Son Almost 2 Got Croup Twice in a Month and Now Bad Cold

He may be sensitive to milk or have some other food intolerance? Also, don't give any more vaccinations for awhile - you can delay them and give them one by one, not multiples at the same time. Definitely don't vaccinate if he is having any cough issues to avoid triggering immune problems.

I would avoid overusing the steroids. You can try this remedy:
(http://www.iherb.com/Children-s-Cough-Bronchial-Syrup-Che...)

cheers,
P

N.~ I would love to give you a referral to a great homeopath is you would like. They can remove this weakness and susceptibility to colds permanently. I know because I worked for my son. Here is link for homeopathic information http://nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/... In case you have never hear of it...But hope is on the way...Let me know if you'd like her number She's really nice and eager to help. In the meantime...at Whole foods market they carry a cough syrup by "Boiron" called Chestal...It's amazing and will save you many a sleepless night...Best wishes.

Allergies are the cause of most illnesses,they weaken the immune system.

NAET.com for allergy eliminations
Say Goodbye to Illness by Dr. Devi Nambudripad

Be well.

N.

Hi N.,

My son is also prone to upper respiratory issues and we are very vigilant about keeping him well. One thing we discovered on our journey to good health was the use of homeopathic medicine. Children respond exceptional well to these remedies. There are no known side effects of these medicines and are used all over the world by the millions of people who don’t have health insurance or access to medical care. Since we discovered homeopathy, we have never used a single over the counter or prescription medication for the last 3 years. If you are unfamiliar with homeopathy it is very important to get a good, easy to use book that will guide you when someone in your family becomes sick. For croup my son responds to homeopathic remedy “spongia”. One dose and it is gone. It is very miraculous how these remedies work. My son use to get croup every few months beginning in the Fall through Winter. Now when it comes on, we give him a dose of the remedy and that’s it. Remedies can be bought at any health food store (Henry’s, Whole Foods etc.) They are around $7 for a bottle. You can also order kits from companies. We have a great travel one from Boiron. Their info. is www.boironusa.com. One of the best books I have found that is so easy to use is the book Homeopathy an A to Z home handbook by Alan Schmukler. You can look up what specific remedies do, you can look up by illness, there is even a section for injuries/illness related to different occupations, a section for pregnancy and birth. It is just a fantastic book. I hope this help. Good luck.. Z

My 1st daughter had the same thing at same age. After drugs and drs appts and saying she had asthma, which i knew she didn't I went all natural. No dairy, took her to a upper cervical chiroprator (no cracking), no more vaccines and only natural remedies. She is now 6 1/2, hasn't been on antibiotics since,only been to the Dr for annual checks, only gets a cold once in awhile. It was totally worth it to make the changes. (and she has dairy now, just cut it when she gets a runny nose) Hope that helps.

N.,

Check out the cough syrup from Hyland's. It's all natural and made from honey and I use it whenever my son gets the croup, and he has experienced it twice now. This was the only thing that got him through the night with good chunks of sleep.

www.hylands.com

Also, I run a humidifier on medium in his room at night and when he experiences the night cough I steam up a shower and play in the bathroom with him for a while. This usually helps for a few hours.

You might want to also look into getting an air purifier for rooms he's in. My son also has fairly bad seasonal allergies and I have to dust thoroughly all the time as well as vacuum daily. And, the Pedi has him on a regular allergy med that seems to have calmed the croup issues a lot. So, you might want to have them test him for allergies at least pollen and dust.

I think that's all I can think of right now. Good luck and I hope your little on gets to be healthy for a bit soon!

dear N.,

My daughter had a bad cough for a month and a half, not sure if it was croup, but she would cough all night, it was awful. Our nurse said that one mother gave her children fresh organic beet juice for bad colds and coughs. So we tried it, we juiced carrot, a little beet and apple and in 3 days it went away. A few weeks later, she got the horrible cough again, so we did the juice w/beet and it went away in less than a week. Now we juice daily and make sure she has the juice at least every other day and she has not gotten the cough in over 2 months. It works for us, give it a try, it may help. We make the juice for the whole family and use 10 carrots, 1 beet, and 2 fuji apples and it is enough for 2 days.
Best of luck.
E.
ps. at night we used the Hylands cough medicine, one dose 2 hours before bed and a second dose before bed, the second dose seemed to kick in better, and a little dab of Vicks on her chest and the back of her neck and lots of love.

My daughters both experienced the same thing and after numerous erroneous diagnosis, it was found that they could not tolerate cows milk. Since taking them off milk they haven't experienced croup or viral onset asthma once. An excellent remedy for cough, if it hasn't already been mentioned, is vick's vapor rub. Put a generous amount on the bottoms of the feet and cover with socks. May have to be repeated once during the night, depending on the severity of the cough. Good luck and I hope this helps

hi N., my little guy (he's 2 years) has had croup too many times to count from just a little cold. we invested in a really good cold mist humidifier from costco. we have a family history (both sides) of asthma and so warm air could be deadly to an asthmatic. we also used to elevate his bed by putting a pillow under the mattress so that he wasn't laying flat and could breathe a little better. our doctor gave us a prescription for a decongestant (this was after the ban of over the counter), so they should be able to do that. i also have steroids i the fridge but i worry about the possible effects, so i try to treat first with the decongestant, humidifier cranked, lots of fluid and if he lets me, a saline mist as well. i feel for you. whenever i hear that bark in the middle of the night i am immediately panicked. good luck.

Hi: You might try adding a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to the water in a diffuser in his room at night; or mix a drop with a little oil (even grapeseed or olive oil) and rub it on his chest before bed.

Hylands (who makes the teething tablets) also came out with an all natural line of cough and cold remedies. They work great too!

I grew up with the croup and one of my kids had it. Make your air more humid. Use a vaporizer and when you or your husband takes a shower, let him be in the humid bathroom too with toys, etc. Keep him more hydrated. Good luck!

Croup cannot be cured with cough medicine. It has to go away on its own for one. If the coughing is that bad you need to either take him out in the cold air (won't work because its summer) or take him in a hot steamy bathroom. It opens up the airways.

Hi N.,
I had the same issue with my son where I was rushing him to the emergency room because it his cough from the croup was SO bad he couldn't breathe. After taking him to his pediatrician every time after the ER visits and having no resoution, I demanded that they put him on allergy medication.
We lived on a ranch surrounded by lemons trees, avacado trees, orange trees, etc. Doctor after doctor tried telling me that his sinuses were too underdeveloped for allergies to be a factor. FINALLY one of the doctors listened after reviewing how many times the little guy got the croup. They put him on Zyrtec right before bed every night and he has had one runny nose/cough in the last year and a half.
Although it might not be the same issue with your little one I thought at least you might want to know what one potential cause could be. It was over seven months before the doctors would listen to me and take this seriously... hundreds of dollars and several ER and Urgent care visits later, he was like a new kid just because of the allergy medication...

we also have that lingering nightime cough after a round of croup. I turn the cool mist humidifier on high and leave it right next to the head of his bed, which helps a lot. We also use vicks vapor rub, not sure how much it helps the actual cough, but it's soothing and he loves having it rubbed on his feet ;) I also prop him up on lots of pillows at night now, that helps a lot. Good luck Mama!

I agree with the advice to put Vick's Vaporub on the feet then put a pair of socks on. Sounds so weird but it works better than cough syrup!

try the Santa Monica Homeopathic store they are extremely helpful and everything is natural 7th and Broadway they are great!!

My son had croup when he was an infant and had to get the shot twice. Try a ventilator at night or keep his window open. Hylands does make cough medicine but use as a last resort.

My son is 8 and still gets croup with colds. The good news is as he's gotten older it's not as often and doesn't last as long as those early years. We too have the liquid steroid in the fridge and give him a dose at the very first sign of an attack, he's never needed it more than 2 nights in a row ever. When he wakes us we immediately go to turn on the tub on the hottest setting and close the doors and sit with him and give him the steroid once he's able to swallow it. We turn the tub off once we run out of hot water but sit in the steamy room still. Once he can breathe again and stops throwing up from the coughing and struggling to breathe we put him in his room with a cool mist humidifier. We will sometimes take him outside after being in the bathroom and sit in the car with him with the windows down and him covered in a blanket or into the garage if the weather isn't nice enough to be in the car. Our ped recommended a long lasting cough suppressant before bedtime because his coughing fits could be pretty bad for several nights, even if the croup cough itself was gone, but this was before they pulled everything for young children. A spoon of honey is good. What you're trying to do is soothe the irritation from the coughing so they can heal so something to coat the throat is good. We'd elevate the top of the crib when he was little and now give him an extra pillow. You don't want to use decongestants as those are drying which only irritates the cough more. We've had our share of emergency runs to the drs, nebulizer treatments, steroid shots etc. My second son has also gotten croup a few times but not nearly as much as my first. We're old pros, my husband and I go into autopilot at the first bark now..it's funny in it's way LOL
This is a great article by Dr Sears about croup with treatment suggestions as well http://askdrsears.com/html/8/T084200.asp

Best thing is to use a humidifier in his bedroom. My youngest son got it. I also use to stand with him in a hot shower just before I put him to bed. He did outgrow it:) I know it is hard when they cough all the time. Sorry I don't know any herbal meds.

H.

Sounds like your son might have what my son, now 5 has. Whenever he gets a cold, it turns right into a cough (less so now). Fortunately, we have an amazing pediatrician. She said he has an asthma that he will outgrow. Whenever he gets a cough, she puts him on Albuterol which he breaths in through a nubulizer, and his cough goes away pretty quickly. You might want to check with your pediatrician. If you are looking for homopathic cough medicine, Hyland's makes a cough medicine with honey that can help. Good luck!

Have you tried "Chestal" by Bioron it's all natural i use a lot of their products you can get it at Wholefoods and CVS carries it..hard to find there though..go into Wholefoods and ask the nutritionists that work in the vitamin dept they're very helpful at least the ones at the Wholefoods in Pasadena.
Their cold meds are great too. good luck!

Hi N., I know croup is very scary. My youngest daughter only had a bad case once....but after putting her in a steamy bathroom, it seemed like she was still having difficulties. I took her to the ER, and felt kind of sheepish, because by the time I got her there the symptoms had subsided. The staff there though told me I had done the right thing. The best thing seemed to be having a vaporizer going so that the air would stay moist. Hope this helps. I know your whole family needs to sleep.

Hi there, so sorry to hear about your son. I dont know where you live but I would contact Dr. Feder who is a homeopathic doctor (also a regular md as well). She is very good and would have some advice at the least. She is in Los Angeles. I have a natural company called Clean George and would suggest you try our hand purifiers for future use to help keep the bugs at away! :) good luck!

Spongia Tosta which is a homeopathic along with the herbal remedy Rosmarinus Officianalis worked wonders for my son. Lots of studies showing that rosmarinus is effective. You should be able to get both at Whole Foods or health food store. Also make sure to do Vit C a few days before, the day of, and a few days after travel.

Best,
D.

Hi N.,

What I know is, the body is created from the inside out. "Coating the throat" does not cure the cough, it only suppresses it. How can a child be "prone to croup"? Is that what the doctor said because he only has medicine for sickenss and he can't tell you how to heal your child?

I use a nutritional program with my own family and my clients families. It is about feeding the body so that that body can heal itself naturally. For a child it would be a super simple program, 1 half nutrition shake in the morning and one half in the after noon. We can talk about a cleansing drink that he can take also (1 oz a day), I have given it to my kids for the past 3 years.

N., you HAVE to feed your child so he can heal himself. It is not about "what can you do for his croup" it is what can you do for his body so that it can heal itself.

I challenge you to connect with me and see if this will be for your son.

B.
Family Wellness Coach
Education not Medication

My aughter had croup when she was an infant and I would get in the bathroom seal it up and run a hot shower until the room was steamy. Maybe a humidifier would help. Good Luck

there is this wonderful cough medicine that you can get from a chinese medical doctor (sometimes an acupuncturist or a china town) that has healing herbs that can heal the worst of coughs.
One of them tastes good and isn't as healing and the other medicine they sell tastes terrible, but really works.

Hi N.,
My son had croup once for about a week and really scared us the first night when he coughed so hard it seemed like he couldn't breathe. I spoke to a nurse whose daughter used to get croup every year and she said it was best to take the baby outside in the cool and moist night air if they are coughing. Cough medicine doesn't work. Also, a humidifier in the room really helped my son. I kept the humidifier on every night all night long and he wouldn't wake up coughing hardly at all. If he did cough, then it was just brief and a light cough. You can also run the shower until the bathroom is full of steam and then have your child breathe in that moist air but it is just a temporary fix. I definitely suggest the humidifier if you don't already have one.

I hope that helps and that you and your little one can get some sleep! Congratulations on your new baby too!
L.

I have always used Baby Vicks Vapor rub on the bottom of the feet with a sock over it. This should stop the cough at night.

Does someone in your house (or that your son is around frequently) smoke? That can cause his tendency to get lung related illnesses.

I know you were hoping to find something besides cough syrup, but if nothing else works, try Delsym. It's an over the counter cough syrup that works when nothing else does. My doctor reccommended it.

I hope everyone feels better soon!

Have you ever tried a nebulizer (spelling??)with him? All 3 of my kids have had croup (1, 2, and 4 years old) and this is the only thing that seems to help. My 4 year old has always been more prone to croup than the others are. Ask your pediatrician. We got ours through our insurance which was either free or like $20. Then they give you a prescription for abuterol (same thing used for asthmatics in their inhalers). It's worth a try. Hang in there!

My son is 2 and was also prone to croup the first year. We made a few scary late night ER visits. When he had a bad cough, I'd run the shower and sit with him in my arms, also ran a humidifier at night. When it was really bad we asked permission from doc to give him a treatment before bedtime with the nebulizer. Good luck and congratulations!