Croup - pls share your experience

[joannek]

My daughter has croup. She's had a fever since last Friday. We brought her to see Dr. Thondup on Sat. Dr Thondup said she has croup. She was Ok on Sat & Sun after the medication. I thought she was on the way to recovery cos she was playing & eating again. But this morning she had a fever of 39.5C which went away for a little while & came back in the afternoon. And I had to give her the suppository of medicine again =(.

She normally a chatty active child, who runs around & talks non-stop. I have never seen her so down. and she normally recovers from illnesses in 2-3 days. now she couldn't get up from bed, and was whiny all the time. We let her watch TV, and she just sat there on the sofa, barely opening her eyes. or she sits on my lap holding onto my hands. Dr. said it will take 7-10 days for her to recover.

Apparently croup is a very common illness. Anyone had experience to share? So I know this lengthy recovery is normal? Thanks.

 

[Bizeemama]

2 of my four have croup. None have ever had it last 7 - 10 days! that seems a bit excessive to me. Normally they get a runny nose in the afternoon and normally wake around 2 - 3 am with "crouping". We normally give a combination of paracetamol, dimitap and then sit in the steamy bathroom. This normally works within about 20 - 30 minutes and they normally can have some sleep before another steam session 2 or 3 hours later. Mine have always crouped at night or on dawn and never during the day. Normally they are perky enough the next day but may indeed croup again on the second night. I have never had them croup more than three nights in a row. An upper respiratory tract infection normally follows but it is often just in the form of a light cold and they sleep well there after.

 

[fee]

My experience with croup is similar to Bizeemamam, with it never lasting more than two nights. I know this is not so easy in Hong Kong but one thing that I found worked in New Zealand was to wrap him up warm and take him out into the cold night air. Seemed to open up his airways well. Doctor even recommended this.

 

[2littleangels]

My 3yo has had croup twice - both times very severe at the time and requiring hospital attention - but by morning, following the medication, it's been completely cleared up.

 

[capital]

one of mine had croup twice, first at 9 or 10 months old, and again about 1 year later. Croup is caused by several different virus'. In an adult it presents as laryngitis, in a small child as croup, where they have that distinctive croupy sounding breathing, it sounds like a seal barking when they breathe. The first time was the worst for my son. He seemed like he was getting a cold, runny nose a bit out of sorts, I put him to bed as usual, checked on hiom when I went to bed and his breathing sounded funny, but he was sleeping and not in distress, a few hours later he woke up sounding horrible, but worse than before, so I steamed him up in the shower and his breathing got worse and worse, you could see he was really struggling to breathje so we went to the emergency department, of course by the time we got there he was much better. he still sounded bad but he wasn't struggling to breathe. He was given 1 dose or steriods by mouth, that was it for medication. They told us that croup usually gets better on the ride to the hospital, very typical. Croup is usually worse at night and gets better once you get out into the cold air, which is why most kids improve on the way to the hospital (we live in canada and croup season here is in the winter). They told me I made it worse by using the steamand should avoid hot steam, instead take your child outside or hold them in front of the freezer in your refridgerator with the door open so the can breathe cold air. I was suppose to go back to the hospital if he still was not breathing well after so many minutes outside. I don't remember how long, 10 or 15 I think. The next day he was better but had symptoms like a bad cold, and then at night we did have to go sit outside for a bit. The worst part was 2 nights, certainly not 7-10, though the cold symptoms may have lasted longer, I really don't remember. The second time he had it is was much less severe and didn't have to go to emergency, lasted 1 night of croupy barking.

 

[joannek]

thanks for sharing, girls.

the thing with her is, she hasn't developed that barking cough. i brought her to Thondup before it started. Thondup gave her 1 dose of steroid by mouth to prevent her from that scary unable to breath part. She losing her voice, coughing once in a while (day & night), and little runny nose. the thing is she keep having this fever, since friday. which really tires her. she's having a fever again today, so that means she's still fighting the infection.... =(

 

[peace]

my little one has had croup around 4 times in the past 12 months. each bout lasted from 4 to 7 days (max). each time she had croup, we went to her paed, also Dr. Thondup. of the 4 times she had croup, he gave her oral steroids (1 shot) twice and the other two times, he just advised us to let it run its course since it seemed like a milder case.

joanne, i'm sorry to hear your little girl is unwell. i'm sure it's just as hard for you as it is for her! if you are still worried about her fever and lack of energy, i'd suggest that you call Dr. Thondup. he might want to see her again, just to make sure it's nothing more than croup.

take care!