Children with Croup

I'm a 42yo mom of four, and a pharmacist. Just moved to Dallas this past summer. Anyway, we had a lot of trouble with croup with my first son. I'm not aware of any other medication, other than Orapred and its generic, that will reduce that swelling that causes symptoms of croup. One thing we did learn though, was that wrapping him up warmly and taking him out into the cold winter air actually helped. Sounds counterproductive but our doc suggested it and it does work. I would just walk him up and down in the driveway for ten or fifteen minutes - as long as he wasn't too cold. Also I'm sure you know about the steamy bathroom treatment. Sometimes I would alternate between the two. Hope that helps.

Cool air humidifier helped my kids. We've been there done that and do a few times a year when the weather changes.

Hi, T. --

Boy, does your problem remind me of the hell we went through for two years with my daughter, (around ages 1 through 4).
Over and over and over she'd wake up in the middle of the night, coughing and having trouble breathing. She'd often spike a high temp, which would be gone by morning.

At first, I'd take her to the Pediatrician every time; and every time he'd say, "She has croup". I remember saying,
"HOW MANY TIMES can one child get croup???" He said,
"Well, with (my child -- who had many medical problems)
you never know."

FINALLY, as she was getting skinnier and skinnier, and coughing all the time, a friend (who is a Pediatrician) said:
"Get her to (another doctor) NOW!" So we went to a Pediatric Allergist, who diagnosed her with:

severe gastrointestinal reflux (GERD);
severe asthma;
"the worst allergies I've ever seen in a child";
aspiration pneumonia; and
sinus infection.

To make a VERY long story short(er) -- it turned out that she didn't have, and never had had, croup. (1) The Allergist treated her with Advair, regular Xopenex breathing treatments, and steroids, as needed. (2) We took her to a Peds GI doctor who started her on Nexium.
She never had "croup" again.

I hope this helps! Let me know what you find out!

P.S. Now, I must add a PS to this reply. We had no Pediatric
Pulmonologist in our state (SC) at the time; how I WISH we had. My daughter was on Prednisone for many, many months at a time. When a Peds Pulmonologist finally DID come to SC,
he was horrified at the amount of steroids my daughter had received. One very unfortunate side effect of too much steroids is to decrease a child's height. My daughter's height was predicted to be 5'4". Instead, at age almost 13,
she is 4'9"... I took her a Peds Endocrinologist to look into Growth Hormone injections for her; he said she didn't meet criteria for our insurance to pay for it, and we couldn't afford the $20,000 out of pocket/year. I still feel really sad, and guilty, (and angry -- long story --
the Endocrinologist was WRONG: our ins. WOULD have paid; now it's too late), that my daughter will have to struggle with this problem for the rest of her life... (I'm 5'7", and I'm the shortest one in my family!)

Have you tried a mixture of whiskey, Honey and lemon juice. When my kids were small my daughter had pneumonia and developed a little croup after that, I gave her a teaspoonful of the mixture and she could sleep peacefully without all that coughing and wheezing. Her pediatrician said it was good for them.

My daughter went through this as a toddler. It is very scary in a sense. We did not want to constantly put her on meds every time. Her pediatrician recommended when episodes occurred - turn a steamed shower on and create sort of a sauna in the bathroom, let her breath in that air. I would sit in there for about 10-15 minutes, along with trying to calm her down. Then when done, if cold outside, walking outside or going in front of the freezer, only for a couple of minutes. The combination of the steam and then shock of cold air helps open up their breathing. I would then just rub her little back with Vicks until she feel back asleep. I would also keep giving her plenty of water and juice.

Could your child have food allergies to lactose and whey? Some people have the symptoms of large amounts of mucus causing congestion when exposed to foods with these substances in them. If your child does, read ingredient labels on any bread products like pancake mixes, muffins, crackers and on down the line.

If it's true Croup, the best thing is cold dry air -- which we have plenty of right now! Just bundle your son up and take him for a walk or exploring in your yard. I found this too: http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/48/56...

This, too, will pass!

I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist in Georgia. I work pretty much exclusively with neonates and pediactrics. Croup is of viral decent and there is little you can do to prevent the onset. I would like to ask you what breathing treatments are you having to give? Perhaps a cool mist humidifier in the room will help. Warm air can aggitate the symptoms. The Orapred, being a steroid, is a good idea. Try treating the baby's enivironment as would an asthmatic, keep area free of dust and use hypoallergenic pillows. This is a long shot, but I understand your position. It was my son having croup that made me go to respiratory therapy school in the first place. Please let me know how things turn out.

running the shower to steam up the bathroom and sitting with your child for 5 to 15 min. in there will break up some of the mucus and make the throat relax some and breathing is easier. This has helped my children many times and then if needed they used inhalers. The doctor recommended this to me.
My kids are both older now, but my son's episodes were triggered by allergies. Once he was tested and given allergy shots for about 6 months he didn't have any further problems with croup. My daughter had them a little longer, but has outgrown it.

You can get the toxic chemicals out of your house. My now 2 year old used to get it as a baby and now I only use environmentally frinedly products in my home. He has only been tot he doctor for hsi well baby checks over the last year and 1/2. That includes the body wash and shampoo you use on him. It has an active ingredian that has been known to cause cancer. You can check out my website and read some more information aboout it.
www.kristies.fourpointwellness.com

K. Sansbury

My son has the same breathing problems. He has a dry, rough cough all the time. We have found that a really good humidifier and hot, steamy baths help alot. When his croup flares put him directly over the mist of the humidifier. It calms my babes coughs pretty quickly. And if he is cranky, a nice hot bath helps breathing and stops the tears. It gets his mind off of being sick.

Good luck!

I have a son that is now 20yrs old. When he was 3 months old he started with the croup and was put in the hosp. at that time in a breathing tent. Back then they did not give us breathing treatments at home to do. He has been put in the hosp. about 10 since then. A trick that I used when I heard it coming on is to run the hot water in the bathroom let it get steamy and you and your son stay in there for about 5-10 min. Trying to take deep breaths and relax (maybe read a book to him). Then go out to where it's cool. Weather it's outside or in a cooler part of the house. I usually tried this a couple of times if It didn't work I ended up taking him to the ER. I would also use a cool mist humidifier. That seemed to help a great deal as well. I was also told by the Pharmacist to take Robtussin I can't remember which one(sp). This has med. in it to open up the bronchiolar tubs which is what causes the croup when they close. Like I said my son is now 20 and he doesn't have any problem with it now. I hope this helps.

Hi T.,

I agree 1000% with Kristie! The environmental toxins in your home can do sooo much to your little one's lungs. Your son's lungs are smaller and breathe more breaths per minute and naturally more toxins. You might not even notice something that is affecting him. You also have to get all the toxins out of your bath and body supplies too. You can't "wrap" him in a toxic laundry detergent and expect his immune system to be strong (Johnson and Johnson, Gerber, Dreft are among the worst...). I wish someone had said something to me years before I discovered the problems that I unknowingly brought into my home.

My kids have not had so much as a cold last more than a day and NO flu in the last few years. Take a look at my website www.go2harmony.healthyhometour.com and let me know if you are interested in learning more. Kristie and I both use the same products and OBVIOUSLY we both are terribly impressed.

Detoxing your home can be a very simple thing and also a very inexpensive thing. AND if you calculate the kids not getting sick anymore, it's invaluable!

Regards,

M.

If your child seems to be getting or holding onto the croup it may be due to some foods known to cause or further congestion such as dairy products and gluten. Try cutting these items out of the diet for a week and see where you are at. Also, try a warming tea with some fresh squeezed lemon and some finely grated ginger. This helps break up the mucous that may be sitting in there waiting to get infected again.

My daughter is now 4 1/2 but she started getting sick at 8 months old. She has had t&a, 2 ear surgeries, 2 sinus surgeries, and a pic line to her heart to give her antibodics b/c she was immune to all of them! I hate meds. and steroids I believe gave her bumps all over her arms it is bad. I hate it, I have tried everything on her arms even Rx. So with the baby I will do breathing treatments but not steroids. My oldest went thru so much, and they still don't know what was wrong!

Breathing treatments and orapred? Is your pediatrician treating asthma instead?
There is nothing else for croup (although decadron is recommended more than orapred). It will get better as he gets older and his airway gets bigger. The cough/stridor comes from the airway being narrow from swelling from a virus. When th eairway is bigger, a small amount of swelling won't be as big a percentage of his airway....and he will have built up more immunity.

A very close friend of mine has a son who was hospitalized numerous times for croup. He eventually saw a Pediatric Pulmonologist with great results. The only thing that she has found that works for him is Recemic epinephrine to go in his nebulizer. They have tried all of the others. It is not a prescription, however, insurance doesn't cover it, because it isn't a prescription. Who cares how much it costs if your child is able to breathe better, right???