please help ds 18mths has croup what do i do??????

[mum2samandalex]

its come on worse tonight only showed symptoms this am. Rang nhs direct and it seemed by the voice recorded messages that if you aint got swine flu then dont bother ringing. I always thought you could ring them for advice its a joke.

Gave him calpol before bed but he's sweating still and woke crying which then makes him bark and his breathing rattly.He then seems like he wants to cough and then catch his breath bcus he's getting upset. Poor baby any advice??? Seems really scary.

make sure fresh air in the room, stip off it temp and keep a close eye on him. If he starts pulling in under rib cage, take him to doctors/A&E

Make his room steamy by boiling a kettle in there (obv being careful it is out of reach of him and don't leave it unattended if you've other children who can get out of bed), or take him into the bathroom with the shower running. Karvol or a vapour rub or plug-in can also help.

Prop the cot mattress up by putting a pillow under the head end or books under the cot legs.

thank you never had anything lke this before :-(

ive never even had it so have no idea what he's going through my poor little angel. Its quite scarey the noise he is making think the breathlessness is just because he's upset.Thankgod for mumsnet for giving advice.

I used to sit in the bathroom with mine with the door shut and the shower running on hot. It would clear within a few minutes (until the next night of course)

When my DD is really bad I put her in her buggy to sleep. You could even leave him in the bathroom (steamy) in his buggy, so he's slightly upright rather than laying flat.

But if you are really worried, and esp if he seems breathless, call NHS direct again, or do you have an out-of-hours GP?

How is the little one today?

My 10 month old ds started with croup on Thursday afternoon, and is breathing stared deteriorating Friday afternoon. We were on the verge of ringing an ambulance Friday evening when I decided to try sitting in the bathroom with all the hot taps and shower on which helped a bit. I called NHS direct and waited through all the recorded message (which incidentally is NOT saying only to call if you have swine flu, it is telling you to call the national pandemic service but hang on the line if NPS had told you to ring NHS direct). NHS direct put me straight onto a nurse, who got a dr to ring within 10 minutes and the dr made me an appt with our local out of hours GP who prescribed steriods. I was just grateful to avoid hours and hours sitting in A&E on a Friday night. All in all, we were sorted in less than 2 hours. Don't get me wrong, had his breathing been any worse, or he was blue tinged around the lips, I would have called an ambulance.