Son Has Mild Case of the Croup

Have you tried taking him into the bathroom and steaming it up with the door closed? The steam can really help a lot. Sometimes taking them from steam straight to cool air can really help, as well.

I've never had much experience with it but I've heard some good advise on it. The best one I've heard is that if he wakes up at night with it and can't sleep or before bed take him outside and let them breath in the cool night air. Something about the cool or cold air is good for that. Bundle him up and take him out for a few minutes before bed and see if that helps. Hope he gets better soon!!

Hi J.,

My daughter has had croup 2 times. It was worse the second time. The first time the doctor gave her dexamethesone; a steroid type medication. It was to help woth the swollen membranes in her lungs I guess. It helps ease the croup. It doesn't get rid of it. And from what I read once you get it your prone to get it again, and maybe again. Look on WebMD and just type the word croup. Other than meds I sat in a bathroom with the door closed and the shower running (hot water only. I just sat on the floor of the bathroom with my daughter for about 15 minutes. It helped her breathe better. Of course you may have to do this several times depending on how bad your child has it and how much trouble they have breathing. I've been told that the night air sometimes helps too. Hope this helps.

My eight year old had that this winter and she was given cough meds. for the symtoms to help her rest it lasted about two weeks the cough sounds awful.....hope he gets feeling better

try before his bed time, bundle him up a little and walk around outside with him. The night time air that is chilled usually helps, also get a cool mist humidifier, the cold air again can help calm it. Good luck

My kids are older than your son but what I do for them is use a humidifier in their rooms at night and whatever room they are playing in. If they start coughing really bad in the night, you can open the freezer door on your fridge and let them breathe in that cool air or turn your shower on super hot and sit in the steam room with them. Is he taking anything over the counter for the cough. You might ask your pediatrician about an over the counter cough syrup but since your son is just 6 months old there may not be anything he can take yet. Good luck and I hope he is better soon!

I'm somewhat surprised that the doctors didn't give you more advice on this? It is scary listening to your little one with croup -- but the best things you can do are either sit in a steamy room with him (ie run the shower on HOT, close the shower door or curtain and just sit in the middle of the room with him-- OR take him outside in the cold, damp air (ie at night -- though lately it seems to be too warm for that). Or alternatively, run the humidifier in his room while he sleeps. Any one of those will help reduce the symptoms. Hope he gets better soon!

My son had croup for the 1st time about 6 months ago when he was 16 months old. It was pretty severe but he was not hospitalized. He did however have to take a round of steroids. To help minimalize the coughing, we dressed him in lighter clothing to keep him cooler which really seemed to help, especially at night. It was cold outside at the time so when he got worse (which was usually at night) we took him outside for a few minutes or opened up the freezer door and stood in front of it. It really seemed to help him breathe easier and cough less. My DR did prescribe a powerful cough syrup as well so that was able to sleep more at night. If your DR didn't give you anything for him to take to supress your son's cough I would call and ask about it if he is still irritable and unable to sleep. Maybe you could give him something over the counter for cough if you DR recommends it. The croup does make the child feel pretty miserable and irritable and truthfully I just did any and everything to keep him occupied when he was awake. I took him on lots of walks outside (in the cold air) and we read lots of books, watched lots of movies and drank tons of cold water. Constantly drinking cold fluids seemed to help my son. I know how scary it is to hear that cough but according to our pediatrician it always sounds worse than it is. Hopefully your son will be back to playing and feeling happy and healthy very soon!

My daughter, who is 3 1/2 now, has had croup twice. One time last year, where we had to go to the ER and a mild case this year. We were told to stick her head int the freezer or take her out in the cool air. We were also told to turn on the shower and let the bathroom fill with steam and to let her sit in there for a bit. I'm not sure if you were told these tricks. I hope it helps. Good luck, I know how it is when your child is irritable and you can't do anything about it.

I would sit in the steamy bath room while the hot shower was running to loosen the cough so it wasn't so harsh it works for a little while!

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L. G.

Hi J., I had the same problem with my now 16 month old when he was about 6 months old too. He did not sleep and I put a humidifier in his room and he slept better. You can give him a vitamin and/or I have used Silver Hydrosol as an immune defense to clear up an ear infection. You can go to the natural food store and find it. I also am a customer of a wellness company that makes products safer for your home that will help with respiratory problems also. They hae great childrens vitamins that are all natural and fresh. You can visit my website and request more information. www.kristies.fourpointwellness.com.

I totally understand what your going through. My son has had the same thing. The only thing that seemed to work for him was sitting in the bathroom with the shower as hot as it would go. Just letting him breath the steam seemed to help. The humidifier helps too. You just have to be carefull of mold growth. It will pass hang in there. goodluck!

Cool night air. We use to sit in a swing and he would go right back to sleep. I made sure we were warm by sharing body heat and wrapped up in a blanket.