M is sick and our doc thinks she has a mild case of croup. She's still in good spirits, and she's nursing/drinking bottles like a champ. So that's great. But her sleep is restless and she has a cough that sounds like a baby seal. It's breaking my heart. I will try to do steamy showers with her as much as possible. Hubs is home with her today and I'll stay home with her tomorrow. Anything else you can think of to help her be more comfortable? There is no medicine to give for croup except for steriods in the case of airway swelling but M seems to be breathing just fine.
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You are fortunate her breathing is good. That, in my opinion, is the scariest part. I think you are doing everything you can for her right now. Moist, cool air can help with the airway inflamation, but it doesn't sound like she is needing any breathing help. Take a minute to get acquainted with stridor http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/croup/DS00312/DSECTION=symptoms so you know when and if to be concerned or call the doctor. Hope she starts feeling better soon!
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My understanding is that there are two kinds of croup out there, one that is more critical than the other, but I may be off base.
My son had the mild one, no treatment, which surprised me since he's asthmatic.
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@Mrs. Twine: I'm definitely scared her breathing will get worse but doc didn't seem concerned. I'm going to put her crib at an incline tonight since lying flat can increase airway constriction. And I'll probably put an air mattress on her floor and sleep in there with her so I can hear it right away if she has trouble.
@looch: Hoping M's case is like your little guy's!
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No experience but I hope she feels better soon!
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I slept sitting up and holding Lorelei when she had croup. Your strategy sounds way more comfy! I think it's not a bad idea to stay close so you can monitor her periodically. Lorelei did pretty well during the day, but had much scarier breathing at night when she was sleeping. Mr. T was invaluable because he's a lighter sleeper than I am so he would wake up as soon as anything started to sound even a little off. It's probably a good sign the doctor wasn't concerned... do you have anything you could use for her in an emergency? We were lucky because Ellie has a standing albuterol prescription (asthma) and a nebulizer, and we got dosing information from the doctor so we had that on hand in case she starting having trouble. I'm going to tag @Mrs. Jacks because I know she has dealt with croup in her oldest many times and, as a pediatrician, she might have some more ideas for how to be proactive. I just would hate to see your family have the expense of an ER trip in the night if her breathing gets worse. That's basically what happened to us: Mr. T woke me in the middle of the night because he had heard her stop breathing, but by the time I woke up, she had started breathing again. We talked it over and decided to put her at an incline by my sitting up in bed and having her on my chest (it was almost morning). We dozed for a while, but it happened again, and that time it was close to a minute before she started breathing again. When she did, she was just terrified. I have never seen her so scared (or been so scared for her). So we called for an ambulance because she was struggling so hard to breathe (and had stridor). I'm thinking about your family today. I hope her case stays mild and goes quickly!!
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Oh this happened this spring! It was awful. He woke up and the way he was breathing made it sound like he couldn't breathe - I freaked out and called the triage nurse at my clinic and she said take him to the ER! The cold air of winter actually helped clear his throat a lot, so by the time we got there he was significantly better. The only thing they offered was steroids but I declined since he was somewhat better.
We did the steamy shower too. And I let him nap on me. I'm glad he was still nursing at the time too - it was very soothing for him and kept him hydrated.
sadly you likely have to wait it out - but I remember how my heart would break hearing his cough! I hope you get through it soon
poor M!
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awwww
get well soon M!
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@mrsjyw: @Smurfette: thanks guys!
@Mrs. Pen: @Mrs. Twine: well you both have me terrified for the night. We moved her into our room in a pack n play (At an incline). I figured it was best for both of us to be in the room and listening for issues. I feel like I shouldn't sleep!!
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@MamaMoose: I'm so sorry LO isn't feeling well! I hope she recovers quickly and that you get some sleep. ((hugs))
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Cool mist humidifier and oral steroids. If she has any Stridor at rest you need to be seen. (by at rest, I mean not when she's crying or fussy). Too bad your ped didn't give you a dose of oral dexamethasone. We have a standing prescription now to head off the new for race mic epinephrine, which is what the breathing treatment is that they give you in the ER, it requires a couple of hours of close monitoring, so I like to avoid having to have them give that to my daughter. I prefer to head it off before it gets that far.
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I just posted the exact same thread on Sunday! DD has croup, too! Unfortunately, we ended up in the ER on Sunday night
but everything is good now. At the hospital she was monitored and was given breathing treatment and some meds. She's been getting better since. We still do steam in the bathroom and humidifier at night.
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@MamaMoose: I'm sorry
we put a rolled towel under his mattress to get him to sleep at an incline and then we put eucalyptus and lavender oil in his humidifier. He was totally fine overnight. Please don't worry too much!
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@MamaMoose: oh no, I hope she feels better soon!
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@Mrs. Jacks: will set up the humidifier. M has no wheezing at all. Just the infrequent seal cough and some hoarseness. The ped heard her cough and still was not overly concerned and didn't think the steroids were needed.
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@MsLipGloss: thank you!
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@MamaMoose: How many days has it been? My daughter started off with a hoarse voice, the afternoon for day 2 she developed the seal cough, but by the middle of the night of day 2, she was wheezing and gasping for air
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@Rubies: hoarseness developed Sunday night. Seal cough yesterday. In the 36 hours since we first heard it she's only done it maybe ten times?
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@littlek: thank you!
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@MamaMoose: sounds pretty mild. Just remember that the natural rhythm of the human body is that our own steroids go down at night, so you may hear Stridor when you didn't before and frequently it's two or three in the morning when it peaks. Hopefully you'll sail through it.
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@Mrs. Jacks: @Rubies: @Mrs. Pen: @Mrs. Twine: thank you all for your advice and experience.
Just wanted to let everyone know we made through the night pretty drama free. We ended up starting the night co bedding. I'm not a huge fan of cobedding in general but that was how I felt most confident that I would wake up if she had a problem. She slept well until 1:30 at which point she woke up. She didn't want to nurse, and didn't want to go back to sleep. Hubs and I had to take turns with her for quite some time. I finally heated a bottle which she chugged down (I think nursing was just too much work). We tried to get her back in bed with me but she would wake as soon as I laid down. We heard some stridor during crying fits which was scary but it always stopped the minute she calmed down and we never heard it while he was calm or sleeping. We finally got her back down in her pack n play at 3am. She slept soundly in there until 7. She woke up and nursed like a champ and was all smiles. She's still congested and coughing but the cough is MUCH less scary sounding. Hoping things get better from here!
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@MamaMoose: you made it through! I'm so glad you felt prepared and knew what to do!
(and now you know why I'm pretty liberal with the steroids. It's to cover the child for the late night endogenous steroid dip.)
Hopefully things should get better from here
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Phew! Glad to hear she did well overnight. That was always the worst time, in our experience, and now, thanks to @Mrs. Jacks, I know more about causation.
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Glad to hear the update! Night time always stresses me out so much more.
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@looch: you'll be amused to know that I'm staying home with her today but I had to run in to the office quickly because we had photographers scheduled to do team pictures. M had to come with me and the team decided they wanted to take a couple pics with her to market 529s. Ha!
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@MamaMoose: yes, we went to the ER last because LO was working so hard to breathe and their dx was mod-sev croup. She definitely had the stridor at rest and her chest was really sucking in. I'd taken her to the ped earlier in the day and they'd diagnosed her with an ear infection, but the ER thinks she had 2 things going on. I had noticed her pulling on one ear and she had a fever of 102.7 at the ER. They gave her oral steroids and she's much improved today. I stayed home from work with her but am hoping my husband can come relieve me so I can go in to work later.
It's so awful to see them sick! I'm glad your LO is feeling better!
@Mrs. Twine: thanks for sharing your experience!
@Mrs. Jacks: thanks so much for the info; I'm glad you feel the steroids are helpful/okay. -
@MamaMoose: awesome!
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@78h2o: geez. Croup seems to be hitting all over the place!! I'm sorry you ended up in the ER but I'm so glad to hear they were able to get J feeling better.
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@MamaMoose: I am so glad you made it through with out anything really scary!
@looch: regrading the 'other' kind of croup:
My daughter has been dx w/ spasmodic croup, also called recurrent croup. In her case, it occurs suddenly, in the absence of any other signs of illness and resolves relatively quickly after treatment (i.e, no lingering cold symptoms or anything).
It is very scary- she just wakes up in the night with sudden, severe strider/wheezing/barky cough. The last time we got her to the hospital her oxygen levels were in the high 80s before treatment. We just got a prescription for steroids to use at home but she hasn't had another episode, yet.@Mrs. Jacks: ever heard of this? The best info I could find was a medical article entitled, "When croup is not croup," but otherwise the internet is quiet regarding this issue.
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@lizzywiz: I am glad you posted that, because I was wondering if I was even on the same planet!
Does it require a nebulizer treatment for the steroids?
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@MamaMoose: haha that's adorable about having her in the company pics
she is so cute I'd totally open a 529 because of her in the ad -
@lizzywiz: @looch: We do see that.
The nebulizer you get is called racemic epinepherine. You can only get that in a doctors office or ER because the child needs to be observed for "rebound" symptoms for a while afterward 2-4 hours.
Oral steroids are very effective because they decrease swelling in the airway. Inhaled steroids are not effective because it can take up for two weeks of regular administration for them to kick in. Inhaled steroids are mainly used for asthma and chronic lung diseases that need long term control.
For kids with spasmodic croup, it's good to work closely with your pediatrician and to have a prescription for oral steroids on hand for episodes.
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@Mrs. Jacks: thanks. It is nice to know that my LO isn't the only one with this! We have the oral steroids ready for the next episode and are hoping to avoid the hospital.
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@Mrs. Jacks: Do you happen to know for how long croup is contagious? The nurse at the ER said it isn't contagious, but that isn't consistent with what I read following a quick Google search. Trying to decide when she should go back to daycare. So far today she is breathing much much better and hasn't had a fever; however, she did not really want to eat/drink her bottles today and she was crying nonstop when I had to leave for work. I gave her a dose of Tylenol before leaving her with DH. I'm interested to see if the steroids continue to do their job (they said they should work for 72 hrs) or if the stridor/cough will return... We don't have family in the area, so DH or I will have to miss work tomorrow if she can't go back, but of course I don't want to send her if she's contagious or not feeling well...
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@78h2o: It takes between 2-7 days to show symptoms from exposure and your child is contagious as long as they are coughing or can't control their secretions.
poor M!
she is so cute I'd totally open a 529 because of her in the ad Reply
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