croup? | Imamother

lech lecha08

Wed, Apr 01 2009, 2:48 pm

Asking for advice from anyone who has experience with croup. My daughter is almost 3. She woke up tonight with a barking kind of cough. It's not constant but when she does cough it obviously bothers her. One website I found said that a steamy room can help but also said cool, nighttime air can help. What has worked for others? Do you only try it when they're actively coughing? Right now, she's asleep on me and I'm not sure I want to disturb her.

fiddle

Wed, Apr 01 2009, 2:59 pm

only if she wakes up and is having trouble breathing - then stick her in the bathroom close the shower curtain and turn on the hot water full blast. let it steam the room and let her sit there for a bit. if shes not waking up usually they cough right when they fall asleep and sometimes in the middle of the night. I wouldnt be concerned unless shes up and about and having trouble bc of the coughing.

NotInNJMommy

Wed, Apr 01 2009, 3:07 pm

1. I use a humidifier for ds when he gets this.
2. when he has an "attack" (can't stop coughing, crying bc he can't stop coughing etc), I was told by the dr to wrap him in a blanket and take him outside for the cold air for 5-10 min, and then come straight into a hot steamy bathroom (ie. from the shower) for another 10-15 min...in that order.
3. My ds gets this as a result of a cold. If it persists and he's not sleeping well bc of the attacks, I often get him checked out, and it's often the result of an ear infection. When he was abotu 3.5 (about 6 mos ago), I started giving him 1 dose of nighttime dimetapp before bed when I saw he had a cold starting to help him sleep so that he won't get as sick and get over colds faster. I noticed a marked decline in the duration and intensity of his colds bc of this. I know lots of drs. aren't ok with cold meds for kids, but I also only give my ds 1 small dose at night and no more when I know he won't sleep well bc of the coughing.

Hatzlochah and refuah shleimah

rexie

Wed, Apr 01 2009, 3:27 pm

My baby had this a few weeks ago. What we did was use a hot mist humidifier the whole night. If you don't have one, you can take her into the bathroom and run the hot water so it steams up the room.
When sleeping, elevate her head. We put a blanket under the mattress of my baby's crib by the head so he would be elevated - it helped him breathe better. I've also heard that if the child is having a coughing attack, it helps to expose them to cold air. I've even heard of opening the freezer door and putting the child's face there so it breaks the cough attack. We also used nasal drops and suctioned his nose often because he was very congested. It lasted for about a week.