Baby with Really Croupy Cough

If she can't breathe and is barking, don't let the doctor's office tell you they can't see you until Monday.
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Good luck!

Try bringing her in the cold air outside..My little girl had the same problem...After you bring her outside for 10 to 15 min, then do the steamy shower for about 10min. It should help a little. Keep the humidifier running 24-7. It took a good 4 to 5 week before she got better. Good luck..

To A.,
Find a new Dr. and fast. Every pediatrician should set
asside sick time in his/her schedule. 5 days is way too long for you to be concerned. You need to demand to be seen now. THat Dr.'s practices are unacceptable.

L.

If your daughter ever has any severe wheezing or real difficulty breathing she needs to be seen immediately even if in the middle of the night. Call your doctor or 911 as croup can be very serious in infants. You can read about it in the book "What to Expect the First Year". A great book for many issues and month by month progress of your baby. Your doctor can also give you a prescription steriod called prednisolone to help relax the swelling of the throat. My daughter went through this at 3 months and the medicine really helped. Good luck I hope she feels better soon.

I have read the other responses and agree with those who say waiting till Monday is not acceptable. I can't imagine a doctor hearing a child is having trouble breathing at night and their response is "we'll see you Monday". You should call the doctor back one more time and ask if she could be seen today. If not, I would head straight to the ER. At least there someone will listen to her chest and rule out croup or pneumonia etc. She may need a steroid medication to open up the airways. Monitor her for fever as that will help them diagnose her. Also, we bought a crib wedge at the store that raises one end of the crib slightly so they don't lay flat. Finally, I know I wouldn't be able to sleep at night until she was seen by someone!

The homeopathic remedy Spongia Tosta is good for croupy coughs. You can get it at any health food store like Whole Foods. For a 9 month old I would use the 60X or 30c strength. Homeopathic remedies are safe to give babies, but as with anything, stop using if you notice any negative reaction. I use homeopathy with my family and it's amazing how well it works. Also, propping her up at night with something under her mattress will help the fluids to not collect. Don't just use pillows directly under her for fear of SIDS. Good luck!

If she sounds like Darth Vader (you said wheezing, wheezing is bad), call the Dr. back and tell them it can't wait. Don't mess with breathing problems. My son had asthma from age 1 to 5.5. Every 3 month checkup, he had a cold and a wheeze. I was in denial until the Dr. got blunt with me at 1 yr. Then I had an ER visit in the middle of the night when he sounded like Darth Vader. The Dr. office should see her today and check her blood oxygen level. Albuterol will fix her right up via a nebulizer, whether she has asthma or not. It calms the inflamation of the bronchioles. I have a friend who used it for a bad cold. Look up bronchiolitis, too. "barking like a seal" sounds like croup, though. Forgive me if I'm scaring you, but better safe than sorry.

Hi A.! I am a mother of 3 and my 3yo has had the croup several times. You really need to get your daughter into the doctor's ASAP!! Especially if she is having a hard time breathing. The doctor usually puts them on a steriod for a few days and it really works! I also found that cold works better than steam. If you bundle your daughter up and take her outside that might be better than the hot. However, I would really try to get in to see the doctor today!
Good luck!

Hi there. My children sometimes got cold symptoms from teething. First of all, as soon as you say bark....it is croup! My son had croup in October and ended up being hospitalized because his doctor told me not to worry about it. He ended up wheezing and it took many rounds of steroids and nebulizers to get it to stop. I don't mean to scare you....that is a rare case. But, the hot water in the shower didn't work for my son. A nurse at the hospital told me that the best thing I could have done was to put his coat on and sit outside and let him breathe in the cold air. It is true that normal OTC medication won't help. But, if your daughter starts wheezing or having difficulty breathing in any way.....don't wait til Monday...take her straight to the ER. Good luck!

Hi A.!
I can really understand your concern- my 8 1/2 month old is teething too... He gets a really runny nose when he teeths and on top of that, he has a cold right now too. If Madison is really "wheezing" (making a whistling or tight sound when she breaths) or you really feel she is having difficulty breathing... you should take her to see the doctor right away-When she wheezes, take a look at her tummy and chest... Does anything look out of the ordinary when she takes a breath? (Sucking in where it normally doesn't? around her collar bone or ribs?) If any of these things are happening call your doctor again and describe them to him/her.
I just got off of active duty myself... I'm a Navy nurse and most recently worked in the Emergency Room in San Diego. Thank your hubby for his service!!
Good luck! Sounds like you are doing a great job! :)

Hi A.,
Sorry about your little one's cough. Warm washcloths laid on her chest and upper back my help loosen the phlegm and ease the cough, also plenty plenty of fluids (ie breastmilk, or water if she is drinking that yet, or warm chamomile tea). That steam shower sounded like a great idea, even if you didn't notice an immediate shift, it may be helping. Gentle massage on her chest and back with a little bit of oil (olive, almond, grapeseed, whatever you have) may also help move things through and relax her lungs and diaphragm. You could put a drop of lavender essential oil in it too, if you have some. I hope she cuts that tooth soon and feels better!
Good luck and be well,
M.

I agree with Kate...Take her outside and get some fresh air for 20-30 mins a day!!! Stop running the humidifier too...they are germ incubators, unless you clean it daily. For my toddlers cough I use Vick's Vapor rub (there is a child formula that is made from all natural ingredients), but I do not know if that is okay to use with croup...check with your doc. I rub it all over her chest, neck and back. At night prop her head up with 2 or 3 pillows, so her sinus' drain.

Hi A.. I am a mother of a 4and a half year old boy who had the croup almost every two -three months between the ages of 2-3 beggining in october through april! It is very scary. I fshe is barking and wheezing that badly so as she cannot breath call 911. Our pedi had us Steam him in the bathroom every 2 hours for 20 minutes. throughout the days the croup is worse at night and usually last about 3-5 nights worse on the 2nd and 3rd night. Cool mist humidifier is a must I would blow it right in his face all night on high. So if she wakes gasping and gulping steam for 20 minutes if that does not relieve her take her outside for 20 minutes if you live in cold climate. Or open the freezer and have her breath in the cold air. Also her room should be kept cold it helps with the breating, open a window. We keep the heat on 62 and crack his window. If this does not help call 911! we have done this on 1 occassion they give them a breathing treatment and a steroid right there . This is very scary I know but hopefully she will out grow it. I was told my son would and so far this winter he has we have not had any croup . Good luck.....

Hi A.,

Have you tried using Vicks Vapor Rub? I recently heard from a friend of mine that rubbing a small amount of Vicks Vapor Rub on the bottom of their childs feet at night just before putting them to bed helped their child sleep through the night without coughing. Their child had gone through two weeks of coughing through the night. The very night they they tried the Vicks Vapor Rub their child slept through the night without coughing. I don't know if it will work for your little. Let me know if it does.

My son gets croup every year & he also has asthma that only comes on after a cold. You may want to have asthma ruled out for your daughter. My sons symptoms started as an infant from day one. Anyway, the best remedy for the croupy cough is cold air & staying elevated. When my kids get it, I sleep holding them upright on the couch next to an open window (with lots of blankets). It's not the best nights sleep for me, but it seems to get them the most amount of sleep. Also, when the cough gets really bad, the best remedy is to go outside in the cold air. It works well & quick & better then the steamy bathroom. Your doctor can also prescribe an oral steroid that works well. Good luck

A.,

I would call the doctor back immediately and make sure they understand that she is having trouble BREATHING. You should not be waiting until Monday if your baby is having trouble breathing. In fact, I would actutally take her into the emergency room if your doctor will not see you sooner.

I have a friend with a 8 month old that was having the same problem and he went in immediately and they gave him antibiotics.

I do not mean to alarm you, but breathing issues are a red flag.

xoxoxo
Jen B

I am a 35 year old mom to a 10 month old son in Boston.

Warm apple juice works AMAZING for a croupy cough. It opens up the throat instantly. The kids don't mind it. Works great, try it.

The best thing to do is to take her outside in the cold air. This will help open everything up. My son had it as a baby and it was the only thing that worked. The excess saliva that she is getting when teething is probably leading to her congestion. It might be draining back into her sinuses. Is the humidifier cold mist? It should be cold, not hot. Good luck

Hi A.,

Many, many years ago I went through the same thing with my son who was 9 months at the time (he's now 14). I, too, sat in the bathroom with a hot, steamy shower going until the hot water was gone... A humidifier and all. I believe the Doc gave him antibiotics (rarely the croup is a bacterial infection, it's mostly viral), but this was years ago... Here's the Mayo clinic website for Croup- this may prove to be helpful http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/croup/DS00312/DSECTION=1.

Also, being a wife of an army soldier for 15+ years, I want to thank you for your support and your husband's honorable service to our country. At times it is difficult, especially when the soldiers are deployed (my husband went to Afghanistan in 2004-2005). If you surround yourself with family, friends, neighbors, it will go by a bit faster and a little less painful :)

Hope your little one gets to feeling better soon!

Take care,
M.

Did you tell the nurse booking the appts that she had a barky cough? they usually get them in Right Away for croup.

The cold air or even a hot bath..the steam works too..I recall putting Nick in the tub with a hot bath and that opened up the lungs also.

Try propping her up with a towel rolled up under her pillow to keep her from laying flat..it helps the breathing.

It is almost Feb Croup time of the year :-)

Hi A.

My son is 6 months this week. 3 weeks ago he came down with the same thing I brought him to the doctors and he had RSV and broncilitis ( spelling is wrong.) The had to put him on a duo-neb and he getting better about 80%. I would make a doctors appt asap Good luck
K.

A., I remember going through this with my son too! My pediatrician gave me great advice: close the door of the bathroom and turn on the hot water in the tub and sink so it gets good and steamy. Sit in there with Madison for 5-10 min. Then, bundle her up and take her out into the cold for about 5 minutes. I don't know why, but it works.
I found this link online explaining it as well. http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/commoninfections/a/croup_2...
I hope it helps and that Madison feels better soon!

Hi A., yes it's normal for your baby to get the sniffles when cutting a tooth. Check your humidifier and make sure that it's clean and try using sterile water. It would be more expensive, but she needs the clean air, rather than tap water. That's good that you tried sitting with her in the bathroom with the hot water on, keep doing it as often as possible. Does anyone in your family have allergies/asthma? You could always take her to a pediatric allergist. If you choose to do that look for a homeopathic allergist, they use natural herbs. Stay away from heavy medications and antibiotics. Always use the most natural approach no matter what age your child is. I would also try reiki therapy. It uses energy to heal or open up the body to help balance it. Search on web for local businesses that do reiki or other forms of energy work. Good luck!:)

I agree with many of the other responders. Get a new pediatrician. Our Dr's practice sees you the same day every time or would direct you to the Emergency room.

Also, as a mother of 4, I would tell you to listen to your instincts, because they are usually right on. If you think there is something wrong, go to the Dr. It is always better to be on the side of caution than worry and regret it later.

Hope you baby is feeling better :)

My 2 1/2 yo son had a barking cough just last week. I thought it was the croup...but pedi said it wasnt. He said to use a cold humidifier. They checked him out and 2 days later he didnt have a bark but still a bad cough, tearing eyes, clear runny nose and a fever staying at 100. This is most likely RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus)
http://www.rsvinfo.com. While sleeping he would wake up and cough so hard that he would gage on his salva. Poor little guy! It takes about 8-15 days to go away and there is no medicine that we know of that cures it. Now my 1 yo daughter has all the same symptoms. Hope that helps anyone out there with these same symptoms. It is mostly like a bad cold but with tearing eyes and running noses along with a low fever and cough.

I would take a look at her diet and things she may be ingested (chemicals). Not sure if you are breastfeeding or not so it could be things in your diet that you may want to change or things she is eating. Excess mucous in lungs, throat, etc. is usually a dairy problem. If you use milk and want to continue doing milk of some sort I would try raw goats milk versus pasturized cows milk. Goats milk is closest to Mom's milk in it's compostion.

I would eliminate all fragrant type items such as lotions, powder, perfume, candles, etc. All these things can aggravate any breathing problems and really are harmful to us all but especially the young, old and those with colds, immune problems, etc. and we don't really need them.

I have a child who is sensitive to these things and had many issues as a baby. But we cleaned up his diet, our environment and avoided as much as we can of things that aggravate his breathing and overall health and he is doing wonderful.

Hope some of this helps. Drugs may temporarily relieve some of the symptoms but you really need to look for the root cause(s) and many drugs can be more harmful than helpful. Make sure you read the list of side effects of any drugs you give a child and ask yourself if any of those things happen would you be okay with it. Most people make the assumption that the drug will get rid of the problem and never think of the other things the drugs could be doing that is not good. Know the body has amazing abilities to heal if given the right conditions!

Wish you the best! W.

If her breathing is as you described, I would call the Dr office and tell them you need her to be seen TODAY!. I dont understand why a office would tell you to wait til Monday concerning a breathing problem. Ask to speak directly to the nurse, and if she doesnt get you right in demand to talk to the doctor. She should be seen ASAP, dont let something like that go over the weekend!!!

Never tried it, but I heard from my kids' ped. that a walk in the cool night air can help. So, I guess bundle your little one up and take a stroll aorund the block? Something about breathing the cold, fresh air helps, I guess...like I said, never had the croup but this is what I would try if the kids ever got it.

Hi A., Croup can be really scary! I woke one night around 2am to my daughter struggling to breath and I didn't know what was happening- I called 911. We ended up at the childrens hospital on a nebulizer. I found out that 2am is the "bewitching hour" because it is when our bodies natural steroid levels drop and croup can get much worse. I also learned that if you take the child outside into the very cold air when they breath in the air shocks thier restricted airways and they are able to breath much easier. I tried it and it works great. (my daughter gets it alot!) I bundle her up in a blanket and we go outside for about 10 minutes. I also do the shower thing and that seems to help a little- not as much as the cold air though. The most important thing is to keep them calm. As soon as they panic and start trying to cry and breath deep they have problems. Croup is very common and unfortunately pedis don't tell parents about it and what to do for it until you've been woken up in the middle of the night in a panic! Praying all is well-God Bless

My bean had croup a few months ago. The thing that surprised me the most was that the doctor told me that croup had very little to do with their lungs and is actually their little throats closing up the airway. I was told to alternate steam and cold, but my mama instincts told me not to let it go and I showed up at the doctors office as soon as it opened and when they heard her, the doctor saw her immediately, gave her a nebulizer treatment, and sent her straight to the ER, where we spent the entire day. We have a woodstove, so our household always has sniffles and a little cough here and there. Besides the actual sound of the cough, which started THAT morning, there was no indication that there was anything wrong. She had also been teething, had a clear runny nose (which in our house normally leads to a post nasal drip cough)and a little cough. When my husband talked to me on the phone around 7AM and heard her in the background, he thought it was a seal on TV, so off I went. Follow your mama instincts, if you think your bean needs to be seen by a doctor, make it happen. You'll be in our prayers.

Hello,
My baby had the same problem. Our Dr. gave him a nebulizer with Albuterol and Pomicourt treatments for 5 days and all of the symptomes disappeared!

A.,

Try the cold air, or alternate warm steam/cold air, but if you have any problems during the night, go straight to the ER. Shame on your doctor's office. If you make it through the night, be on the pediatrician's office's front doorstep first thing in the morning! If you don't get results, find a new pediatrician.

One way to do the alternating warm/cold is to steam up the bathroom, sit there a while then open the bathroom window and stick your faces outside (carefully if you are on the second floor :-)

C.

PS -- 2-4 a.m. is a good time to get in and out of CCMC, even if the neighborhood is a little scary.

Little concerned that your doctor won't see your little one until Monday. That is unacceptable. My son dealt with this and was on a nebulizer and all that jazz. If you are not comfortable listening to her the doctor should be taking that seriously. Call them back.
And - good luck!

Hi A.,
When I read this I just wanted to write you...My son who is now 2 1/2 was getting sick a lot from the beginning and every time he would get sick he would get that sort of cough. After 2 years, he was diagnosed with asthma. And every time he gets sick we have to use a nebulizer and give him breathing treatments which is like a miracle and helps him tremendously.
If you see that her chest is caving in when she is breathing...watch her chest when she is breathing...if she's doing that and wheezing etc...please go to CCMC...CT Childrens Medical Center....you cannot wait until Monday to see the pediatrician. CCMC doctor's are awesome and if it weren't for them my son would not have been diagnosed as my son's former pediatrician kept on dismissing it.
Also if you prefer not to go to CCMC, if you really trust your pediatrician...please call them back and let them know that you would like them to check her breathing. Usually if you tell the office staff that there might be a breathing issue/wheezing they should let you come in that day on emergency basis. If they still don't....please head to the Children's Hospital...it's better to be safe than sorry...

Hi,
I am a mother of 4, ranging in age from 9 to 17 months. Every one of them has had the croupy cough. With my first one we rushed her to the ER every time she got it then as time went on I found that the cold air is what would help most. My husband would wrap her in a blanket and stand with the door cracked open. We live in northern Maine so the winters are really cold. My son, the 17 month old, is cutting his eye teeth and woke up with croup two nights ago. It tends to turn into a cold after a few days. Generally, with my children, the croup would not go down into their lungs, it stayed in their throat. We also invested in a nebulizer, we only use this for extreme cases when it lasted more than the two nights. I don't use it on my son because it makes him REALLY hyper. I hope this helps.

Hi A.

We just went through the same thing with our babies. Use saline drops in her nose (there's a brand called Little Noses) and leave them in for five minutes, then use a nasal aspirator to suction them out. This will assist the drainage of the mucous membranes. The nurses at our office said I could do this six times a day, and especially before nursing or sleeping. Try propping her up on a pillow when she sleeps to make breathing easier. She won't like the bulb in her nose, but over time it will help. The propping for sleep can really help as well.

Best of luck.

J.

My daughter was the same way. I read somewhere that cutting teeth hampers their immune system because the body is working so hard to break the tooth and deal with the pain. I also read that teething creates more mucus in the sinuses, mouth, etc. I would try elavating the head of her bed slightly so that everything drains down her throat rather than into her lungs. Also if you have any rosemary or thyme in your cupboard they work great in baths, steams, teas and rubs. For any of these you just boil a teaspoon of the herb in a cup (8oz) water and add it to a bath, let her breath in the steam, or rub it on her chest. Whenever my daughter gets a bad cough I make a rub using vegetable oil and a couple drops each of lavendar, rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus essential oils...it's an expensive investment in the oils initially, but they last a long time and it really works wonders! They can also be dripped into the humidifier. There are all kinds of herbal remedies available for children. Good Luck!

See the pediatrician or go to the emergency dept. She needs a steroid shot, Decadron to reduce the swelling in her airway. Croup is a viral thing, worse at night because they can't breathe well once they are lying down. Hot shower is a wives tale, can actually cause breathing to get worse with the heat worsening the swelling. best to get her upright, and outside in the cold air (to help shrink the inflamed tissue). If she is in really bad shape, call the ambulance. Too nerve wracking driving with a sick child and not being able to watch them. Tis the season for croup. Good luck.

I don't know any other advice other than the sitting in the hot shower steam, but my son had croup when he was a little under a year old and he was wheezing and coughing so bad he lost his voice. The doctor had to give him a steroid shot to open up his airway so that he could breathe a little better. He has never had croup since. I would say that if she is still bad to keep calling your doctor, even if it is at night, there is always a doctor on call and you should not have to be scared with your little one suffering.

be careful! asthma symptoms are worse at night than during the day. if the wheezing continues you may not have a choice but to get immediate medical attention. does asthma run in either family?

Hey A.,
Having been through the croup with a vengeance with my son, I can tell you a couple of things: first, it's a scary sound for sure. But for a doc to tell you to wait until Monday at 3...and today is Thursday...NOPE. My son was 10 months when he was hit with the "bark". I took him to the ER because I was visiting overnight at my dad's and was an hour from home...on a weekend. The ER doc looked at my son and arrogantly ordered x-rays of his chest without telling me why. I signed him out against medical advice and brought him home to our doc. The danger signs include, straining of the neck (my son was so chubby, we didn't see his neck!) and funneling of the chest. When I got him home, the night was really scary. My husband and I took turns walking him up and down the street because it was late November and it was cold. We also did the steamy shower thing. By morning, his chest was funneling so I took him to the pediatrician. He took one look and told me to get him to the hospital. The chest x-ray showed a significant narrowing of his airway so they admitted him immediately. Thank God. The pediatrician told me that if I had waited for the evening to come again, we would have been calling an ambulance. I don't want to scare you...I just want you to realize that though croup is a common childhood illness, you need to be educated\aware of the symptoms that require immediate attention. The humidifier and shower are good tools, but for a doc to make you wait with a child in this kind of distress worries me. One thing we did to help once we got home was to raise one side of the crib so that he didn't have to lie flat. If you want natural treatments, try an acupuncturist...they usually have great ideas. If you are in the Boston area...the Newton Acupuncture Clinic is amazing.
Good luck and keep us posted on Madison.
K.

My son started with croupy cough at about 9months, also. Cold air, hot steam and vaporizer worked for him but we had to vary it up. What worked one day would not necessarily work next time. I agree with the other moms, your pediatrician should've taken your baby ASAP. Breathing issues are not always straight forward, she should be checked out and monitored.

My son started with croup and had it on/off for a year and it's now been properly diagnosed as a tracheal and acid reflux problem. (lots of dry cough) Breathing issues are no joke, if I were you, I'd keep her close by at night and propped up.