Croup

My DS has had croup twice in his life, and I am seeing the signs that it is going to happen again tonight. I have prednislone that was prescribed over a year ago, and am prepared to use it again if it becomes bad tonight (rather then making a trip to the emergency room). But, I am still worried. I am worried, he doesn't normally wake up and cry (and even the last 2 times he had it he just coughed and coughed but never woke up or cried at night). So, I am wondering, as long as it the cough isn't too severe, should I just let him sleep?
Should I give him the prednislone right away, or wait until I hear the barking cough? Ugh - dreading tonight...

 

We have had way too many incidents of croup in this house! The biggest thing is to listen to his breathing. First of all...if he is sleeping through it chances are he is fine and breathing fine. At 3 yrs old he will know to start coughing if he is struggling at all. Listen for the bark. If there is no coughing, you shouldn't need the prednisone. The drs always told me, if you can hear him breathing from across the room, its time to head to the ER (if all your tricks at home haven't helped). Hope tonight is better!

 

Croup sounds terrible when u hear that awful cough, but it's really just inflammation around the voice box that makes it sound so awful. It's usually not any worse than a normal cold. You could try giving him some motrin b4 bed, since it is an anti inflammatory. I would try that before the prednisolone. Also if he does wake up in the night with a barking cough, sometimes it helps to take them into the bathroom with the hot shower going and just let them breathe the steamy air for a few minutes. I've heard cold air works too but in the middle of the night I'm not in the mood to bundle up and go outside, so I haven't tried that one. But alot of parents who bring their children into the er at night for croup end up saying "he sounded so awful when we left the house" but after a car ride in the cool night air their kiddo sounds just fine

 

Croup is not dangerous at 3 years old. I agree that you should wait until your hear the barking cough and hear him forcing himself to breathe in (you can see their rib cage as they inhale). My boys had croup. It's scary to see and hear. A lot of colds make them cough. Chest colds can also cause coughing. But if it's not really keep him up at night, then treat it like a regular cold or chest cold and just listen and wait to see if it gets worse. I know that can be hard, but you should not give him medication unless you know you are treating the correct problem. SOO many health problems are similar, but treated differently.

 

I am going to gently disagree. My 5 yr old has had croup off/on her entire life....her worst and most dangerous attack was at 4.5 years old. We called 911 and rode the ambulance in- It was scary. ER said it was the right call. Even with 4 years of dealing with croup, I was unprepared for a severe attack.

She has had two other ER runs (us driving her) for croup and about a dozen late night phone calls to Dr.


She just had it again last week--- we gave her 3-5 days of orapred after talking to the Dr, and going in to be seen. Really- try all the home methods before medicating and I would not medicate w/o talking to the Dr. Small weight changes can change the dosage ( DDs dose from last fall almost doubled when we went in last week due to weight gain).

OP** put in a call to your DR. see what they say** If it seems bad or they are sick , go in to be seen (often croup is seen with respitory ailments) at an after hours /urgent care. Dr may say just keep an ear open or give an anti-inflammatory like motrin


coughing is not bad, it is the stridor you need to listen for that is a sign of inflammation



At home:

If they are sleeping, really no worries. DD has always woken up when it got bad enough that I felt we needed to call the Dr and/or medicate her.

try sitting in hot bathroom

going out in cold night air (reduces inflammation)

if they are able (not struggling to breath) have them eat a popsicle, that also will help cool the airway to reduce the stridor

 

Croup is not considered dangerous at 3 years old. That does not mean there's no exception as that is the case with almost all medicine and health condition. There's usually someone that gets something bad that normally does not cause a problem in other people. It sounds like your DD is just one of the unfortunate ones to have such a severe case. I'm very sorry you have to deal with that. I hope she does get less severe.

 

Amy got croup a few times as a toddler. Our ped said if she was sleeping, she was fine. If it's hard for her to breathe, she will wake up.

It generally gets a lot less severe as they get older. She wound up in the ER the first time she had it at 23 months. But when she got it at 3 or 3.5, we did hear the barking cough but she never seemed all that bothered by it -- it was just like a regular cough that happened to be a little barky. We haven't even had to do the steamy bathroom or the cold night air since about age 2.5. But those things do help a lot, so I'd try those before making a nighttime run to the ER (unless you can tell that he is really struggling to breathe).

I wouldn't medicate without taking him to the doctor first. (Calling the doctor would probably not help, since in my experience no doctor will ever give the OK to medicate without actually seeing the child -- unless it's something super-common like pinkeye.)