DD been ill for 10 days, diagnosed with croup and given steroids but she is still poorly. How long should this last? What do I do about the constant screaming?

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsSOH]

DD was under the weather from Monday last week, started refusing feeds, sucking anything in sight and eventually started coughing. She was diagnosed with croup, had a bad weekend and needed hospitalisation for nebulisers and has had a course of steroids. Her breathing is absolutely fine now but she still has a very, very sore throat. She is screaming- hoarsely -in pain at every feed and it has got to the stage where she screams in anticipation of the feed. I can't get her to take a decent amount of milk but she still has wet nappies, is gaining weight and is alert.

How long should this last? When do I start to worry, well I'm already worried but you know what I mean? Can I help her at all? Calprofen and Calpol do not help even when given alternately so she is always dosed up. It's exhausting for all of us and I just need to know that she will get better. It's the screaming that's the worst, she's audibly and visibly in pain.

She's 4 months old.

do you think she might have a bacterial infection on top of the croup? Does she have a temperature? (Although I guess that is impossible to tell if she is dosed up on calpol & nurofen)
I would take her back to the GP if possible to have it looked at and a swab taken.
IME croup - whilst being very nasty - doesn't actually last long, 4 days or so, and then it's over and done with (and I've had the ambulance & hospitalisation fun with it, too).

Poor thing

I'm sorry that your dd is still in such a pain. I have no experience of croup, but I just want to give you moral support. Ring your gp practice and demand that she's seen immediately. I always dread phoning the our surgery for an urgent appointment, but I'm sending you my vibes.

We phoned the doctors this morning and they had no appointments left- all gone in 12 minutes. The doctor phoned us back instead and said he could hear her in the background and she sounded fine. Obviously she wasn't crying at that point, she was moaning though.

Would the NHS direct walk-in place be able to tell if it's turned bacterial?

Surgery is now closed.

yes, I'd think so. It's worth a try, anyway. Really don't think this is normal for croup (and I've seen croup in two of my children, repeatedly over the years when they were small).
Get it checked out.

"he could hear her in the background?" well, that makes for a great diagnosis . Yes, I'd take her to the walk in centre. Haven't you an out of hours service? (which are a bit useless in my experience)

There is an out of hours service but when you phone it a deep voice intones 'to connect to the out of hours service you must have a genuine medical emergency'. It's not an emergency really and the deep voice scares me.

oh, just do it. If you have a 'real' emergency you go to A&E, so I'd say it's perfectly legitimate to take a poorly young baby to the out of hours GP service

Does she have a temperature?

Our WalkIn has a GP on duty for 16hrs of teh day so you should be able to get teh same service as at your regular GPs if you think she needs to be seen.

I think you can go onto NHS website and search for your nearest Walking and it will tell you what services are avaialble at yours (i.e. is a GP present).

HTH

Go to a & e I dont want to scare you but she may have bronchoilitis or an infection on top of croup ,and it will give you peace of mind too

i dont understand why theres even a question about whether u should take her or not, she obviously poorly and she is only 4 months old with a very immature immune system, you need to take her NOW!

she's 4 months, she's been poorly for 10 days, she's been already hospitalized for croup, sounds like a genuine emergency. walk in centre with gp would be great.

dd had RSV/Bronchiolitis which tbh is more common in under 1's than Croup (two are often confused) It is viral, just as the cause of croup is viral, so ab's are no use unless there is now an underlying bacterial infection which sounds perfectly possible. dd was ill at a similar age and sounded like a kitten when she cried with it, was listels and only fed very little and/or was sick. When she just recovered from that she has a uti and ear infection. It is important she feeds well (breast or formula fed ?) and if youa re worried abotu her breathing(either sucjkign in under her ribs or wheezing) get her checked out again.

dd does not have a temperature although, as I say, she is dosed up on calpol and calprofen. She doesn't have one in the night when she's gone without medication.

Trust your own instincts, if you really feel she is not improving and are worried then go to your a&e department or out of hours service, i find that if u demand politely to see someone especially as she is so young they usually are good. Dont take no for an answer. good luck