Croup

[Bridie's Mama]

So my daughter (2) has croup...she seems to be losing her voice...is this normal??

We are using the normal remedies...steamed bathroom, outside air, warm air vaporizer w/eucalyptus...trying to get her to drink lots of liquids & trying to keep her from crying as much as possible.

Any other recommendations?

My biggest question is the voice loss thing...I hadn't read that before, but I guess it would make sense.

[joy77]

My daughter (15 months old) had croup about one or two months ago. She never lost her voice but it did get really horse for awhile. Of course, she doesn't say a lot of words yet, but you could still tell that her voice was deeper and "rougher" than normal.

Joy

[elmh23]

My kids are still getting over the lingering effects of croup from 2wks ago. My 3 year old had a very horse voice, but my 9 month old lost his completely. Of the two, ds was the one who needed the most care (went to urgent care for a breathing treatment.) When he would cry, you couldn't hear it until he started barking.

Hope your little one is better soon.

[KT'smama]

Our baby is very hoarse but she hasn't lost her voice yet.
We went to the ER with our 10 month old the other night...said it was croup because of her barking like a seal...she was really having trouble breathing and her oxygen level was a bit low. After that night though she hasn't had the barking cough, but is severely congested, coughing is a wet sound and she chokes on it a lot. She even was wheezing some in her sleep. Was this really croup or something else? She can't sleep lying down I've had to hold her rocking her for her to be able to sleep at all. She is totally unvaxed. She had NO previous symptoms...she has not been sick or had a runny nose or anything. The night before she had the croup sounding cough she coughed a congested sounding cough which we thought was odd becuase she hadn't been sick, and then the next day a few coughs and that night is when she had the attack.
The ER wanted us to do motrin around the clock to help the swelling in her throat and also some orapred. I did the orapred but haven't been doing the round the clock motrin...
Is there anything else I can do to relieve her congestion? I don't want to take her to emergent care but she sounds awful and the dr doesn't open again until Wednesday.
She coughs until she is about to puke which made me think whooping cough, but doesn't that present with a couple weeks of sickness before too?

[Peony]

Originally Posted by KT'smama

Our baby is very hoarse but she hasn't lost her voice yet.
We went to the ER with our 10 month old the other night...said it was croup because of her barking like a seal...she was really having trouble breathing and her oxygen level was a bit low. After that night though she hasn't had the barking cough, but is severely congested, coughing is a wet sound and she chokes on it a lot. She even was wheezing some in her sleep. Was this really croup or something else? She can't sleep lying down I've had to hold her rocking her for her to be able to sleep at all. She is totally unvaxed. She had NO previous symptoms...she has not been sick or had a runny nose or anything. The night before she had the croup sounding cough she coughed a congested sounding cough which we thought was odd becuase she hadn't been sick, and then the next day a few coughs and that night is when she had the attack.
The ER wanted us to do motrin around the clock to help the swelling in her throat and also some orapred. I did the orapred but haven't been doing the round the clock motrin...
Is there anything else I can do to relieve her congestion? I don't want to take her to emergent care but she sounds awful and the dr doesn't open again until Wednesday.
She coughs until she is about to puke which made me think whooping cough, but doesn't that present with a couple weeks of sickness before too?

Sounds like croup. We are just going through croup with my DD2, and same exact thing. She couldn't even cry and breathe at the same time, even her cry was just barking. Now her cough is very wet sounding, and she chokes and gags, and almost pukes. She also was not sick before this, it came on very suddenly. We've had whooping cough, and the cough is very different, the barking like seal is very distinct of croup. Croup is an condition, it is caused by several different viruses, some children get it (different pathology of airways, etc...), others don't.

To help the croup you should be using lots of humidity. Make a tent with a sheet, and chairs, and camp out in it with baby and a humidifier going full blast on cool mist. Croup runs about a 5-7 day course.

[lindberg99]

I used to get croup every year and would lose my voice for several days. And this went on until I was in grad school!

So I'd say it's definitely normal.

[KT'smama]

Thanks for your replies...we went back to the ER tonight because she wasn't doing really great....turns out she has RSV. UGH!

[Peony]

Originally Posted by KT'smama

Thanks for your replies...we went back to the ER tonight because she wasn't doing really great....turns out she has RSV. UGH!

Poor baby. Yep, RSV is one of the viruses that can cause croup. I hope she feels better soon. Did they give her steroids or breathing treatments?

[taradt]

Croup is the vocal cords being compromised (which is why cough remedies don't work). Usually in older children it is a lingering cough and a loss of voice. Younger children get the barking cough

[simplemama]

This thread has gotten me a bit worried. My 14 month old ds has a bad cough and I don't know what to think. I feel so helpless sometimes when my kids get sick because I am faced with fear of going to doctors and being persuaded to use something for my child that in reality may not really be the best solution. We also don't vax and I know if we went to the doctor/emergency room that we would get a lot of flak for that. My 4 yo dd had it and it seems to be gone for the most part. She had 2-3 days of 100-101 temps and it took 5-6 days I'd say for her to be back to normal. Now ds has had the cough for maybe 4 days and had a 99.7 temp today with a lot of grumpiness-very uncharecteristic. He definitely has some wheezing and gagging. The cough just sounds very congested and I can tell it hurts him when he coughs as he cries each time.
Am I being a bad mom for not taking him in? I've just been using Silver Shield (a good brand of collodial silver) and belladona and I found some children's echinacea today. He hasn't eaten hardly anything except lots of yummy mama's milk and I did give him some water today and yesterday that he liked.

[simplemama]

p.s. 2 years ago I had a similar problem and went to the ER and it sucked-they pumped me full of water basically and 2-3 hours later, came back to say um we think you have bronchitis-take this antibiotic and pay us an insane amount of money. I'm afraid of a replay of this.

[Peony]

Originally Posted by simplemama

This thread has gotten me a bit worried. My 14 month old ds has a bad cough and I don't know what to think. I feel so helpless sometimes when my kids get sick because I am faced with fear of going to doctors and being persuaded to use something for my child that in reality may not really be the best solution. We also don't vax and I know if we went to the doctor/emergency room that we would get a lot of flak for that. My 4 yo dd had it and it seems to be gone for the most part. She had 2-3 days of 100-101 temps and it took 5-6 days I'd say for her to be back to normal. Now ds has had the cough for maybe 4 days and had a 99.7 temp today with a lot of grumpiness-very uncharecteristic. He definitely has some wheezing and gagging. The cough just sounds very congested and I can tell it hurts him when he coughs as he cries each time.
Am I being a bad mom for not taking him in? I've just been using Silver Shield (a good brand of collodial silver) and belladona and I found some children's echinacea today. He hasn't eaten hardly anything except lots of yummy mama's milk and I did give him some water today and yesterday that he liked.

I understand. We never used docs with DD1, well there was one time she was 10m old that she had a 107 temp, that did freak me out and we went in. It turned into a nasty thing because I knew she was ok, but let myself be talked into all the tests, which are all negative and was told it was a virus and to go home and let it run it's course. Anyway, I just learned more about handling things on my own, and we didn't have a need for docs for several more years. There is a time and place for docs and hospitals though, and I think most of us recognize when it it time to get help.

It can be hard to reach out when you are afraid of the unknown, how your vax stance is going to be taken, etc... This doesn't help right now, but I'd suggest after the holidays trying to track down a doc that you could call if need be. Ask at a LLL meeting, post on the FYT board here, and make an appointment and feel the doc out, just see if that is someone you would be ok with calling when or if you need help. To be honest, I never saw the need for this until my DD became very ill as a newborn. Fortunately I had JUST made a connection with a pedi that my HB MW really liked, and since my MW was very much about breaking the rules, and pretty outspoken about it, I knew if she liked and respected this doc that we'd get along just fine. We did, and I do not even want to think about the nightmare we could of had if I didn't have a doc that was supportive of my decisions, DD2 ended up being sick for a very long time, we have been in and out of that office probably 25 times in one year.


That still doesn't mean that I still don't have an issue reaching out at times. DD2 has chronic lung disease, the croup was really affecting her airway, we had to go in and get steroid injections so she could breathe easier, it made me a bit nervous. My doc was out for the holidays, I get nervous about the reaction we could get when they hear DD's medical history and the fact she isn't vaxed. Being nervous is ok, sometimes I think it is helpful because it can put you more on edge, and you are more apt to question things.

The more experienced I've become, the more comfortable I've gotten at recognizing when things are out of my comfort level. I'd get nervous before but I think a good portion of it was the fear of "OMG, what if we have to go in, what are they going to say? Is it going to be a huge battle?", I'd stress about that. Now I know I can handle it, and that fear is gone. Like I said before I still get nervous, but I'm not fearful, if that makes sense. I can listen to my gut more.

I also practice minimal response, I don't freely give out info that it not needed. I have also been known to say that we are just delaying for the baby (who is 14m as well), and not giving out my oldest's info. Our doc knows our history and our beliefs, so it's not an issue with her, but with DD2's hospital stays, all the consults with specialists, etc... I fall back on this.

So I guess I'm trying to say that no I don't think you are a bad mom, and if you felt that your DS really needed go in that you would take him, but when it's one of those iffy times, that yes it can be hard to go in. DD2 is awake so off to deal with a very grumpy, whiny toddler.