One Year Old with Croup, Any Ideas?

I am a mother of soon to be four. My second child, a son, has suffered from croup ever since he was born. Every time he gets a cold it always turns into croup. He is now seven years old so we have been dealing with this for quite some time.

I am currently working toward becoming a Master Herbalist so the advice I have to give is completely wholesome, non-toxic, no chemicals involved and is safe for all ages. The first thing you want to do is stay calm for the sake of your daughter. Then turn your oven on to 250, cut an onion in half, and bake it uncovered in a glass oven dish for about 1 hour. While this is baking, stand with your daughter in front of freezer, or wrap her in a blanket and take her outside, in order to breath the cool, dry air. This will help reduce the initial swelling. When she has started breathing better make some peppermint tea by boiling some water, place some cut, dry pepper mint leaves into a tea ball and put that into a mug. (You can buy the peppermint at a health food store and a tea ball you can usually get at any grocery store or health food store.) When the water is boiling pour it into the mug and allow to sit for about 10 minutes (you can add a small amount of honey to sweeten). Let her sip at this while the onion is cooking. Peppermint helps to relax the muscles, especially in the esophageal area.

After about an hour pull the onion out of the oven and cut it into large pieces. They should feel somewhat slimey to the touch. Rub some olive oil onto your daughter's chest and then place the pieces of onion directly on her chest (blow on them so that they are not so hot that they burn her). Cover that with a wash cloth or small towel and hold it in place with a tight shirt or bandage. If you use a bandage make sure you do not tighten it so much that she has trouble breathing, but tight enough to hold the onion in place. Let her run around if she wants to or if she wants to sleep have her sleep in a semi-reclined position.

I leave the onion on for anywhere from 1 hour to 3 or 4 hours depending on how active my son is. I do notice that he is able to breath normally within 20-30 minutes after applying the onion. I repeat the process as often as he needs me to but his coup never lasts for more that 2-3 days with this regime. Whereas before it would last for 1-2 weeks.

I would also recommend that she stay away from foods made with animal products, especially dairy, while she is sick. Feed her fresh fruits and vegetables during this time. I have found that, for us, this has been the best and fastest way of healing each time we deal with croup. I hope that you are willing to try this and that you get good results as we have.

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My son is 16 and is our croup kid. He has had it over 30 times! For him cold air was always a great thereapy. We usually would wrap him up in several blankets, as well as ourselves and take him outside for 20-30 minutes. It would open his airways and he would be able to breathe and go back to sleep. We also spent hours in the bathroom with him doing steam treatments. By the time he was in 5th grade, he wouldn't even wake us up...he'd just open his window and sit by it and then go into his bathroom and run the shower. If that didn't work he'd come get us and tell us he needed to go to the ER (we've made several late night trips to the ER with him over the years...not a single one was a false alram...he KNEW when he needed to go!). Because he was so susceptible to croup, our doctor prescribed a nebulizer which our insurance company bought for us. The nebulizer allowed us to get the albuterol and steroids into his lungs faster. Often he would sleep through the treatments (that I had to get up every 3 hours every night to do!). Good luck. I know how scary it is when your baby is so sick.

Ditto everything mentioned by the previous ladies. My kids both had croup this past winter... its not fun at all! We also got the steriods shot and it helped a ton for them to be able to breath and get over it faster! Luckily, it really only lasts three nights and then its just a cold... what helped us, in addition to what was mentioned earlier, was using a cool mist humidifier to help them breath not so dry air. And, I elevated my 10 mth old's mattress on one end with a pillow/towel underneath. Also, provide a lot of liquids to keep their throat from drying out. Then, its just praying they get through it. good luck!

Hi. My kids get croup on a regular basis throughout the winter season, and it can be very frightening. I am an ER nurse, and I have seen a lot of people in the same situation. I am sure they told you to get a cool mist humidifier in her room and run it 24/7 for the duration of the croup. Control her fever with alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen based on her weight. For the throwing up of the meds, try mixing them into applesauce or pudding if she will eat them. Juice sometimes works, but oftentimes the steroids are just too strong flavored to be disguised in apple juice. stay away from cough syrups unless advised to do so by your pediatrician. they have some nasty side effects on little ones. if you are in a cooler climate, you can leave her windows cracked at night and just make sure she is dressed warmly. Croup is never any fun, and keeping them calm is a big key in controlling the severity of the cough. Listen for stridor (a wheezing type sound on the INHALE) and take her to the er if she is retracting (pulling in of the skin during the breathing cycle at the ribcage or collarbones) or if she is flaring her nostrils, or if she has to sit up and lean over to breathe.

Im am looking for ways to get along with my sister. We get in fights very easly. I want to get along with her just for 1 day. But her cold is dreadful. She sneezes like every 5 min. She wants to get warts froze of but my dad is busy. I feel so helpless to help her. Thanks for the advice.

A Little about me:

Im not married I am a 10 year old girl, sister and brother.

Hi N., my daughter had that not too long ago and I would have her sip (or use a syringe) small amounts of warm apple juice to help coughing fits. I would also distract her or hold her over the humidifier to help the coughing ease up. Good luck to you, it's a rough illness to have.

My daughter has had croup multiple times and the first was when she was an infant. The best advice the dr. gave me was run a really hot shower and keep her in the bathroom with the steam for a few mintues and then go immediately outside and let the cold air hit her lungs. Of course make sure she's bundled up. This will help open up her lungs. You can do this as many times as you want. This will hopefully help to open the lungs since she won't keep her medicine down. I wish I had something to help that. Good luck!

Croup is so awful. My son who is 16 now suffered from it until he was 5. The dr in Alaska told me he couldn't have croup at 5 until we showed up in the er. What I did to make thim feel better was turn the shower on as hot as it would go take him and books in the bathroom and shut us in there. The steam worked wonders for him. We would cuddle on the bathroom rug read so we got some quality one on one cuddle time at the same time.

I am so sorry to hear that she got croup on her birthday, poor angel. We have dealt with it a couple of times this years, and here are a few things our pediatrician recommended we do. If you can, give her infant Ibprofen every six hours. This will help with the swelling of the trachea. Saline solution in the nose to moisten the sinus passages and trachea 8-10 times a day. They HATE it, but it helps so much. If you have a cool mist humidifier, run it on High at night. When a coughing fit happens either bundle them up and take them out into the cool outside air or you can sit in a steam filled bathroom for 15 minutes. Again, lots and lots of fluids. My daughter had a rough time with the steroids, but I found that if I gave them to her with some yogurt, the helped a bit. I wish you the best and hope she gets feeling better.

My three year old got this over Christmas and it is so hard! Try the steaming up the bathroom with hot water and just having her sit on your lap while she breaths in the steam. Also ask if she is old enough for the Vick Vapor Plug, that fills her room up with that great smell and helps my kids. It is great as it lasts all night. Also baby vapor rub for her chest. It is hard to hear and so hard as they don't get the rest they need. Hang in there!!
Just keep her hydrated big time too, HUGS!

Run a "Cold" air humidifier 24/7, make sure it's in her room when she sleeps at night. If it has an option with adding a vicks vapor then add it. Put baby vicks on her chest, neck and back. If she is really that bad, put her in a shower and let her breath the warm air, then when she gets out wrap her up very warm and take her outside in the cold for a few minutes.

Ditto on what everyone else is saying. Cold night air works too. My sister was taking my nephew into the ER for the steroid shot and from the car to the door he cleared up. The Doctor said it's just something about the coolness that helps out. Steam is good too.

We've had croup in our household 4 times this winter so I unfortunately have quite a bit of experience with it now. Ditto to what Deb K said: sit in the bathroom with the hot shower running, and VapoRub helps some - but be careful how much you use because if there's too much it can actually make them cough more. Also sitting at an incline helps so if she's having a particularly rough spell, just holding her upright in your arms while she sleeps will help too. If she gets so bad that you're starting to panic a bit (believe me I've been there), taking her into the cold night air for just a few seconds can really do the trick. It saved us a trip to the ER a couple of times. Good luck and hope this helps.

Close the door in the bathroom and run your shower on hot. It fills the room with hot steam and helps break up the mucous. You can then suction out their noses much better as well. My daughter had pnuemonia at the same age and that was the only way we could get all the mucous out. She was also throwing up because the mucous was getting caught in her throat.

Steroids taste awful so that may be why your daughter is throwing it up. My daughter had to take a sulfur drug that also made her throw up because of the taste. We would give it to her with chocolate ice cream to mask the taste a bit. Then we would pat her back firmly for a few minutes between the shoulder blades after every bite because it suppresses the gag reflex.

My doctor gave my son an inhaler with a mask. It did wonders. Maybe you could as your Dr. for a prescription.

I had Croup when I was a baby and my nephew just had it too. My mom did the same thing with both of us and it seemed to work miracles. She would turn the hot water on in the shower and close the door. She would hold me in the hot, steamed up bathroom for hours she said. She also used a humidifier. She swears by both, especially the steamy bathroom, it helps break up the cough and helps the baby to relax a little. She said we both got more sleep after being in the steamy bathroom. Good luck.

Well you might think I am a bit crazy, but to help relieve a cough, you can rub there feet with vapor rub. I use Unkers, but I believe any menthol rub will work. I also put it on my sons chest and back. Making a steam room in the bath room should help some also. That is my best advice. I don't care for Dr.s much, and try to do things natural. Hope this helps.

We are going through the croup for the third time this year with my dd. She is 2. We had one with an ER trip to get on a nebulizer. This last time I knew what it was when it hit and how to get to it...the strider had started but I didn't want to have to go to the ER unless we absolutely had to...we've been 3 times this year already, that is hard on a little kid. I bundled us both up in warm blankets and sat outside in the cool night air. The ER doc told us that the cool air works to reduce the swelling to that the kids can breath. This is the only thing that works besides tne nebulizer or steriod shot. He said that the smell of the vicks can be comforting but does not help croup. He also said that steam can help congestion but not the croup or barking cough or strider. He put her on a rotation of tylonol and motrin for her fever and pains and suggested keeping her upright as much as possible to help with draining and other than that hold her and love her and take her outside if her breathing got worse...of course if it doesn't ease up after about 10 min to get her back to the ER. We skipped the ER this time with this method. My MIL had told me about the cold air but I grew up with steaming so I was skeptical...I've had 2 ER docs and our pediatrition now confirm the best thing is the cool air to reduce the swelling and our own experience now backs this up. Once she is breathing better we have sat in the bathroom with the hot shower steaming up the room which seems to help relax her and help decongest her. Good luck. I feel your pain.

My kids seem to croup quite often. It can be very scary for the parent. Our usual routine when one of our kids wakes us up with croup is to do the steamy shower in the bathroom--then quickly out into the cold air (bundled up of course) if the air outside isn't cold enough you can use your freezer--just hold them close enough to breath in the cold air. That is supposed to help stop the cough.

For preventing the waking up in the night, I use the Sudacare vapor plugs--they work great for congestion.

Hang in there!

When my son was 2 he had a severe case of croup. They had us take him for a walk in the evening when it was cooler outside and keep him near a cool mist humidifier. Another option was to leave the window open at night. Also see if they can give her the steroid shot that will help the swelling go down (rather than trying to get ther to take it) I hope this helps.

A. mom of 4

Morning N. - Croup is no fun - but if you sit in the bathroom with your child - turn the shower on - seal the bottom of the doorway w/ a towel - and sit on the floor w/ her and let her breathe the hot steam for a while - it will help with the cough. Its an old remedy that my mom and lots other family members have used and it really does help them. Sit in the steam w/her until the cough starts to ease. Hope it helps! d

Put her outside in the cold air when she gets croupy.

Hi N.,
My three boys (4, 10, 16) all went through serious bouts of croup and usually outgrew it by 5. I saw the suggestions about the shower and outdoors, they are right. First, take them into a closed bathroom (not into the shower) and run the shower at the hottest setting and let them breathe the steam for about 10 minutes or so, then take them outside into the cold air (bundle them up) and let them breathe that in for about ten minutes.

As far as the medicine, ask your doctor about a Nebulizer. It is a machine that the same steroid medicine is placed into and a fine mist comes out an inhaler type device for your child to inhale. It doesn't have to be on the child's face or mouth, just close by to the child's nose/mouth. There are also inhalers (like the asthma type) which have adaptors that fit over a small child's nose and mouth. I have used both of these and they offer a more immediate reaction than the oral medicines. Also, they do not upset their stomachs. Hope this helps a little. Hang in there, I know it can be scary and you can feel helpless, but you’re doing all the right things. Thanks, C.

Both of my children had croup, and one of them had asthma w/ it. I would get out my umbrella and open it up. Put the cool mist vaporizer on the bed. Then cover the vaporizer and the umbrella w/ a sheet. It was called a croup tent. I would sit under it and sit them on my lap, and have them face the vaporizer. It was an old-fashioned cure my mother taught me and it worked great. Kept me from taking them to the hospital for middle-of-the-night treatments. They usually fell asleep as soon as they we able to relax because they were no longer struggling to breathe.

My daughter had Croup multiple times in her first 2 years. So frightening!! The steam (AT LEAST 20 MINUTES IN IT) works well. However, the 20 minutes or longer really seemed to help the stridor. Also, the cool air was super AND she loved eating ice chips. The ice seemed to calm her down as well as ease some of the air restriction.
Finally, if the steroids are being thrown up....try a homeopathic remedy called Spongia. You can find it at W.F. or other health food stores. 3 tablets under the tongue (or with kids, in the mouth) every 15 minutes until the stidor eases up. Take in a clean mouth (no food 15 mins before or after). The Spongia appeared to do the same thing as the steroids with us and they taste like sugar for the kids. Good luck!!

Hi Nichole,
My youngest (now 10) had croup every time she got a cold from the time she was an infant until she was 18 months old. We spent more than ten or fifteen times in the ER, and one time spent 5 days in the hospital.
What I wish I had known then was that the best way to prevent the illness is to keep her immune system up- keep her away from sugar and white flour, they both lower your immune system. Try to give her lots of garlic, there is liquid garlic oil at health food stores and lots of green vegetables, vitamin C, etc. Look into goldenseal and echinacea to see if it can be given to young kids as they are also immune system builders. You have to use to steriods to keep her throat open, but use them as little as possible - they will mess with her long term health.
You probably already know to put her in the bathroom and run a steam shower (while you snuggle her) and to go outside at night in the cold to help her throat open up.
Peppermint oil can be rubbed on her chest and be put into a bowl of hot water for her to breathe in the vapors. Both of these methods help open her airway.
I wrote a book called Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living that you can order on amazon.com to help get her heathly.

One of my daughters woke up weezing when they were very little. I put vicks (the greasy kind)on the front of her neck & the back, the front of her chest & the back, on the front of her lung area & the back. I then put her in a sleeper pair of pajamas with the feet and put her back to bed. She woke up as if nothing had happened in the night. I did it because the vapors helped her breathe better and putting it on the front and back makes a barrier so all it can do is break up and come out of there. I never needed to take them to the doctor when I used vicks. I know that doctors now say not to put that on babies, but that is what saved my children when they were sick. My brother uses it on the bottom of his children's feet and then puts socks on them. All of the nerve endings to your body are in your feet. I know that because my youngest daughter just this last summer, found that she was allergic to Aloe. For her birthday in the fall someone gave her a pair of "Aloe" socks to soothe her feet and she started getting sick after she started wearing them. When she quit she got better. So, I hope this helps "Vicks" is my answer. K

N., I am not sure what you have done yet to correct the environment but confirming the filters in the house are kept clean, and if no filtering of air I would start. Also if you already have filtration and the filters are being kept clean and still the issue exists, try the alergy filters. Also make sure there is absolutely no wet carpet or material near or around the childs sleeping area. Mold spores can hide and for children it takes only a very small area as they are so sensative. Change the environment or even sleeping location and it could take a few days for any change to be noticed.

Hi N.,
I had the same problem when my daughter was one. She has had Croup three times and is only two and a half. The doc told me to run hot water in the bathroom to cause a sauna effect and keep her in there for a while. That helps to break up all the stuff in the lungs. Also if it is a cool/cold day, make sure she is bundled up and take her outside to breath in the cold air. Along with the steroids these two things always seemed to work. Also, try to elevate her matress when she is sleeping. It will help her breathing. Hope this helps.

K.

You are getting lots of good advice. I have two children who are now teenagers who suffered croup 10 times between the two of them when they were younger. I have tried many of these and they all have their benefits but the one thing I felt worked the best was the cold air. One time my daughter was getting so little oxygen her lips where blue and she was panicking. I opened the freezer and stood there with her head near and let her breathe. It always worked better than the steam.