Croup in babies and children is a common viral infection. The condition causes the voice box, the windpipe, and the upper airway to the lungs to swell, causing the child to have trouble breathing.

Croup usually affects babies and children aged from six months to three years, although it can affect children as old as 15. Generally, croup symptoms are less severe in older children.

Croup is most prevalent during the winter months. Boys are more likely to be affected than girls. Some children suffer recurrent episodes of the infection.

There are two types of croup:

Viral croup – caused by a viral infection
Spasmodic croup – caused by an allergic reaction.

Early warning signs of mild croup in babies – Symptoms

The early warning signs for a viral croup infection are:

Fever. Your child’s temperature might raise with croup
Sore throat. As your baby’s airway becomes swollen with croup, the throat becomes sore
Stuffy or runny nose. Children with croup might have their sinuses filled up with mucus. Mucus develops as a natural response to upper airway problems. When the respiratory system swells up, mucus appears
Barking cough. In the early stages of the infection, symptoms of croup can be confused with any other respiratory infection. Your child’s croupy cough might be the only one of your child’s symptoms that helps you diagnose croup.

These symptoms can be seen in a range of illnesses, so it might be hard for you to determine early on whether your baby has croup – especially if you haven’t experienced it before.

Let’s look at other, more indicative signs and symptoms that your baby has croup.

Signs of severe croup in babies – Symptoms

If your child has severe croup, within 48 hours the following symptoms could develop:

Croup cough

Croup cough is very peculiar. When your child’s cough sounds like a barky cough it’s very likely she has croup.

Severe coughing can happen at any time. The barky cough typical of croup might be worse at night. This is because at night our natural production of steroids is decreased and therefore the swelling of your baby’s voice box, the larynx, is more likely to happen.

A hoarse voice

When swelling of the airway occurs, it also affects the vocal cords. Therefore your child’s voice might sound croaky and hoarse.

A stridor

A harsh grating sound when inhaling air is called stridor. This might be most noticeable when the child cries.

Difficulty swallowing

The upper parts of our breathing system are shared with our digestive system. Therefore, when your baby’s airway is swollen, her swallowing will also be affected.

If your baby is breastfeeding, she might feed very frequently for short periods of time. This is because, as well as difficult in swallowing there’s also the difficulty in breathing and the stuffy or runny nose.

When your baby is formula fed she might need to take more pauses and to feed more frequently.

If you’ve already introduced solids into your baby’s diet, you might want to stick to just milk until the most severe croup signs and symptoms have cleared.

Difficulty breathing

Sometimes, the coughing attacks can be so intense they might cause your baby to have trouble breathing.

Seeing your baby struggling to breathe is one of the scariest experiences any parent will have. Let me reassure you; if you keep calm and follow the at-home treatment steps, you will efficiently help to open your baby’s airway and help her breathing until she receives medical attention.

Croup in babies – Treatment

If your child is showing symptoms of croup, you should take her to see your doctor. The doctor will diagnose the condition by listening to the barking cough and examining the child’s throat. The doctor will advise treatment based on the seriousness of the condition.

Treating croup at home

Most cases of croup clear up within 48 hours, although symptoms can sometimes last two weeks. Croup is often a mild condition that doesn’t require treatment.

To manage this condition at home you should:

Sit the child upright
Make sure you comfort and keep the child calm when she’s distressed (crying can worsen the symptoms)
Make sure the child drinks plenty of water or breast milk, if breastfed
When your child experiences trouble breathing at home you can make her breathing easier by helping her to breathe steam. Turn on the hot water in all the faucets in the bathroom. The smallest bathroom with a shower will be ideal. The aim is to have a steam filled bathroom so your baby can breathe in the steam.
The steam will help with the swelling. Keep as calm as possible. This will help keep your child calm too
If your child is short of breath, breathing cool air will also help with the amount of oxygen that goes into her lungs with each breath. Heat expands air; this is why hot air balloons fly. The concentration of oxygen in hot air is much lower than in cold air. The best thing is to take your child outside to breathe cool air. If the weather isn’t cold enough, you can wrap your baby and place her in front of the freezer. The amount of oxygen she takes in with each breath will be maximized.

The symptoms of a viral croup infection will usually worsen at night. If the symptoms are too severe to be managed at home, your doctor might prescribe steroids to treat the infection.

In severe cases, your child might need to be admitted to hospital for breathing treatment. To aid breathing, oxygen might be administered by nebulizer or mask. In severe cases, adrenaline might also be used.

When to seek emergency treatment

This condition can usually be managed at home. However, you should seek emergency treatment if your child develops any of the following symptoms:

Severe breathing difficulty
Too breathless to feed or talk
A worsening stridor or cough
Dark, blue-tinged, or pale skin
Chest skin appearing pulled in or tight
Abnormal sleepiness.

Some cases of croup require hospitalization and, although quite rare, it can become life threatening. Do seek immediate medical attention if you’re worried about your child’s symptoms.

Call your child’s doctor or any on-call healthcare professionals if ever you’re worried about your child’s health.

Research shows how hospital based breathing treatment can act fast to treat severe breathing symptoms of croup.

You can find more information about croup in Croup – Causes and Treatment Of Croup In Children.

Is croup in babies contagious?

Yes, croup is an infection that is transmitted by contact with carriers’ body fluids. Most children who carry croup are asymptomatic or have very mild croup symptoms that will very likely be considered as a mild cold by parents.

How long is croup contagious?

Because croup is a viral infection, it is contagious for as long as the virus is active. This will usually be for 3-4 days after the first symptoms appeared.

If your baby develops a fever due to croup she will be contagious for as long as the fever lasts. Most children will be free from active croup 4 days after the symptoms began.

Can adults get croup from taking care of a child?

Yes, they can. However croup severe symptoms are rarely seen in adults. This is because the adult’s respiratory system is much bigger.

Severe croup symptoms happen because the narrowing of the airway dramatically affects the airflow. When adults get croup, the size of the airway hardly compromises their breathing even if the larynx swells up.

Can I spread croup if my child has it?

Yes, you can. As we’ve mentioned, croup is transmitted by air droplets. When a person has croup it’s very likely the entire family will get it.

However, how seriously people are affected by croup depends on individual predisposition and individual risk factors. Some kids might have recurrent croup infections while their siblings might not.