Whooping cough or croup?

[AlwaysAnxiousAnnie]

The last few days my toddler has had a bit of a cough, last night he developed a loss of appetite and a fever and he was making a weird rough barking sound when coughing. This morning the bark had turned into more of a gasp between coughs, although the coughs are infrequent and not violent. He has a fever, red watery eyes, off his food, and dribbling loads, sometimes just spitting fluids out. He's still playing and is not totally out of it. I called the GP this morning but it's impossible to get through. After a Google I'm unsure what to do. If it's whooping cough apparently I can't take him to the surgery anyway and if it's croup apparently it will be okay. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anyone got any advice? I've been putting calpol in his drinks because he wont eat and he won't take it from a syringe or spoon either. I'm worri d to put him to bed in case he has a coughing fit, he won't sleep in my bed (hates bedsharing, would much prefer his own bed and space). I'm just a bit worried but I don't feel it warrants a call to 111 or A and E at this stage.

Look on YouTube for videos of croup as it’s quite a distinctive sound. If it’s bark like it’s more likely to be croup
Whooping cough the whoop is on the intake of breath before the cough

Just be aware the croup gets worse often at night. And if they stridor (that’s on the videos too) they may need to go to a&e for some steroids
If you are unsure you can call 111, although the first time I did that the call handler could hear ds breathing and sent an ambulance instead! He was very ill with croup.

The gasp is in between coughs. Not before. The cough was very bark like last night but less so today. Just gasping in between. There's no breathing changes and no noisy breaths or anything.

My son had croup just before Christmas. He was struggling to breathe alongside a barking cough. We ended up in A&E, being admitted, and him on a nebuliser full of all sorts of drugs. We were told he was close to being put under a GA and intubated.

As you'll understand it's made me very nervous of croup, which is understood to be a common condition in babies and toddlers.

I'd be getting your DC checked out - there are steroids that can be given if it's a moderate case (ours was severe). If you've no joy from your GP clinic then it's a walk in centre or A&E.

Croup often improves in cold weather. Has he had whooping cough vaccine?

He had the tdap which I believe covers whooping cough. I never had it when I was pregnant though. He's not struggling for breath and no breathing changes.

If he’s had the whooping cough vaccine it’s probably not that. Croup can be mild my youngest has had repeated bouts of mild croup this year and it’s jut takes. Few days to improve