Croup Cough Remedies

We just went through this with my 2 year old a couple of months ago! I called the Tacoma General hospital nurse line and spoke with a nurse because I was so worried! She said to go into the bathroom and run the water as hot as it goes and close the door. When the mirrors are steamed up, take the baby in there (don't turn on the light, it will wake them up too much - we have a nightlight in our bathroom) and close the door behind you. Stay in there for about 10 - 15 minutes. Then, bundle the baby up and take him out in the cold damp night air for about as long as it would take to walk 2 laps around the house. You can also use a Cool Mist Humidifier. These are the things that worked for us. Be careful with this though because my daughter had to be given a pill to crush up and give her to open her airways. She was really bad. It's best to call your pediatrician and get him in. If he/she is a good pediatrician, like mine, they will not prescribe anything unneccessarily. However, croup can be very dangerous so keep your ears open to his breathing. If he is really loboring, you need to take him to his doc. My doc said not to take them to the ER though because by the time you get their, the cough is gone (from the night air) and then they are exposed to all kinds of other things from the ER. Try the two things I talked about above and call your ped. Good luck! It's scary the first time around! No worries though, you'll get through it!

For immediate relief when it's really bad, sit in the bathroom with the door closed and run the shower full hot. The steam REALLY helps, and it works fairly quickly.

My baby brother had the croup very badly as an infant and my step-mother used to cut an onion up very thinly and place it in a bowl and then sprinkle sugar over it to extract the juice. She would then give this juice to him and it would help alot.

I have used it several times with my own children and it has worked well.

You definitely need to take him to the doctor. Give them a call ahead, they will try to get you into a room immediately, since croup is quite contagious and they won't want you in the waiting room.

To help with the cough cool moist air will help alleviate symptoms. My doctor suggested a humidifier, stemaing up the bathroom, or taking a slow drive (we live in Seattle and the current humidity is probably 100%)with the windows down - bundled up of course.

Croup can be quite serious (most of the time it isn't but...), so you really want to get him evaluated and not rely on home remedies alone.

Is he coughing during the day? It could be asthma or allergies.
I have used humidifiers, as well as essential oils. But I would highly suggest that you take him to the dr and rule out asthma.
B.

Always check first with you ped. doctor for a young one, you may ask as my mom gave this to us from one year old up, she cut up one small onion,into slices after peeling it first ok, she then put it in a small pan and added water just to cover them slices she boiled the onion till soft added a couple teaspoons of graduated sugar, cooled it off to the touch of her mouth of then gave us a teaspoon full. She then rubbed our throats and backs, and chest, down with vicks put on warm top and pjammies, then off to bed, good night sleep it works great, its the peniecillian in the onion thats med she then saved the rest in a jar for the next time which was once in the morning and once at night., S. Vancouver WA.
I read alot about the vaporizers, they are great, but add a teaspoon of table salt no med to the inside water the saline works great in the air moistent room by them it helped wonderful with my chronic bronchitas and I never have smoked just born with a bad bronical tube. best of love to you all.

I would always bundle up the baby/kid and go outside. The cold air would almost immediately help with the swelling in their airways and... the "oddity" of being outside in the middle of night always calms them down. <grin>

I don't know what my neighbors thought though if they heard a crying coughing child... until they calmed down. :)

Go sit on the front porch. I know it sounds crazy, but the air out there is much damper and easier on a little one's lungs. Paramedics report being called for croup, and the parents go out to the porch to wait for the ambulance, and by the time the ambulance gets there, the baby is all better. I've had it work myself. Of course, you should still get baby checked out by a doctor later, but for immediate relief, moist air works best. If it's too cold to sit on the porch, shut yourself and the baby in the bathroom, turn the faucets on hot, and turn off the fan. It doesn't work quite as well (at least not for me), but it does help.

I don't know what all others have recommeded, but here's what I've done. Despite all the recent controversy over Vick's Vapor Rub, I put some on my daughter's feet and then put socks over them. She slept so peacefully all night. I only did it for 3 nights and it worked really great for her. She was about 8- 8 1/2 months at the time.

I always used a cool steam humidifier. Set it close to the bed, I have a child with asthma so I ran it every night and it helps so much!!
I strongly suggest listening to our childs breathing too. If the child sounds weezy take him in! My daughter would get it so bad that you could actually hear her trying to breath. More than once she got a shot.

You need to run your humidifier 24/7. Use little noses about 4x a day. You can put baby rub on his feet. (Vicks)
My six month old daughter was sick with the same symptoms. The vicks really helped. I put socks on her feet after i put the rub on. You can take a hot bath and put your baby in the bathroom with you. That helps too.Good luck!! (:

Take him to the pediatrician to make sure this isn't a symptom of something more serious.

1) A humidifier in his room may provide some relief. A bathroom filled with warm steam from the shower running may also help.

2) On the other side of the spectrum, wrap him up snug and warm and go outside in the cold air. The brisk air often helps.

3) Seriously, go see your pediatrician to make sure that he doesn't have anything more serious. Is he running a fever, even a low grade one? How's his appetite?

4) I wish you well.

I've read before that croup cough's do better in cool air. They suggested wrapping your child up warm and taking them outside.

I've seen great results with aconitum homeopathic remedy (Boiron has them in their homeopathic line) and see the directions on the vial. Also try feeding your child fresh or canned pineapple. It has Bromelain which is supposed to relax the bronchial muscles. Also breathing cool or cold fresh air seemed to calm the cough, so going outside or opening the window for a bit can work. Humidity is good so try a cool mist humidifier but try to avoid that dry, hot air we get from inside heating during the winter. And of course check with your doctor if questions...
K., Olympia, WA

Adding to what another mother recommended....run a hot shower and just sit in the bathroom allowing the him to inhale the steam...couple with that, wrapping you little one up and take him out in the cold night air for about 5 minutes. That helps suppress the coughing by calming the inflamation in his throat.
My 5 month nephew developed croup while visiting us over the holidays. Those things certainly helped. If it continues, you will want to take him in to the doctor.
Good luck!

Hi S. - I have had to deal with this lots when my kids were younger. One quick question... have you called your peditrician? You would normally talk with the on-call nurse but they will also know if something is going around that you need to be more aware of - especially since he is under one year old. Depending on if it is a dry or a wet cough will vary in what you try & what will work, granted each kid is different & will respond different than other kids. It could be that your son needs extra moisture to help sooth so maybe try a humidifier (had to use that on my youngest for a while - just remember to clean it often). You may check to see if you can raise up his mattress (not put pillows under his head - SIDS risk), the raised elevation in his head may help with any drainage that he may have too. There are a few other things I would try but not until he is a little older. So maybe try that but also call the doctor's office and see if they have any additional ideas since they know your son's health history the best & can even help you avoid things that will not be safe for him specifically. Take Care

Our son (20 months) has had croup 3-4 times. We were given a steroid (I think?) liquid Rx from the pediatrician that we gave him twice. It helped at night. Also, taking him outside to breathe cool, night air was suggested and it helped! A warm vaporizer makes it worse, so use a cool mist humidifier. The good thing is none of the croup episodes lasted very long. 3-5 days max. Good luck!

You have lots of good advice. My daughter had croup twice when she was in her 3s. Luckily not severe and therefore not requiring a trip to the hospital for steroids. Here is what worked and didn't work for us
1. Hot Steam Shower: Took too long to get enough steam going ...therefore not very helpful
2. Bundle up and take her out in the cold air -this worked wonders. Best solution for us. One time we put her in the car seat and drove around with the window open (of course she was all bundled up back there).
3. Steam humidifier in room throughout night. We did use this and I do think it helped.
4. Doctor has prescribed oral steroid "just in case" (I forget the name...sorry, I am sure it is the most common one). I did administer a dose one night to see if it would help her rest, but it wound up my daughter so much that she would not sleep most of the night. Her cough may have been less (???), but the sleeplessness was harder to deal with!
Hope that helps too! It's scary to hear them bark like that. But if he is able to breathe and not running a high fever (under 100.2) then you are on the mend.

Hi, my son had croup a little while back and I took him to the emergency room "just in case" and they said a couple of home remedies that help are steam from the shower and cool night air. So maybe try walking him around outside for a little bit and see if that helps.

HI S., My son is 22 months old and he has had croup 3 or 4 times in his little life, it is miserable! The first time he had it he was 6 months old, and it was quite scary for us. We took him to the DR and they actually perscribed a steriod for him to just take once or twice and it reduces the swelling in the airway, it really helped him to get over it much quicker. Also at night I would leave the humidifier going as well as the window cracked just a little bit. Sitting in the room with a hot shower just before bed will help soothe him a little too!! Good luck!

Take him outside in the cool, even slightly cold air for awhile. Seems to clear the lungs up a bit.

Good luck!

Doctor doctor doctor

both my stepdaughters had croup around age 3 and both of them came down with it at our house. the pediatrician's office told us both times to run a really hot shower and close the door, and once the room is really steamy, sit in there for 15 minutes or so with the wee one (before bedtime). then use cool mist humidifier in the bedroom (have it running before bedtime so the room gets nice and moist) overnight.
with my older stepdaughter we didn't have to repeat the hot shower, but i think we did with my younger stepdaughter. i hope the croup doesn't last long. good luck!

My 5 yr old son had this a few months ago. The doctor told us to let him be in the bathroom when I am taking a shower. The steam helps the airway, also going outside when it is cold. Something with the cold air also helps. The doctor said that when they start coughing hard, try to relax them as best you can. The more tense they are the harder the coughing is. Good luck.

We have not actually dealt with it, but the advice that I hear most often is to bundle up and go outside into the cold for a few minutes.

Turn on the shower for 25 minutes is one thing my Ped. told me to do. Really helped temporarily but had to do it a number of times.