Croup Question

[kirsty_lee]

Hey lovely ladies,

About 2-3 weeks ago Ava-Jayde had a cold. Typical normal kids cold (yay for kindy eh ) anyway, all the symptoms seemed to go, except the cough. Its just been a bit of a phlegmy cough. So last night when I was in bed I woke up to this cough and the minute I woke up I knew it was croup, think every mother has heard that distinctive cough at some point. Ava-Jayde's never had it but I know my brother did and close friends children have had it. So obviously she was crying and worked up through her coughing, I told dp just to be ready to go to hospital. It lasted maybe 1/2 hour if that. Then I turned everything off and put her in our bed with us. She slept. Maybe one or two coughs in the middle of the night. She doesn't have a fever either. This morning, she's full of beans (which I know isn't all that uncommon) and she has coughed a little bit this morning but it's not a bark it's a normal cough I've been reading up on it this morning and apparently most cases can be dealt with at home and are usually mild etc. Just wondering, should I wait until tonight to see if she has another attack and take her up to the hospital? or should I take her to the doctor today? Cause even if she coughs for the doctor its not a croupy cough (which confuses me) Like I said i've never dealt with this personally so just thought i'd see what mothers of croup sufferers suggest? TIA

[~Trish~]

My DS1 has had croup twice and I just took him to the GP who prescribed Pred Mix (I think it's called?) which stopped it really quickly. Both times he had a very obvious croup cough when I took him to the GP though. If you are really worried you could get Ava checked out JIC. Our GP recommended using a vapouriser in his room too.

Even try calling the health hotline in your state? Or even the MCHN hotline?

I hope she feels better soon.

[Trillian]

Croup is just a virus so there is no treatment for it, but you can be prescribed Predmix or Redipred for it, which is just a steroid that opens their airways. It could just have been a once off thing and tonight she will be fine, but sometimes they can be fine through the day and the cold air at night can bring it on again. It's up to you as to whether you think she needs the steroid or not but if she is happy enough and not distressed by it then she may be fine without it.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Yeah there isnt a hell of alot they can do for croup. It will be worse at night as Trillian said, the night air can bring it on. Trust your mummy instincts, your the one that knows her best. If u think she needs a check up, no harm in getting her one. Hearing them cough like that just breaks your heart when there is nothing u can do.


PS. Update your sig missy!!

[kirsty_lee]

Thanks for the replies, took her to the doctor today. Checked her over and yep definately croup. She was quite distressed last night and was having trouble breathing for a bit so he's put her on a steriod for three days, once a day. She certainly does not like the taste lol but it has eased my mind tonight, hopefully she's better tonight. She's still got a little bit of a cough today but he said she should right after the three days. So hopefully tonight she'll be ok.

[Trillian]

It does pass very quickly - I'd be surprised if after having had the steroid now that she will have the stridor tomorrow, it is so effective at treating it. One tip though, it is possible that she will get it again - maybe not this year but next year you should be prepared for it. I could always pick when DS1 was likely to get it because often it could come after he'd had a minor sniffle/cold and the girls would just have it come on out of the blue - usually at 2am with no warning so I always make sure that I have some Redipred in the fridge so if they got it I could treat them immediately and not have to take them to the Dr. Now I just get a script to have on hand each year and our GP tells me how much to give each of them depending on their weight and he's happy for me to treat them at home.

[~me~]

I'm a bit late coming in..DS2 just had a bout of croup. He took the predimix for 3days once a day. The cough was better within hours of taking the first predimix. I mixed the predimix in a little bit of DH's gatorade to take away the taste. The expiry on my bottle is next year and the pharmacist said it will not go off after opening and the expiry on the bottle is the actual expiry even after opening. I keep it in the fridge. I also have repeats just in case, as Trillian said, it's a creeper and one minute they have just a plain old cold then all of sudden the seal cough!
The GP also suggested that vapourisers and moist air don't work for croup and if the cough gets really bad to take them outside into the night air if you are not taking them to hospital. I am not sure on that though, as in the outside night air?

[kirsty_lee]

Ahh that's a great idea Trill, thanks! Yeah it's a total creeper. One minute just a normal cough then next minute barking! She's still got a little bit of a cough but it's not a bark, so we'll see how we go tonight. I've read so many conflicting articles. Childrens Hospitals say no to moist air, some other websites say yes so I'm completely confused lol

[*Beema*]

You've already seen your GP and got the steroids DD had it three times last winter, and you can't miss that distinctive cough, but good thing was the subsequent times we were able to pick it up a lot quicker so the impact was a lot less. But the first dose she has was a ripper, she ended up losing her voice and it hung around for quite a while, the reoccurred exactly 2 weeks after the first case started but it wasn't as bad as the first time.

The steroids are really good for it and it is good that the treatment for croup is so much better now than it used to be, years ago bubs were admitted to hospital and placed in an isolette!

We had a vapourisor and TBH it didn't make any difference, with Croup or Brochiolitis and when DD was in hospital with Pneumonia (she actually had the parent for Pneumonitis) also on another occasion Brochiolitis no moist air was used then, just oxigen and steroids.

[~me~]

I've read so many conflicting articles. Childrens Hospitals say no to moist air, some other websites say yes so I'm completely confused lol

I would tend to go with Childrens Hospital advice on the moist air thing. My GP was pretty adamant about the no moist air and take them out to the night air.
HTH

[Trillian]

I was originally told that when DS1 had his first bout, but all it did was make it worse and made him throw up loads of mucous. We found keeping them in a really warm room helped, but I think it's an individual thing because some Mums I know IRL say that vapourisers work for their kids, others say cold air (as in outside) and others are like us and need warm air. You just need to do what makes her the most comfortable.

[kirsty_lee]

Yeah I've rugged her up tonight and her bed is warm. I have an oil heater, but Im just worried about having a heater on all night ya' know? My mum has always always been totally paranoid about house fires, so it's probably rubbed off on me. And I guess a $20 oil heater on all night just makes me a little bit paranoid.

[leckert]

we're using an oil heater in DS's room - I'm not comfortable with him having a fan heater in there or a radiant heater and his room gets rather cold overnight as the heating at that end of our house is pretty bad. I just make sure it's in the middle of the room and there's nothing that can fall on it or touch it (unless I bump it in the middle of the night when getting up for DS and don't turn the light on and then I just push it back to where it was). Makes me feel a bit better about using one.

[megs]

Just another tip that I was given when I called nurse on call, you can give them a little bit of warm apple juice, it is meant to help ease the coughing spasms. I didn't get to try it as we live 30 mins from town and I didn't have any juice on hand, but a girlfriend tried to it when son had a cough that wouldn't stop and she said it worked.

[belfie]

I also read conflicting advice about warm versus cold air... and we ended up ditching vaporiser, but didn't really try the cold air thing either. When my little fella had it for the first time a month or so ago, he just showed up with a "big" cough (i.e. not a croupy cough per se). He was checked on a Monday morning and we were told he was fine. By Weds afternoon he was puffing as if he'd run a marathon - so that's my tip, to watch for that breathlessness too. I didn't ever hear a distinctive cough from him, but the GP said he had a moderate-severe case of it. Our GP suggested if we're ever unsure, take off his top and watch his chest move (as well as bring them to the doc of course) - so I'll always do that now, even in the absence of a cough. You can really see them having to work so much harder at their breathing. And like so many others here, we've now got redipred on hand in case of another attack.