OT - Croup

[Britgirlus]

Does anyone have an older child who still gets croup ? My son has had it several times each winter since he was small - and now has it again, even though he's 6 1/2 - isn't it about time he grew out of it ?? He has never had it so bad that he's been hospitalised, and he doesn't get a fever with it - just gets the noisy breathing and seal cough. Will he ever grow out of it ??

 

[aussietravellers]

My son seems to have grown out of it. A friend of mines son had croup this last winter (its currently summer in Australia) and he is 8 turning 9, he wasn't hospitalised, but was just up during the night with the hideous seal cough that they get.

She said to me, I thought they were supposed to grow out of it! But her's hasn't as yet.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

My son (6) had it in October - he had not had it since we was little, like 18-months. We did end up taking him to the ER one night since he has asthma and we didn't know if it was H1N1, pneumonia, or what (he had a high fever that day). They told us it was croup, he woke up with the seal cough and we were scared, it was such a bad sounding cough and it had been so long since he had croup that we didn't even think that it could be that...really didn't remember what that cough sounded like, we just knew it was a bad cough.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS was prone to it until he was about 7, I think. The first time, he did have to go to the ER, but after that, we were told to give him children's Benadrly if he started to get croupy, and it did wonders! - It would prevent that first "almost barky" cough from turning into the full seal thing.

 

[Britgirlus]

DS was prone to it until he was about 7, I think. The first time, he did have to go to the ER, but after that, we were told to give him children's Benadrly if he started to get croupy, and it did wonders! - It would prevent that first "almost barky" cough from turning into the full seal thing.

Really - I've never heard of the benadryl for croup before ! Wish I'd read that earlier - he got worse as the day went by - is in bed now, so we'll see how it goes ! I DO have a nebuliser just in case we need it - plus, it is COLD out, so we can always open the door and breath in the air to make him breath better

 

[think-like-tink]

Here is my take on it....My son who is 6 still gets some what croupy. I think what ever virus is floating around causes a upper respitory thing in him. It's like his "weakest" spot. However, my daughter who is 4 gets it worse. We have a neb. for her now.

We have spoken to his ped. about it and she recommended some allergy meds. I have also done the benadryl thing too at a on set of a cough.


Good Luck, we truly suffer with it here too. My daughter can go from 0 to strydor breathing in in no time.

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

DS11 had a croupy cough again this winter. He would get croup every fall/winter since age 4. He would have a cough that would last over a month. Every winter he gets chest xrays and usually ends up w/ walking pneumia. This time around the peditrican said that he is too old for croup-- to go see the asthma/allergist dr. I took him in. They determined that he has asthma given that he has had several cases of pnuemia. They started him on an inhaler and a twist inhaler. He got a cold a few wks later that definitely had wheezing. His cough now is gone. First time ever that he hasn't coughed the entire winter. They currently have him just using the twist inhaler until he gets another cold.

I on the other hand have been diagnosis w/ asthma (illness induced). I got sick in November-- still haven't recover 100 % yet. I have an asthma cough. I need to get back to have her check me out. My voice is finally coming back but I can't hit the high notes.

Definitely ck him out w/ someone that specializes in asthma to see if that is what is causing the cough.

 

[aimlyles]

My son who's 8 still gets the croupy sounding cough at least once a year. This past year it was pretty mild compared to other years. It usually comes with/from a sinus infection and the post nasal drip from it irritates his throat. His Dr. keeps telling me he'll grow out of it (we deal with sinus infections at least 1-2x's a year that need antibiotic) we are anxiously waiting for that day to come.

Funny thing is he never had any issues until his tonsils and adnoids were removed when he was 4.

 

[Aristomommy]

DD11 still gets the "croup" cough with almost all colds she gets. Our pediatrician says it's just another symptom of a cold for her and we treat it with a good cough syrup. I can't remember what it's called, but it's thick yellow liquid that works wonders! She has always had this kind of cough and I have come to expect it every time she gets the common cold. I should say that she also has asthma and frequent bronchitis which probably contributes to this barking cough.

 

[taximomfor4]

Oldest dd got it one last time at age 8. Well, correction...even adults get the virus that's running around causing croup, but our small airways are bigger so we don't get the squeezed-shut croupy sound, we just get like any old cold. So dd got the croup sounding cough and airway issues for the last time at age 8. She has asthma (mild cough-variant asthma) so we did consult with pediatrician. The dr. was not shocked that dd was so croupy, but did say it's uncommon (but not RARE) at age 8. I think all my kids still got croup at age 5 or 6 but oldest dd was the only one to do so at age 8.

 

[Erin1700]

My DD9 still gets it but not as bad as my toddler.

I remember last year it went around my DD's 2nd grade class and the principal said he didnt remember that many kids with croup ever!

My dr isnt concerned about her getting it. She doesnt have asthma (my little one does).

 

[ginnymack]

Typically they do out grow it - and you should be starting to do that now... Although I set a record in my pediatricians office by showing up with the croup in jr high! I still have "reactive ariways" and I am very prone to any cough. My kids have been more normal - the older they get, the less croup they get. Also, my pedi warned me the difference between croup and laryingitis is about 1 mm in the throat. So you will likely find that as he grows the croup is replaced by laryngitis! Of course, in the mean time - cold night air and a humidifier right by the bed are good ways to manage an attack!

 

[Ericandjenng]

My son has been getting croup since he was an infant usually at 6 month intervals--alternating one with fever, one without. After his 2nd or 3rd bout, the ped told us he would grow out of it around 4. This past fall he had two bouts (along with 2 rounds of strep! in between) and the ped said he should outgrow it around 8....!?!

So I asked why we were told 4 before, he said it used to be around 4 but now kids are having trouble with it longer even his own child has been having issues. He recommended trying Singulair because it helped his child. We tried it for the 2nd time and this Rx is not an option for our son, it makes him aggressive--happened the first time too but had been used with two other meds for Reactive Airway Disease so we weren't sure which one caused the problem. On top of that it didn't help with the croup in our case.

I would caution that the Steriods they use for the severe cases are very helpful, but we also found out that they make you more likely to get other infections and illnesses.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Make sure it is the croup. Ds has a condition called trachiomylashia. It is sorta like asthma of the trachia. It produces a cough that sounds much like the croup. It did not start till he was like 12. It took a pediatric pulminologist to diagnose. They thought croup, whooping cough etc. He was premature and had a vent that caused damage but that is not always the case!
Just a thought.

 

[locolala]

I hate to tell you this, but I still croup when I'm sick . It scares DH to death when I'm sitting there sounding so horrible, he always wants to rush me to the ER when it happens. I've found the old treatment of steam helps me more than anything, even at the old age of 24!

 

[AJRitz]

Make sure it is the croup. Ds has a condition called trachiomylashia. It is sorta like asthma of the trachia. It produces a cough that sounds much like the croup. It did not start till he was like 12. It took a pediatric pulminologist to diagnose. They thought croup, whooping cough etc. He was premature and had a vent that caused damage but that is not always the case!
Just a thought.

I'm quoting this post just to emphasize that "croup" really just describes a symptom, and not a disease. If DS is still getting a croupy cough, it's time to explore the root causes a bit more. The condition quoted above is one possibility. Another possibility is what we deal with with DD7. She has eosiniphilia esophagitis - luckily, a fairly mild case. Basically, there are cells in her throat just past her vocal chords that are extremely acid-sensitive. When she has a cold, and post-nasal drip comes in contact with those cells, they become inflamed and swell. The swelling causes a croup-like bark-and-strider cough. We finally "discovered" her diagnosis after dealing with major croup episodes about every three-to-five weeks for about a year, starting when she was about eighteen months old.

Her issues are now pretty well controlled with a daily dose of an acid-suppressant medication (she started taking Zantac75 pills at 18 months, and has recently switched to generic Prilosec or generic Tagamet, as the Zantac appeared to be losing effectiveness). When she gets a croupy cough anyway, she does a one-week cycle of Prednisone.

Diagnosis can be difficult, because even many pediatric ENT's aren't well-versed in "EOS" yet (more serious forms of eosiniphilia have some kids on a liquid "basic" diet). We were lucky to get a diagnosis - we had a scope of her throat done at a Children's hospital, and they totally missed it. But we sent the pictures from the scope to a friend of the family (my BiL happened to be dating a well-respected pediatric ENT), and she found the eosiniphils immediately. There are good EOS docs at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and at the children's hospital in Cincinnati, OH. I'm sure there are others, but those are the good ones that I know of.

In the meantime, you might try cutting down or out on highly acidic foods, like tomatoes and orange juice.