Croup

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My DS 11 months has croup. He’s been ill for a few days and started with the cough last night. We took him to out of hours as he was struggling but the dr said they only give steroids to extreme cases.

Is there anything we can do? He’s struggling again tonight, he’s exhausted but can’t sleep. Not sure I can function at work tomorrow on a second night of no sleep either!

My son has croup during the last week and was advised to give Nurofen in the first instance which really helped. However we were prescribed the steroid as a just incase!

Cold night air - one of mine seemed to get croup regularly.

I spent quite a lot of time walking round at night with them in the buggy.

Then would leave the window open.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230822/Exposure-to-outdoor-cold-air-reduces-the-severity-of-croup-symptoms-in-children-study-shows.aspx

Cold air can help. Temperature drops a bit in a couple of hours so could take him for a little wander if he is still struggling later.

We open the freezer door and sit in front of it for some cold air inside! Also try to keep your baby really calm as it definitely worsens when they're distressed. But in my experience of children with croup, the steroid works to stop the croup sound and struggle instantly and we've always been given it without question (my youngest 3 separate occasions and my eldest twice). At A&E a paeds nurae gave it to my youngest while we were still in the queue to see a dr because they heard how nasty if sounded! Result was he was fine by the time he was examined 😄 Hope you get your little one sorted. It can sound pretty frightening.

Steam! My dd2 had bad croup often when she was little (up until about age 6 - she’s 21 now!) and I’d run the shower and sit in the bathroom with her until the wheeziness ended. Never had to go to hospital but do admit to my dh (a GP) giving her a puff of his blue inhaler.

Steam is not recommended now.

You could let him rest/play quietly and if you are concerned that it is getting worse you can always go back to the doctor. The cough only started last night so I'd take it easy for now and just keep an eye on him. If he has a temp, he can take the calpol and neurofen together if needed. Saline drops/spray can help too. Hope he feels better soon

I’d recommend buying a humidifier - this was a godsend for my youngest who would regularly get croup

Your baby needs to be reassessed, even mild croup should be treated with a single dose of steroid.
cks.nice.org.uk/topics/croup/management/management/

If your baby has had croup how long did it take for them to feel better? DS did sleep through last night probably as he was so exhausted but I heard him cough a lot. He’s woken this morning with a high temperature, very miserable, only wants to lay on me? Would you take him back? This seems the most ill he has been since symptoms started on Saturday.

Took just over a week for my 2 year old to be back to himself. He still has an occasional cough but nothing compared to days 5-6 of croup. We continued with the Nurofen mainly before bed as it seemed to calm the coughing at night a bit.