Croup

[BarkAndWheeze]

My 3.5 year old DS has croup and my anxiety is through the roof! Every time I hear him cough, followed by the horrific wheezing noise, my heart starts pounding! I've barely slept in the past 48hrs as I can't stop checking on him. Looks like tonight will be another sleepless one too. Took him to see the GP today and all of his vitals are good but I'm terrified it gets worse and he starts struggling to breathe. I also have a 20 month old and I'm so worried he's going to catch it, he's already started sounding croaky.

Please talk me down!

Put him in bed with you, plenty of pillows.

My little one currently has this so I'm with you on the worry and sleepless nights! We had a GP appointment this evening and were prescribed some medication which is supposed to work quickly. Did you get any for your DS?

I wish he'd come into our bed but he won't, he likes his own bed so I'm up and down every 5 mins x

I hope it passes quickly for your wee one. The doctor said they can give Prednisolone to ease the inflammation but she didn't think he needed it at this stage as his blood oxygen levels and heart rate were good when she checked. I was just told to call 111 if his breathing deteriorated so I'm watching him like a hawk. Wish I did have the steroids, just in case. That'd put my mind at ease a bit knowing I had them to hand.

I hope the same for your little one. It sounds like your GP was thorough and knew her stuff. We saw an out of hours one who I think wanted to move us on quickly and get to his break! The night feels so long when you are worrying about their breathing. I hope you and little one manage to get some rest.

Thanks @Misstabithabean he woke 4 times during the night but only needed to get up once as he was very upset and distressed. Stood at the back door with him to get some cold air and then gave him ibuprofen. I got a bowl of boiled water and let him lie against me and breathe in the steam (NHS website says it's not advised anymore but the GP recommended it). He fell asleep on me for a couple of hours and then we moved him back to bed at around 1am. He woke again at 3am but settled quickly. He's now been up since just before 6am so he's exhausted (as are we). Doctor said first 2 nights are usually the worst, although he started showing symptoms on Monday night but think it's just reaching its peak now. Really hoping he's now over the worst and it bypasses his brother all together x

Yes, fingers crossed you are over the worst and your baby doesn't get it. Having been through it once already, you will know what to look for and be able to seek help immediately.
It's interesting that the doctor said 2 nights. Last night was our third with croup cough and we all slept a lot better (although that could have been the exhaustion!) Little one didn't seem to be struggling with breathing as much. We couldn't get the medication last night either so it wasn't due to that. I'm going to collect it and speak to our pharmacist this morning. Also hoping we are over the worst now. X

Hello, how's your little one getting on now? Did you get the medication? I ended up calling the Doctor yesterday and requesting the steroids as my son was definitely deteriorating. She prescribed Prednisolone which we collected from the late night pharmacy and gave him last night. What a difference it's made! He was still coughing through the night but no stridor and he didn't wake with it. He also seems far more like himself this morning and told me, 'look mama, I can swallow'. Bless him!

That's good news @BarkAndWheeze I'm glad you managed to get the medication and that it has helped him start to feel better. We found similar. Our little one fell asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours not long after taking it (dexamethasone). It's completely unheard of for him to do that so I wonder if that was a side effect of the medicine. His cough hasn't gone but he isn't 'barking' and his breathing has got a lot better. He's still very tired but seems to be heading in the right direction. How's your baby doing?

That's good to hear that the medication has done it's job! My had a mild, sporadic cough and was unsettled the night before last but he was fine last night and today so I think he's escaped it (don't want to speak to soon). Eldest is still coughing, tired and pale but he's eating, has more energy and says his throat feels better so I'm confident he's on the mend. Fingers crossed he (and your little one) doesn't get it again as that was very frightening.

my youngest