Barking cough, sounds like dot cotton and trouble breathing

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

DD woke me up in the night saying she couldn't breathe, she has been fine the rest of the night but she has a coiugh that is really odd, sounds like a large dog barking and she is all breathy and wispy when she talks iyswim, she is also getting breathless very quickky.
Apart from that she seems fine in herself is playing and happy.
Any ideas?

It sounds like croup. DS had it a couple of weeks ago. I had him checked over at A&E (was worried about breathlessnes) and they gave him some steriods to reduce the inflammation. He was fine (but with a normal cough) within 24 hrs.

Definitely sounds like Croup. Get DD to the doctor's ASAP!

Yup, croup. Worst at night, and bad nights usually last for 2 days/nights...so even if she is ok during the day today, you may need steroids during the night tonight.

OTOH, she may be ok with just steam and reassurance - dd1 had it aged about 2, and running hot shower/bath in small room, or humidifier, helped a lot. She got worse when she cried, so I slept in her room and soothed her for two nights - her case was reasonably mild, and she didn't need A&E or steroids.

Any sign of real difficulty breathing, ribs or throat tugging/pulling in, blueness around lips etc is definitely A&E asap - so if in doubt, worth going to GP today rather than wait for night time!

well she seemed so ok in herself that I didn't take her to the docs, nw worried I made the wrong decision, she is still barking when she coughs but it is not that often iyswim, she has been asleep for a few hours, thing is she is 6, I thought croup was only in younger children. Anyway I think I will get her to sleep in oiur bed so I can keep an eye on her tonight.

Don't worry - I took dd to GP and GP said just to keep eye on her and take to A&E if she was struggling too much to breathe. If she was ok the first night (last night) she'll probably be ok tonight too, esp if you're right there to soothe her when she wakes up!

She sounds a lot like my dd when she had it - not bad at all during day, very hoarse, and barky occasional cough. She only got distressed at night, really.

My neice had croup at 6 for the first time, she just has small airways...it can happen, though unusual.