Croup - what to expect? when to go to ER?

[Anonymous]

I am pretty sure that my 17 month old has croup. It started last week with a cold. On Saturday morning she woke up with a low grade fever but was fine throughout the day, and then she woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday night with the coughing, wheezing, fever, etc. It was bad. Today (Sunday) she wanted to play and was pretty active for being sick, but the wheezing, coughing, runny nose, fever etc continued and were worse tonight. We keep putting her in the bathroom with the shower on and running the humidifier.

Just wondering what else to expect- when will she be better? When do you think I will be able to send her back to daycare? Also, when does the coughing, wheezing etc get bad enough to take her to the ER? I will try to get her an appt with the ped tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Take her outside. The cold will help.

If she is having retractions, take her in. They can give her epinephrine by a nebulizer and Decadron. It is almost always worse at night. Elevate her crib.

[Anonymous]

Does she have a barky cough? That us a classic croup symptom. It usually lasts 2-3 days.

[Anonymous]

DD has had croup a couple of times. Like PPs said, it's a badly cough that's worse at night. The first time, I called the pediatrician in the middle of night, I was so alarmed (it shoulda awful). I was told to take her outside or stand in front of the freezer and take her on only if she was in obvious distress, struggling to breathe. She wasn't so we just gave her some Tylenol and went outside.

[Anonymous]

21:14 here. Sorry- I meant barky cough.

[Anonymous]

21:14. Sounds awful and I was told to take her in...having issues with my phone!

[Anonymous]

I would call the pediatrician's after hours number to see if they think you should head to the ER.

[Anonymous]

They will do a nebulizer or a steroid usually. But I agree that going outside helps a LOT. My son had it twice, once when little and once at 4, and I had totally forgotten the outside part. Was shocked twice how well it worked.

Good luck, sorry your little one is sick.

[Anonymous]

If there's any question, head to the ER. Kids can die from croup. My DS once had it so bad that the steamed bathroom and going outside didn't help. By the time we got to the ER his barky cough was so loud they ushered him to an examining room immediately and went to work. Try the home measures but don;t wait too long to go in.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids have had this. My older one always responded to at-home treatments, while my younger one wound up in the ER. We went to the ER per our Ped Nurses suggestion because when I called at 4PM my child was already having stridor, so they recommended we go to the ER since it gets worse at night.

Turned out to be the right call for us - we went in around 6PM and we were seen right away because my child was feverish and lethargic with obvious retractions.

But we were also seen within 10 min of walking in the door - if you bring a toddler struggling to breath into the ER they will see you right away. So I think you're fine to wait at home as long as you are able to manage the symptoms at home / your child isn't struggling to breath.

[Anonymous]

Any update, OP?

[Anonymous]

How did it go? If she was wheezing, I would think she should be on a nebulizer treatment every 4 hours.