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[ivfbabymomma1]

I was just wondering if anyone was about to reassure me please? I'm currently in hospital with my 22 month old son who has been admitted today with severe croup. We've just been told it's an overnight stay due to the wheezing even though he's fast asleep which is fine but it's made it all the more terrifying 😔😔

Oh I can handhold if you want. Have they put an oxygen sats meter on him so you can see the level of oxygen in his blood? He’s being monitored and he’s in the right place. Nhs is brilliant for kids.
Best thing you can do is talk to a nurse to understand what they are monitoring - what you should worry about and what you shouldn’t (eg machines beep sometimes but nothing to worry about) then if he’s asleep and stable go find a parents kitchen and get a cup of tea. Then try and sleep a bit. He’ll be ok. Croup is scary but rarely serious.

The poor little thing, croup always sounds so awful so you’re bound to be worried. Sleep is exactly what he needs, as I’m sure you know.
As PP said croup is rarely serious, and I’m sure they’ll look after him really well. My 2 have been in 3 different Children’s departments and they’ve all been brilliant on the whole.
I hope you manage to get some rest yourself.

Thank you so much both! The doctor came in around midnight and sent us home in the end. The steroids seems to have worked but they said I might need to go in today for another one. It's so scary it definitely sounds horrendous doesn't it!! Obviously much worse than it actually is 😔

Croup sounds awful and be so scary. But it does sound worse than it is. Cold air works really well so tonight open his bedroom window and pile on the blankets/duvet on his bed. You do sometimes need a second steroid dose but you know what to do/that it works now so it won’t be as scary. Hope you manage to catch up on rest today.

@Mumbot345635 thank you I will do that! He's going in for a second steroid dose now or at least my DH has taken him up there to see if he needs one. He sounded better this morning but got a bit worse as the morning went on! He had a settling in session twice last week at nursery so I'm guessing that's where it came from 😔 thank you for your messages!

Oh croup is horrible- the cough always sounds so alarming. One of my DDs used to get it when she was little. I used to wrap her up warm and take her outside as the cold air seems to help. Another tip is to go in the bathroom and run a hot shower ( tun off the extractor fan) as the steam also really helps. Hope your Little one feels better soon.

@KnottyKnitting thank you!! He's had his second steroid now so they are going to monitor him for the next hour! It sounds so scary, I'd never heard of it but then when the paramedic walked into his bedroom, it took her 0.2 seconds to say "ahh croup" lol

It’s such a distinctive cough - it sounds like a seal bark!!

Hope he's doing better. You'll know it another time, it's so distinctive. Some children do seem to be prone to it, but ds only had it the once, but the cough is so obvious I was upstairs after the first cough. (dbro ohad it once so I knew it)

I'm sure you'll be told this, but hot steamy room can relieve the symptoms. With ds I put the shower and both hot taps on fell blast in the bathroom, and carried him straight in there and you could hear the difference in his breathing quickly. (ds wasn't bad, so don't waste time doing that if you need paramedics, but it's a quick relief in early stages)

@MargaretThursday thank you for your message. He did have to go back to hospital today for another steroid but hopefully that's it now and he's gone to bed and sounds a lot better. I didn't have a cough as such it was more constant wheezing. With the occasional cough but yes it's very distinctive!!

Glad he's better. Hope all's well and you get a good night's sleep!