Croup - any magic cures?!

[JolieGirl]

Hi - quick one as 17 month old trying to help type this! He has really what I think is bad croup - we had a horrendous night last night, no sleep for any of us! His cough is very chesty and phlegmy, like a seal barking which makes me think croup. He is also very hot at times as well. This morning though he seems perkier. Any suggestions on anything I need to do? Haven't got time to trawl internet as need to focus on him so a few short tips would be hugely appreciated. Thanks ladies

You have my sympathy, ds2 had croup last week. Junior nurofen is good to help soothe their sore throats and bring temperature down. You can alternate doses alongside Calpol if necessary. Some doctors recommend steam to ease the cough eg turn shower on hot, close bathroom door and let them sit in room for a while. Fresh air can also be good, wrap child in blanket and take them outside for a short period.

oh the poor little mite my ds(15months) had a acute croup last month and ended up having to stay in hospital for 5 days, dont be alarmed though! his was a unusually bad case! there was nothing they could do for him but let it take its cause and give him nurofen and calpol for his temp and sore throat, if you get worried at all ring nhs direct they were very understanding with me, i was like a neurotic ringing them every night!

Croup very scary - lots of sympathy coming from here for your ds.

Everytime my DS has woken up unable to breathe properly with croup (middle of the night naturally) we have started to take him off to A & E and it has always got better on the way there. This is apparently because mild cases respond well to cold air, unlike asthma which is made worse. So we now just stick him outside for a few minutes to see if it responds.

Obviously bad cases (sorry to hear about your DS LMVS - hope he's alright now) will need more than than. And croup is often worse at night anyway. Hope he's better soon.

thanks pp, had him back to hospital for a check up this morning and he has an enlarged liver and spleen(caused by the virus that caused the croup) so they want to do a ultrasound and some blood tests, im fighting the urge NOT to start scouring the tinternet for his symptoms as i know im just going to start having panic attacks and imagining the worse! sorry im probably not helping with my scary story, trust your insticnts though, if you feel sommits not right go to A & E, better safe than sorry.

I agree with the idea of steam - it works with DS everytime! He seems to get croup everytime he gets a cold and he's 7 now and steam really helps. Just a word of warning, if you use steam do it in a room where there is no wallpaper as it tends to peel off!

Another thing I do is reduce the amount of dairy he eats while he is poorly -cuts down on mucus production. Sounds a bit mean stopping milk, cheese , yoghurt etc but it's only for a few days - milky stuff just made DS puke anyway!

LMVS very sorry to hear about your DS. Good idea to stay off internet - it always makes me super-anxious. Good thing is that he is so little he probably won't remember much of the hospital or the tests, and you can bore him with the story of how worried you were when he is older as my parents did to me!

Hope tests go smoothly and all is well.

When my dd had croup or GP recommended lots of steam and also ice cream! Apparantly the cold helps to reduce the swelling. Probably not a good idea to use dairy products though because of mucus production, but ice lollies to suck might help. It certainly helped my dd.

Hope he's better soon.