Painful sounding, deep 'barking' cough keeps waking 23m old dd

[misscathcart]

usual signs of a cold coming on today. Runny nose, croaky voice, slight temp etc.
But since she went to bed at 7.30 she has woken every half hour with this awful sounding cough. I have never heard a cough like it and she seems so upset.
Is there any suggestions?

it's called croup

oops

meant to add make sure the hot water is on and lift her from her bed and sit her on your lap in the bathroom while your run a very hot bath - and steam fills the room.

Inhaling the steam will help the croup. Sit in there for at least half an hour (keep the light off and hope she dozes on your shoulder (while you sweat!)

Yes, croup-a steamy atmosphere is the only thing to relieve it.

And not to alarm you, because it can usually/often be managed at home, but if she starts to struggle to breathe, pulls in at ribs or throat, has blue lips or anything else that worries you, do go to A&E - some kids need steroids short-term to cope with croup.

Hope she's ok tonight, dd1 had it at that age and I found reassuring her fast and keeping steamy atmosphere (had humidifier, luckily) worked well. The nasty cough at night seems to last about 2-3 nights.

thank you very much, I'll keep an eye on it and get the bathroom steamy.
Hasn't seemed to have had trouble breathing but I'll look out for signs.

hmm so she had a pretty good night in the end and isn't coughing half as much now. Its is actually few and far between - but when she does it still sounds so horrrendous. She is also a little wheezy sounding but not much.
Would you still say this is croup?

My DD had croup for the first time last week. Scary for me, but i did the steamy shower room thing and it went fairly quickly. Saw the gp next day who said it could just be a one-off, or could be 2-3 nights. Elibean's advice exactly the same as the gp about going to A&E during an attack.

croup sounds like a barking seal - very different from a normal cough. It can happen during the day but with my two it only ever happened at night. During the day they had a nasty cough but it didn't sound so barky. And it happened for 2-3 nights on the trot. Then went.

yes it's definately like a barking seal. She really doesnt seem too bad though so will just have a cosy day at home with new toys and see how she is tonight after another steam!
Thanks everyone