High Maintenance Mom

A child in our center has croup and a friend of mine sent this informative message about her experiences. Croup is relatively common and it's likely you will either experience it at home or know someone whose kids have had it. "Between my two daughters I have dealt with almost a dozen episodes of croup, so I have a good bit of experience. I should say that I am not a doctor. I am simple telling you about my experiences and what has worked for my daughters.

The reason, I feel I should share my experiences is because in some cases the croup can be a very scary experience for the child and for the parents. Even after having dealt with several bouts of croup, that distinctive cough in the middle of night starts my heart racing...

At anytime dealing with a child who is having trouble breathing, you should feel free to call 911. I am not saying this to scare you. I am saying this to empower you to call 911 if you feel the situation is beyond your control. I have never actually called 911 for croup, but I have been close a couple of times. 911 is there to help you in these situation. My pediatrician told me that croup is one of the most scary (non-life threatening) experience that some parents will ever have. He has even had neighbors bring their children to his house in the middle of the night with the croup.

Now that I have you all scared, let me walk you back from the edge. There are several steps you can take at home that will help your child breath easier in as little as 5 to 10 minutes. Here is a typical scenario: You wake in the middle of the night with a barking child. For me by the time I fully wake up and get to my daughter, she is coughing, crying and on the verge of panic. When a child with croup inhales, they can be making a terrible raspy noise (technically called strider) when they breathe in. This is very scary for the child and for the parent. The first step is to calm and to reassure your child. To do this you may need to first calm yourself. As we have all experienced, only a calm parent can help a scared child to calm themselves. I usually just scoop up the child, grab a blanket and head right outside. The cool air will help to calm the child and will start to make their breathing easier. If you keep this plan in mind, you'll know what you are going to do, you'll feel more confident and less panicked yourself. Going outside and calming down may be enough to help your child breathe better. You may need to talk your child into slowing their breathing down through deep breathes. I have found that telling my daughter that she has croup and that we are going to work together to help her breathe better goes a long ways towards making her calmer.

After about 10-15 minutes outside, if you child is still coughing a lot and/or is make the terrible raspy noise when they inhale, the next step is try steam. If you have another adult at home, have them start the shower on full hot to steam up the bathroom. It takes awhile for the bathroom to fill with steam, so you might as well stay outside until it is good and steamy. By this time, you will be quite cold from standing outside in your PJs without shoes, so heading into a hot steamy bathroom will be a welcomed change. I find steam takes longer to help than cool air, so I try the cool air first and then follow up with steam. I usually stay in the bathroom until the steam is gone or the child feels better. If you run out of steam and your child is still uncomfortable, head back outside and repeat the cycle again once the water heater has recovered.

Once your child is breathing better, they are still going to be sick and needy. They will still cough and will likely want to fall asleep in your arms. I find sitting in a recliner with the child on my chest helps elevate their head and they can sleep better. In general, after a serious bout, you are not likely to get much more sleep that night. If your child does fall asleep, they may very well awake again with another bout after a few hours. If you have a humidifier, this can help them sleep better.

For both of my daughters, croup typically lasts three nights. I say nights because they often have very few symptoms during the day. I have found that the second night is usually the worst, so make sure you have the humidifier going. If the first night was an awful experience, I contact the doctor the next day. If the situation warrants, they can give you medication to help with your child's restricted breathing until they are over the croup."