Croup - please help - does it reoccur?

[ksabps]

Hi

Stressed and nervous parent here – would appreciate anyone whose child had croup to give their input please.

My son had a croup attack on Sat; early hours. He was struggling to breath and his chest was tucking in after every breath. We called 999 straight away and the paramedics confirmed it was croup. It all happened super fast.
Thankfully he had two doses of steroid at the hospital (he spat out the tablet steroid in the ambulance) and his condition had improved at a&e. They observed him and we were released early in the morning as the stridor went away.

Those who have experienced the same - my concerns are:

1. How likely is it that he will have another croup attack? I know no one can answer this accurately, but if your child had croup, did they have another attack and if so when? My son is 2 years old and I understand that it normally affects those between 1-3 and the nurse said it can affect those up to 6 as well.

2. If your child did have more than one episode, was the second attack less serious than the first?

3. Is there anything that you guys did/do to prevent another croup attack?

4. Is there anything that I could have done to prevent it (I feel so guilty) – his room is for some reason cold, but the lowest it goes is 18 degrees as the heating is on and off throughout the night. Could the cold air have caused it?

5. I’ve read that those who suffer from croup are more likely to develop asthma – not sure how accurate this is…?

I feel super helpless…thank you in advance.

HI,

Unfortunately a bit of an expert on croup with DTs.

1. How likely is it that he will have another croup attack? I know no one can answer this accurately, but if your child had croup, did they have another attack and if so when? My son is 2 years old and I understand that it normally affects those between 1-3 and the nurse said it can affect those up to 6 as well.

They had maybe 6-7 episodes a year until they were 8.

1. If your child did have more than one episode, was the second attack less serious than the first?

No

1. Is there anything that you guys did/do to prevent another croup attack?

No

1. Is there anything that I could have done to prevent it (I feel so guilty) – his room is for some reason cold, but the lowest it goes is 18 degrees as the heating is on and off throughout the night. Could the cold air have caused it?

No. Going out in the cold with the windows down helped mine.

1. I’ve read that those who suffer from croup are more likely to develop asthma – not sure how accurate this is…?

I don't know stats but mine do not have asthma.

I know it's horrible to watch them struggle. DTs were 31 weekers and I think that may have contributed to things. I battled with the GP to get Dexo on prescription but they were not having it so it was A&E. I remember some night taking one up, coming home and realising the other one needed to go. They were fun times.

I hope he's better now.

Many thanks for taking the time to respond. Really appreciate it.

He's doing well now. Still has a bit of a cough - but I think thats expected at this stage as it' was only on Sat since he had the croup attack.

My son had croup twice between the ages of about 18 months and 2 1/2. Took him to A&E, had steroids both times, fine again within a few hours. He's now 8 years old with no sign of asthma or anything like that. I know it's scary. No need to feel guilty though - it's just one of those things. Like PP, my DS was born 5 weeks premature which maybe contributed?

Soe children just seen prone to it. Dd1 got it several times a year, first bout when she was 18 months ish. Never bad enough for hospital but we got very close to taking her a couple of times. When she got to around 7 is was far less frequent and severe. The best thing we found when she was small was getting her to drink water and trying to calm her by picking her up, giving her a teddy, taking her to a different room. The more upset she got at the sound the worse the cough got so it was almost trying to distract her!

No asthma or any other issues. She has had it in winter, summer, both in warm and cold rooms. Her sister never had it once.

Yep, reoccurs and never quite as scary as the first time. After 3 times my doctor gave us an emergency dose of steroids to give her at home so we could then assess if she needed to be taken in or not. She's 4 now and still gets it 3 or 4 times a winter, they do say they'll grow out of it eventually!

Some are more prone to it. Also as they physically get bigger, so their windpipe does & that's why they can seem to grow out of it.
My son has had croup more times than I can count, he does have asthma as well. He is almost 12 & will still get croup once or twice a year, we have to attend a&e every time for it as it sets his asthma off & he needs the steroids to stop it. We did once get the gp to give us a script for it as he had a bout of croup every week & as it's always at stupid o clock they are bad it was a early hours trip.
Cold air, driving round with the windows down is good. It's important to keep them as calm as possible too, which is easier said than done when you're dealing with it. Sitting in a steamy room used to be advised but the consultants at work no longer advise that.

I'm sorry your son had croup, it's so scary for a parent to experience.

Unfortunately I'm a bit of an expert on croup as my DC1 has had it loads of times and DC 2 a few times 🤦🏻‍♀️

1. DC1 had croup around twice a year from ages 1-12ish (so till he hit puberty) but didn't require ambulance/ hospital every time. The Drs explained that as kids get older their voicebox & tubes get bigger so croup inflammation is less likely to cause problems and stridor/hospital treatment. Certainly my DC did seem to get it less seriously as they got older. Apart from one attack DC1 had age around 11 where he ended up in hospital! DC1 had ENT investigations to see if there was anything underlying as it's so rare to still be getting croup at that age but they didn't find anything. DC2 had croup about 6 times age 2-11 and only needed hospital treatment once.

2. no pattern - some minor and some worse.

3. no - but sitting them up with me behind them helped during an attack so we could focus on calm breathing through an attack together. Also Dex is marvellous if needed.

4. no - it's a virus and just goes around like colds and flu. It's not related to how hot or cold you are.

5. neither of my kids have asthma. They are both massive teens now, super healthy and super sporty! No ill effects at all from croup!

I hope your DC is feeling better and you have a better night tonight.

I'm just obviously worried that it may happen again, but I think I know to remain calm and also to look out for the oxygen levels as well. Thank you to everyone who has responded (and to those who will after this message). Really appreciate your time.

My ds had it between 2.and 5. The GP gave us rescue steroids to keep at home so we could dose him up without needing a&e. One gp said they couldn't do this as they couldn't possibly prescribe if he wasn't actually ill at the time of the appointment, but I asked for a second opinion from the senior partner and he said it was a very sensible suggestion and happily prescribed.

He is asthmatic, but then so am I and my other ds. I suspect the asthma genes made him more susceptible to croup, rather than the other way round!

My DS suffered from a lot of croup up until he was 5. It varied in severity from being able to manage at home to be blue lighted to hospital. It did just generally become less scary though as generally he would improve after steroids. He does not has asthma. My DD would get croup but she would normally get viral wheeze with it which meant much longer admissions to hospital.

It’s interesting that sitting in a steamy room is not advised any more. It used to work for our youngest DD who had several attacks when she was a toddler (in her 30s now). She has Downs and children with this are more prone to it. She never had to go to hospital and didn’t develop asthma. Just grew out of it. It is very scary though .

My DD now 11 had it once a year(ish) from age 4 to 10! She didn't grow out of it at the expected age. It always followed her having a cold/cough, so they gave her a blue inhaler to help when she got those. We had a yearly trip to out of hours (why do they never get it at 2pm on a Monday - always 11pm on a Friday night) for steroids.

Shes fine now, avoided it for two years and not got asthma, if she gets a belter of a cough the blue inhaler still helps.

My DS did get asthma after croup at 5 years old. He never had an attack, but only symptom was continually clearing his throat, especially at bed time.