy room or make your child inhale steam.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/croup/

Mine have been given a steroid tablet crushed with a spoon, one off dose. Cleared it up very quickly. Out of hours GP years ago.

Absolutely cold air with little one wrapped up and being held upright. I once spent a very dark, frosty early Christmas morning walking laps around the garden.
If they're suffering badly please do go back to GP or A&E they can give steroids which make the symptoms pretty much disappear within about 6 hours.
Croup is awful and the nights are so much worse. I hope your DS is feeling better soon.

Latest advice is to always give oral dexamethasone early on, even in mild cases. It shortens the length of illness and reduces the chance of you needing more treatment later in the disease course. Perhaps your doctor was not aware of this change. If you go to out of hours or Paeds A&E they should sort this for you this evening. Sorry your little one isn’t well.

My little boy needed steroids from OOHs the few times he had croup

My little one gets croup quite regularly and has always ended up with steroids even if it's a mild case x

Yes,I agree with most pp, cold air works really well. I've spent quite a few nights looking at the stars in the garden with a wrapped up toddler while breathing the cool air. It really helped my dd. I wish I'd known to do this with my older ds, who ended up in hospital at 8 months with croup. Keep an eye on your child's chest, if they are struggling to take breaths then get them to a&e.

Definitely outside in the cold, carry them around the garden BUT if they are gasping or their stomachs start to go under their ribs even slightly or they can't stop coughing, call an ambulance.

The only thing to fix it once it gets past a certain point is steroids asap. We were given steroids and oxygen in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

Our son was taken to hospital by ambulance twice, at 2 and 3 years old, once on holiday in America. Two other times, the gp prescribed steroids but he luckily got bad during gp opening times. If in doubt, call 999.

Don't hesitate to get him checked out again if he worsens. Cold fresh air helps a lot. It's a horrible sound and can be very frightening. Hope he has a speedy recovery

One of mine used to get it and always asked to go outside so I'd carry him round the garden in a blanket in the dark. It was such a relief for him. Had it a few times.

Ds still gets croup at 11. It started when he was 3 months old. So lots of A&E visits in the early years.

Since he was about your sons age we have had liquid dexamethasone at home. If you recognise the sound of a croup cough it can be given immediately when you hear it.

Sit with him, relaxed and calm, we always hear an improvement within 15 minutes, and he's generally able to go back to sleep with one of us within an hour. We never left him to sleep alone after an episode.

It took a battle to get this prescription on repeat, we use it a maximum of 2-3 times a year now, usually only once.

The nice guidelines, last time I read them stated that the first step is to keep yourself and your child calm.

This to me means calmly giving a liquid medicine while watching a cartoon on the iPad and having a cuddle. Not crushing tablets and trying to dissolve them, or ringing an ambulance.

The prescription had to be agreed be an A&E paediatric consultant, and we were given very strict guidelines as to when we should still go to the hospital-this has never been needed.

Def agree will cold fresh air.

My then 1 year old had a few bouts of croup, doctor called the ambulance a few times, by the time he was at hospital he was far better. Cold night air on the journey did most of the hard work, some steroids and he was right as rain.

My 4 year old still gets croup. Had it last night, in fact.

Cold air is completely magic - the latest info is that the steam/hot air doesn't help. Cold air has been so magic that it completely masked my son's croup the first time he had it and I took him to the gp. Had a second sleepless night, then back in the next day.

My wonderful gp gave me a few doses of prednisolone - steroids. They are amazing. They work almost immediately, and are shown to shorten length of illness.

Google 'Stridor'. If your child is struggling breathing, ribs suck in when he breathes, sounds wheezy, go and get medical help. The steroids are quick to give and so so effective.

Hope that helps.

@lunar1 Damn, I'd read they usually grow out of it by around 4! You sound like an absolute whizz at dealing with it.