5.1.09
Last night, croup snuck under our doorway and found Weston. I was up with him for most of the night. Sigh.... Being up all night makes for a REALLY long day. Double sigh......
Wes is no stranger to croup, it finds him at least once a year. No fun for anyone when that happens. It usually is the worst in the middle of the night, and it usually comes in the winter.
It can be super scary because your kid can't breath, so I thought I would put some tips on dealing with it, in case you haven't run into it yet and it catches you off guard.
Croup is not a single illness, but rather a group of symptoms that cause your child's airway to constrict. It may or may not have an accompanying fever and can last 5-7 days. It usually effects kids under 5, but the younger they are, the worse it can be. (so scary when it is your little baby!)
First of all, your child will have a cough that sounds like a barking seal. They may wheeze when they breath, like an asthma attack. Weston told me it felt like there was something stuck in his throat and he couldn't get it out. Don't panic! If you panic, your kid will panic and it gets worse if they are upset.
You have a couple options: First, run a steamy hot shower and sit in the bathroom for a while so your child can breath the humid air. We usually get a book or something to pass the time because everyone is cranky and disoriented at 1:00 am. Stay until you can hear their breathing clear and their cough subside, usually about 20 minutes for us.
Second, if the weather is cold, you can take them outside or sit by a window to breath the cold air. It seems odd to me that either hot, damp air; or cold, dry air will both do the trick, but they do. This option is not fun for anyone, especially like last night when the weather is 11 degrees, but the cold seems to work better than the shower. I use it as the second choice if the shower isn't helping enough.
A cool mist humidifier by their bed will help, but not solve things. I still like to sleep where I can hear them breath. It is so scary to listen to your kiddo gasping for breath and barking like a seal, but better to hear than to not.
If these options aren't doing the trick, (which usually they should) and your child is still having a difficult time getting air, it is time to head to the emergency room. They will most likely give them a shot of steroids. Some say that Albuterol and a nebulizer will help, but in my experience, it doesn't do anything but make your kid mad because you are waving "stinky smoke" in their face. There are also a million homeopathic ideas out there if you are in to that sort of thing. Normally I like to try to take the least invasive route while treating my children, but when it comes to breathing, (or not, as the case may be,) I will take the emergency room and the steroids. Does anyone know a tried and true homeopathic method? I would love it if you would share.
So there you go. Hopefully if this happens, you can remember these ideas and help your kiddo with out panicking. I remember the first time Wes had a really bad attack. I was a basket case, rushing to the ER and crying the whole way at 2:00 am. I have since calmed way down and accepted it as part of our winter time fun. Good luck!
Ben got croup every winter..I have never even thought of going to the ER though..
We do the humidifier every night while the air is really dry. We have also sat on the front porch wrapped in blankets until he could breathe again..The shower is less scary for a little kid though. THe good news..he hasn't had a problem for the last three years so they do grow out of it..knock on wood.