My Little girl has had Croup again

Moose_2

Hi, My little one, who is nearly 4, has had croup for the 3rd time. Christmas she ended up in hospital as she couldn't breathe at all.
May she had again but not as bad but last week she was thrashing about in my arms and gasping terribly. It passed after 15 mins. You are probably wondering why I didn't call an ambulance!
She is awful when taking her to the Doctors, she screams and cries and is petrified after the episode at Christmas (it took 3 of us to hold her down to get the steroid into her to keep her airway open). It is far better for her to keep her home so that she calms down far more quickly than she would in an ambulance or hospital, obviously, if things were really bad I wouldn't hesitate to call for help!

What I am hoping is that someone has some advice that I haven't already had about helping her cope with croup.
She is prone to ear and throat infections and I hope she never gets croup again but if she does, what can I do??
I have tried vics vapour rub on her chest but she is allergic to it. Are humidifiers any help?
Steam helps a bit.
Help gratefully recieved
Many Thanks
Helen

wendym

We used to run a small hot bath (topped up with really hot water from a kettle) and I would sit in the bathroom with my daughter, breathing in the steam. If I didn't have time to do that, I sat next to her bed with a kettle boiling on the floor. That is, I know, difficult to manage with a kettle that has an automatic cut-out (most of them now, I think).

It's a horrible frightening illness. I still feel tense when I remember an attack on Christmas Eve, when I was 9 months 2 weeks pregnant with number 2!

Could you leave her with someone you trust and go to see your GP without her, just to discuss all the latest treatments?

Good luck - I do know what it's like.

tanith

I will not advise you but just say what I used to do with my kids... sat in the bathroom with the hot shower running the steam worked wonders in calming the croup... I hope she is better soon

Bykerlass

All of my children suffered from croup and now one of my grandchildren. It is a frightening condition. We always found steam to be the best at reducing the symptoms but its not perfect. Try and keep her quiet and relaxed as possible which is easier said than done I know. We made a tent of towels over the cot and used the kettle as previously described. The only plus side I can say is that they do grow out of it and the bigger they get the less the symptoms are as severe as their airways are wider. Good luck

Js_Other_Half

An electric steamer wouldn't cut out the way a kettle does?

Mrs_B_12

If you keep the lid open on an electric kettle you can let it boil longer then keep turning it off manually. When my son had croup we ended up boiling 2 large pans of water and had the kettle on while they heated up.

Newstart_4

i had it when i was a kid, i remeber having a little latern in my room, that had a candle very similar to the things you use in oil burners and it gave of some sort of vapour, not sure what it was but it smelt exactly like carbolic soap,

still love that smell.:cool:

not sure if if the candle was buring anything or wether the vapour came from the candle, i was only 2-3 year old so its over 30 years ago.

my mum told me the story of when it first came on, i had been to the doc and was told i had a rattly chest, things got worse, and in the middle of the night the next door neighbour bashed on the door and said if you dont ring for the for the doc now, i will!!. cos they could hear the wheezing thru the walls, they got the doc out and he totaly freeked out, told my mum i dint have time for an abulance to come and i needed to be at the hopital right away, told her to wrap me in a blanket and he would get us there.

spent a bit of time in the hospital and on a follow up vist to the doc he confessed that he thought i wouldnt have been alive when i got the hospital and he realy thought he would have to pull over and give me a tracheotimy(sp)on the back seat of his car.:eek:

i dont remember any of it, just the realy cool lamp i had at night and the lovely smell.:rotfl:

morgansmummy

Hi,

I totally sympathise, my LO had another croup attack on Monday eve. I just trned the shower in the ensuite right up, closed the door and windows and we sat there in the steam and it cleared fairly quickly. I took him to the Doctor on tuesday just to make sure that's what it was and his advice was that steam is the absolutely best thing for them.

It is scary when they are struggling to breathe, bless him, he sounds like Barry White at the moment (he's 2 and a half). I have spent the past three nights sharing a bed with him - absolute nightmare, what a wriggler - but it seems to be better now, and I can't wait for a tidy night's sleep!:rolleyes:

El

snowmaid

Moose wrote: »

Hi, My little one, who is nearly 4, has had croup for the 3rd time. Christmas she ended up in hospital as she couldn't breathe at all.
May she had again but not as bad but last week she was thrashing about in my arms and gasping terribly. It passed after 15 mins. You are probably wondering why I didn't call an ambulance!
She is awful when taking her to the Doctors, she screams and cries and is petrified after the episode at Christmas (it took 3 of us to hold her down to get the steroid into her to keep her airway open). It is far better for her to keep her home so that she calms down far more quickly than she would in an ambulance or hospital, obviously, if things were really bad I wouldn't hesitate to call for help!

What I am hoping is that someone has some advice that I haven't already had about helping her cope with croup.
She is prone to ear and throat infections and I hope she never gets croup again but if she does, what can I do??
I have tried vics vapour rub on her chest but she is allergic to it. Are humidifiers any help?
Steam helps a bit.
Help gratefully recieved
Many Thanks
Helen

Does anyone smoke in your house? If so, they need to stop immediately. My husband and I smoked, but NEVER inside the house. My son still got ear infections and bronchial asthma. The ENT consultant told us to stop smoking immediately otherwise he would be forced to stop treating our son!

Follow the steam advice which works well. Has your child been on ventolin etc? Can they not supply a portable nebuliser?

Jet

My little boy has had several bouts of croup. The first time he got it, I was totally freaked out and we ended up calling an ambulance. When they explained what it was at the hospital and what to do next time, I felt more comfortable.

Basically as other posters have said; just keep calm and get the child into a room with lots of steam.

Hobel

I don't have children (yet), but have you thought about a facial sauna. The kind of thing that we adults use to try and keep our skin clear. This might be easier to use.

HTH