Croup - how long does it last?

[LynnC]

DD taken to hospital Thursday night with it and given steriods which did seem to help ease it but last night was a lot worse again, thinking of going to docs again, or am I just being silly and it will pass?

I found that putting dd in the bathroom and running the bath helped esp on the worst nights..the steam helps....I think croup is a viral and it can take up to 7 days to shift..I used to panic coz she would sound like a barking dog

Thanks crispyduck I will hold off just now then and see how she is at end of the week before calling docs and thanks for the tip with the steam.

Hope she gets better soon - I'm recovering from an attack of croup, and I'm a 30 year old adult! It was the most awful frightening experience.

In my case, the croup was baterial so I needed antibiotics and inhalers.

Don't hesitate to take her back to the doctors if necessary.

Lots of steam, but keep a very close eye on it, and if at all worried go back to the doctors. You are not being silly.
Hope all goes well

I mean bacterial.

Usually 48 hrs or so.
Its usually viral in nature so antibiotics probably wont help.
My top tips for you:

Put a wet towel over radiator in babies room over night,
Put a pillow under the top end of the matress...elevate the childs head as much as you can..sit them upright to sleep.
Fill a sink with hot water, the steam is great to ease croup.
Croup sounds horrific, but actually sounds much worse than it is, so stay calm (well as calm as you can when your lo is seemingly gasping for breath!)
Take lo to the DRs if you are very concerned, get them to listen to the chest, it will ease your mind and rule out any further nasty infection.
Dont be surprised if your lo gets it over and over, it gets milder as they get older and you feel more confident with it and know what to do.
Just have a look at HOW your lo is breathing, look at the chest. Its normal for them to breath quickly, but if the centre of the chest sucks in with each breath, then take them to the Hospital/Drs because they need a bit of help...steroids probably.
HTH
Mine got it every time he got a cold or cough, so very regularly.
Hes kind of growing out of it now thank goodness.

Mine used to get it too.

Our GP said that we must get them to hospital if they didn't recover from the croup attack quickly. As Donbean says, if the chest is pulling in or if she really can't breathe then dial 999.

If she has a temperature at the same time, this can cause complications. Calpol or neurofen as soon as you can.

Going to the bathroom and turning all of the taps on can help lots. It also helps to wake them up thoroughly - once you have steamed her and she can actually breathe, then wrap her in a blanket and sit on the front door step. Fresh air helps, and so does lots of reassurance.

Hope that it doesn't persist too long. They usually outgrow it in a couple of years. My ds1 had a croup attack each time he was starting a cold, so we dealt with it three or four times a year for a couple of years. It's horrid.

thanks everyone hopefully your tips will help for an easier night tonight although the thought of it everytime she gets a cold sounds terrible.

She has had a bad cough on and off since October and diagnosed with asthma although I'm starting to wonder now if its croup she has had the whole time and just had a bad attack of it on Thursday??? Anyway really appreciate all your advice.

My 12mo DS has it at the moment. He has had it since the end of last week. He really only gets it during the night. Last night I jumped out of bed and put the shower on and filled the sink with hot water at 3am. DS seems to be less distressed by it now that when he first got it. I am worried about him getting it every time he has a cold. I have just ordered a humidifier so that next time he gets a cold I will make his room more humid at night - figure this is less disruptive to his sleep that taking him into the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Hope your DD feels better soon.