Croup - Any ways to prevent it?

[laraeo]

DS (23 months) had a nasty bout of croup for the 2nd time in a month last night - trip to A & E with a night spent under "observation" in the paeds unit.

Anyway. He's still got a cough - not the barking seal cough but definitely a cough. The hospital wouldn't give me a prescription for the steroid - dex.... which he's had before (including last night) and works.

I'm trying to avoid another trip to A & E tonight and croup altogether in the future. Any old fashioned remedies? He gets too upset to go outside for cold air and the hot humid bathroom doesn't do much either.

Sorry this is disjointed - I'm also cooking dinner.

Well, not sure I'm much help since DD (now 3) has been to hospital five times with very nasty croup and been kept in. But what we think helps is no extremes in the house - so no drying out the air with central heating and not having conditions too damp.

So if we've had the heating on, we turn the radiator in her room down and make sure to open windows to let some fresh air in before bedtime. Some people swear by humidifiers; we put saucers of water on the radiator too.

Not sure how to avoid air that is too damp, mind you - DD's ended up in hospital twice when we've been at my parents' house in Wales (think damp and wet!) and our GP said that could have made it worse. Hard to know though, could just be a coincidence.

Hope this helps; it's so horrible when they have it, but remember it often sounds so much worse than it is. If you do have to go to hospital, open the window in the car - the cool night air might help without distressing him.

Yup - I dosed him once with baby ibuprofen after lunch and he had a good nap - he was also exhausted from last night. His radiator is turned pretty far down but I guess I can dial it back another notch tonight. We had a humidifier but it got moldy and I did clean it out, but I don't want to run it - I'm not convinced it did much last year - he had it twice. I might try putting a damp towel on the radiator and I will open his window a bit before bed.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Agree with themildmannered one - croup is really horrible and scary. Don't hesitate to take him back to A&E if you think you need to.

We were put off by one hospital (they said we should just try steam etc next time) and left it too long when DD was having an awful attack. By the time we did get her to (a different) hospital (as we were away for the weekend), she was turning blue and didn't respond to the usual steroids, then nebuliser etc. She ended up staying in for a couple of days. The docs there said we should never feel bad about taking her as soon as the familiar barking begins...

Hope DS is much better tonight.

Thanks. We've got an open 24 hour pass to go straight back to the paeds unit if it happens again tonight. And I don't mess around. At the first tell tale signs we pile in the car and go. I've packed a "croup" bag with some extra stuff than I'd usually carry and have a change of clothes for me laid out just in case. If we do need to go, hopefully not, at least tonight I'll remember DS's shoes!

TOC - that's horrible about the hospital. We've never experienced that, thank heavens. I've taken your advice about opening the window prior to bedtime and I put a damp towel on the radiator which I turned down another notch. I also opened the window a bit in the room next to DS's in the hopes that it'll keep things cool but not too cool. It really is a fine line, isn't it?

Next winter we'll be out in the California desert where it gets fairly cold but stays dry and I'm curious to find out, preferably not through personal experience, how prevalent croup is there.

Thanks again for the kind thoughts.

similar thread about heading off croup here

Last night was okay. He coughed on and off the whole night, but just a normal cough, not a croupy one. It kept me awake but he seemed to sleep through it. At least he was sleeping every time I went in thinking if he was up I could dose him again with ibuprofen. If he runs true to form he'll get a cold in the next day or so. He's napping now and coughing in his sleep. Otherwise he's his normal toddler self.

I didn't see the other thread before I posted. DS also has a pillow to prop him up a bit - in fact he graduated to an "adult" pillow last night but it's still pretty flat which tells me I really need to get some new pillows . We'll continue with the whole window/damp towel thing for the foreseeable future.

Thanks again.

Croup is horrible isn't it. I would never hesitate to go to A&E in the hope they'll give steroids. FWIW in Germany ALL parents whose children have had croup once get given steroids to keep at home in case it happens again. Don't know why the doctors are so mean with them over here, as one-off doses shouldn't have any side effects. They also say that you want the air cold and humid, rather than steamy (warm and humid), as that may make things worse. Good luck.

I'm going to sound like a loon now, but don't rush off yet. My ds (3) has a funny chest, is sensitive to the damp, and has had an on off viral wheeze for the whole of this autumn (like asthsma, but not... iyswim) which has meant 4 trips to A&E in as many months nearly.

He is also prone to the odd croupy barky cough. Every time he starts on it (and it is always at might, it never starts during the day), I give him a homeopathic remedy (hepar sulph) and it goes away within hours. Last week it happened again, and along w the horrible barky cough, he obviously had a really sore throat when he coughed, as he would burst into tears and clutch his throat. I found the hepar sulph, dosed him up, gave him a cuddle and mentally prepared myself for a sleepless night, but he had a calm night and the cough was gone by the morning.

Sounds mad, but do try it. It can't do any harm, and has worked every time with both of my children (though ds is the one with the damp sensitivity and funny chest....).

Good luck!

ps: ds continued to have a yucky sounding cough for days afterwards (in fact, still does), but not the croupy cough and no sore throat. So it is not a miracle worker (he is still producing rivers of snot...) but it has stopped that horrible croupy cough dead in its tracks every time.

Hmm. Orangina, I'm curious about the hepar sulph. DS hasn't got his full blown cold yet (but I know from past experience it's coming) but the dry, hacking cough is horrible and the cough medicine we have isn't very medicinal - it's just a glycerine mixture from what I can see.

How much of the hepar sulph do you give your DS or is there dosage information on the label? I googled it and only found not to take it if you're drinking coffee or alcohol - neither an issue for DS. I wonder if it'd have any interaction with the baby ibuprofen.

I don't think there's anything you can do (to prevent it). Mine finally outgrew it when they were about 8.

Dd2 gets croup, first time she had it i thought it was whooping cough . We use the carvoil (sp) vaporizer which plugs into a socket.

Sorry laraeo, have been offline, just saw your message now. I bought the weleda hepar suplh, 6c dose I think, and just gave him 1 tablet (adults are supposed to let it dissolve under the tongue with clean mouth, no coffee/toothpaste/strong flavours etc), but homeopath in the past has just said children can crunch them up (which they do anyway!)...
As its homeopathic, it doesn't react with anything else medicinal, though could react with some other (but very few) homeopathic remedies. Might be worth calling Ainsworths about it, they can also send you some out. They are very helpful. Will try to find link.
Will not work as preventative, but I have used it as soon as the bark has started, and then followed up with another tablet up to every 3 hours. Last week for instance, I gave him a tablet, he happily crunched it up, settled down and slept, so I didn't wake him again. I gave him another in the morning, and that was it. I think the general rule is that you continue giving it while symptoms improve, but when they are better, you stop. If the child does not seem to be improving at all, it is pointless to carry on with the remedy.
I am not a homeopath, I just have a bit of an interest in it, and know a few remedies that seem to just work (pulsatilla for a ewepy clingy over tired child, hepar sulph for this croupy thing, carbo veg for a windy child, belladonna for sudden fever and red face....).
Might be worth getting some in, especially if he is prine to it... good luck!

Hello - heads up that this thread hasn't been posted on for over a year. If you still have questions, we've pulled together some information on a page on croup which you can read in our Babies section here.