Croup

[Sirzy]

If a child has croup once are they likely to get repeat attacks in the future?

Also, any tips whats best to do when the attack first starts to ease it?

DS has just come out of hospital after a serious attack so I want to have more idea what to do if it happens again!

aww bless him.

some children do seem to be prone to it yes, ds2 is but thankfully not bad enough for hospitalisation.
I know 2 or 3 other children who get it every now and then too

when it first starts the best thing you can do is put him in a steamy room. we go and sit in the bathroom with the shower and taps running hot which helps ease it a bit

Ds1 had several serious attacks between the ages of 9 months and 6 the only thing that ever really helped was hospital treatment :( although they did get less and less severe.
Ds1 has got brittle asthma so that didn't help matters.
Going out into cold air seemed to work better than steam for him.
Hope ds feels better soon x what treetment did he have in hospital?

Thank you both. Ds has asthma to.

In the ambulance they gave him a nebuliser as his says where down to 84 then when he got to the hospital they gave him dexmethasone (I think that's the right name) which worked after a few hours. He was kept in for observation but let home yesterday although they increased his inhalers for a bit as it has left him quite wheezy.

DS had one attack and required treatment at hospital. Luckily he responded well so after being given some steroids we were able to go home quite quickly.

Didn't find that a steamy room helped him at all and when I looked at web sites afterwards several suggested that there wasn't any evidence to suggest that steam actually helps.

DS1 suffered from croup from c 1 year to c 5 yrs old. Awful isn't it?

Our GP advised us to do the steam treatment, but if it didn't work fairly quickly - 10 minutes max, or sooner if the child is really struggling to breathe - to dial 999, then take a blanket and sit on the front doorstep waiting for them. He said that a) it helps to get the child thoroughly awake, which seems to help them to cope and b) the change in air temp often seemed to help, so you may not need the ambulance then, but not to worry about that. The ambulance service will never mind turning out for a child with breathing difficulties.

We always found that he had a croup attack the night before he started breaking a cold, so no way of predicting when one would come, and that they always started at the point of deepest sleep c 2am.

HTH

Ds had croup once when he was about 15 months. I sat in a steamy room for about an hour, then held him upright to sleep for the rest of the night. In the morning he was much better and he's never had it again.

Both my ds had croup several times when they were between 2 and 4 - fortunately neither hospitalised. I found sitting them up in bathroom with shower running on hot and door shut did help, but by far the best thing was one of those Vicks cold water steamers that I used to put on before they went to bed and leave on all night. Also did use nebuliser with younger ds when it started too. Would def get hold of a steamer if you can. You have my absolute sympathy; it is terrifying. X

Just got back for doctors. My ds age 3 diagnosed croup after horrible night. Had this before and went to hospital but no action taken. I was told it comes in 3 day cycles, the first and second nights the worst. Was advised no evidence steam works but better that than doing nothing. We have steroid at 3mg which if given at the right time kicks in when the bodies natural anti-inflammatory reduces between 11pm-4am. Need to dose 4-6 hours before 11pm if you get me drift. Hope it works. Will let you know.

My DS has been hospitalised for croup. The told me on the ward that they no longer advise using a steamy room but that actually cold air works better, as it can reduce the inflammation quite quickly, so take them outside. I would agree with other posters that you shouldn't hesitate to call an ambulance if your LO has breathing difficulties.

Poor you. DD2 (2.4yo) just had her fourth bout of croup on holiday in Italy. Had to take her to A&E where the doctors didn't speak much English, but we got through it with the usual steroids. We find that steam doesn't work so we're always off to A&E as soon as she starts barking. Normally she gets it in November... unusual to happen in the middle of summer, there must be a nasty virus going round. Good luck to you!