Help, my dd has seemed to have developed what seems to be croup. the cold symptoms started last Wed. And then Sun in middle of night began fever, and then Monday mid day began hoarseness, and slight trouble breathing. I had to work so my dh took her to the doctor monday morning and they checked ears, throat, and sent her home saying it was viral, to keep up with tylenol. Croup got worse through out night and she just looks miserable. I am doing everything the books say but she won't take any liquids, and i am afraid of dehydration. Please tell me what you know and what i should do.
Thank you to everyone for your responses. I have been spending alot of time in steamy bathrooms! And thank you to the ones who suggested steamy then freezer. Also I brought her immediately back to the doctor the next morning, they of course thought I was crazy, because she did not have a temp. But the doctor did hear what she called a "croupy" cough. So she gave me oral steriods, which my daughter hated taking. Now I know to have it flavored. Ugh! But she took it, and she seems to be doing better. She is playing almost normal. Just a stuffy, lots of goobers coming from nose. Again thank you for your responses
Hi,
I would take her to a chiropractor. This is the best way to boost her immune system initalily. It will open her airway right away and help her to feel better asap! I would also work on her diet, try boosting her with good vitamin supplements and probiotics. If she wont take any liquids, what is she eating? If she is taking in baby food, etc, try diluting it with water. Best of luck!
I've been through this with 3 kids. First of all, NO COW'S MILK. Dairy is very bad and very mucus forming and will only make it worse.
Next, if you have a nebulizer and have a local health food store close to you is get some colloidal silver (nothing over 20ppm) and put that in the nebulizer and have her breathe it in. It's awesome (I've used it on pneumonia without going to the doctor).
Another thing, is definitely a humidifier and put some eucalyptus oil in it, but definitely a humidifier. I usually mix the eucalyptus oil with a base oil and rub it on their chest to help them breathe and get congestion up.
Another thing is run the shower hot and sit in there with her for her to breathe in the steam. (If it was winter time, the outside cold would also be good.) You don't want your child to get to the point of seeing their chest cave in (to where you can count the ribs quite well) and not being able to breathe...otherwise the ER you will go for a breathing treatment from a nebulizer. So, if you don't have one, it's a great thing to have around for everyone!
The nebulizer and colloidal is actually enough to get them better (it's great for viral as well as bacterial). It's been tried and true in this household.
Dr. Mom. :0)
Hi S.,
Chiropractic is always my first line of defense. It is not just for "back" problems. It truly does strengthen the immune system. It was always the first thing I did when my kids were sick. They don't get sick anymore because I not only take them to the chiropractor for regular "wellness" visits but I have removed the things in my house that weaken the immune system.
Like Donna, I have used collodial silver for pneumonia also. My 89 year old Dad is in the nursing home and instead of sending him to the hospital for intensive antibiotics that just break down the immune system, I put him on a nebulizer with collodial silver and it has worked twice in the last 3 years. (He had a stroke 3 years ago and lost his ability to swallow and now he tends to aspirate. That leads to infection and we have to keep a close eye on him. Infection comes with aspiration.) Although he sounds old and sick, he's not. His immune system is strong and he has not caught anything, including the flu, since he has been in the nursing home. We DO NOT give him the flu shots.
Anything you can do to build the immune system is the direction you should go. There are every day things you can do also if you want to prevent this from happening again. Let me know if you're interested.
God bless,
S.,
Try giving her fluids with a medicine dropper--tedious, I know, but she has to drink. The steam shower thing does help a lot. When my daughter had croup, we did that every 4 hours or so and it helped. It should run it's course in a few days, but keep a close eye on her--any signs of difficult breathing and you should take her to the dr right away. If they determine it necessary, they will give her a breathing treatment and possibly steroids (sounds scary, but it's okay--my daughter had to dl all of this with croup at only 10 months old and she made it through)
A breathing treatment would help open up her airways for starters!! Croupe is like a long asthma attack if that makes sense. Take her back to the DR!!! Cronic bouts of croup can also be a sign that she has either sever allergies and or ashtma. My friend's son went through croup 2-3 times a year before a DR finially caught it to be asthma.
Good luck and get her back into the DR!!
S.
Are you using a vaporizer? Putting cool moisture into the air is very very important for croup. If you think her breathing is severely labored, take her to the hospital! If she turns blue, if she seems unable to get her breath, quits taking fluids -- all are signs of distress and she should be taken to the hospital ER. She may need an infusion of fluids to help her along the road to recovery.
We have found that running the vaporizer is a big help. You might make a sort of tent over the vaporizer and hold her under it to breathe in the steam for a few minutes especially prior to bedtime. My granddaughter is asmatic and this procedure helps a lot. V.
Also, to help with getting a toddler to drink something, try ice cubes. If anything my daughter will always take ice cubes. You can even freeze juices with added vitamin c. C is very important to immune systems, try to find a powder.
Hello,
As you might know, croup is not really a specific illness, rather the cough with the sound little ones tend to make when they get an illness, most of the time viral. You are right that dehydration is probably your biggest danger. One suggestion I can make is to think of something she might really like, i.e. some popsicles or her favorite juice that you think you might have more luck getting her to sip on. Maybe some sherbet or her favorite fruit sauce? and watch her. If she is getting dehydrated she will likely be sleepier, and her lips might look a little dry, eyes a little sunken. The other thing that can really help is a cool mist humidifier.
Hope that was helpful! By the way, I am a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Holly
Have you taken him to the doctor to get some medications? Hurry if you have not
Hi S.!
I have an 18mth old who has had croup 9 times since he's been born. Yes croup is viral but it really needs help in addition to home remedies to really go away or it could get worse.
Here is what honestly helps me. I took him to the dr so they gave me a steriod. Yes its a liquid but I had CVS flavor (like watermelon, cherry, or grape) it so its easier to take down. I noticed the difference in 24hrs with the meds!! Some times you need to insist that they give you something in order to give your daughter relief. The second is a two step process but it worked for me. Go into a bathroom and run the shower to hot and let her breathe in the steam for 15 min or so, then (as silly as this sounds) bring her to your fridge and open the freezer to breathe in the cool air. The hot air opens the airways and the cool helps with the consisitancy. Childrens Healthcare told us that when we brought him a couple of times and they work.
In terms of a breathing treatment. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked for a nebulizer and every time I have been told that croup is a throat issue rather than a bronchial issue. The treatments are meant for the lungs and that is not where croup is stemmed from.
I hope your little one feels better, and things work out for you.
Try pedialite Popsicles, Try anything that she may drink or eat.....make her some sweet tea. My daughter loved that when she was sick. Watered down orange juice.
Spend many nights sitting in the bathroom with the shower running hot. That is all that helped mine when she had it.
Try doing things like adding ice to her drink to make a sound when she shakes it. Just try to get creative.
Its rough but its part of it.
There is some baby vix now.
Good Morning, If she is not improvig with the cool mist humidifier, breathing is getting worse take her to the ER or CALL 911, because CROUP can cause swelling of the TRACHEA (BREATHING TUBE IN HER NECK THAT CONNECTS HER THROAT/PHARYNX TO LUNGS) AND LEAD TO RESPIRATORY FAILURE, DEFINITELY AN EMERGENCY. If her difficulty breathing is mild to moderate, change the filter on the humidifier to decrease risk of mold contamination.Also use the Shower, let it steam up AND BRING HER IN THE BATHROOM FOR 15-20 MIN; no smoking or loud fumes around her, dust her room, remove all stuffed animals.
Also, ask your Dr. for a Nebulizer machine to use at home, like we give Asthmatics. The Dr.can give you a RX for pulmocort, and normal saline, use this to give her treatments. Also oral steroids help in 24 hours. Control her fever with tylenol and motrin, offer her Gatorade when she is breathing comfortably.
Try to keep her calm, as anxiety and stress, in you and her, also worsen her breathing. I hope this helps.
It may take a bit of practice (and you doing it first with some bribes), but the netty pot helps my daughter amazingly. She has had trouble with croup several times since a year old, so I am religious about the netty pot. I also use a homeopathic decongestant combined with the vaporizor and osteopathy (similar in a way to chiropractic). Dr. Richard Armond is in Suwanne (www.cranialtherapy.org).
Keep her in the steam in the morning, but keep the vaporizor a cool vaporizor, not a steam one.
My daughter has had croup twice and she's only 18 months. This past time (last month) she went to the emergency room because of the strider. Strider is the heavy breathing. THis is where you have to worry. I was told my my oncall doctor at 3 am that I was to sit in the bathroom with the hottest shower running for 20 min. If the stider didn't go away, she was to go to the hospital. WE went and after a breathing treatment and steroid, fever came down and she was somewhat back to normal within 24 hours. Watch their chest to see if they struggle to breathe. The last time she had we were living in Ohio. There it was fall and we could take her outside to get fresh air. This helps strider like the shower. They need the cool fresh air to calm their lungs. Since it's still warm here, we were told to go for a car ride with the windows down or to open the freezer door and let the cold air rush in their face. Always use a humidifier to help sleeping. And prop their bed up. Hope this helps.
