Treating Your Child's Croup at Home

The first time my son got croup, it was horribly scary. He woke up one night, at about two years old, wheezing and gasping for air. This was punctuated by a loud, barking cough. We panicked and brought him to the hospital emergency room, where they gave him breathing treatments and sent us home. He was okay, but croup turned out to be something we would struggle with several times a year after that. Luckily, most kids grow out of croup as they enter the school-aged years, so my son, now five, should experience some relief soon. However, in our years of dealing with this ailment, my husband and I have learned several tricks for preventing and treating croup once it pops up.

My son always seems to develop croup along with an upper-respiratory infection. According to Webmd.com, this is usually the case. Croup often rides along on the coattails of a cold. When our son seems to be developing a virus, we often give him some cold medicine like Dimetapp before he goes to bed at night. For babies, Infants' Tylenol Plus Cold and Cough can be used. Always follow dosing directions on the bottle, of course.

Another important preventative measure to take is to run a humidifier in the bedroom when the weather starts to turn cooler and dryer. We use a cool air humidifier to avoid burns. Make sure you clean it regularly or it can get some nasty sediment built up inside.

Also, make sure you keep the bedroom relatively hypoallergenic. I have definitely noticed that my son experiences more episodes of croup when there is dirty laundry, dust or lots of stuffed animals lying around in the room. It can be so hard to keep the house clean when you have young children, but it pays off to put special effort into keeping your child's room clean. We make sure to vacuum, dust and pick up the bedroom often. Keep a mattress cover on the bed so any liquids spilled wont seep into the mattress and cause mold to grow. I also keep an air purifier running, which helps to keep the air clean and free of dust and other allergens.

Alright, so we have talked about what to do to prevent croup, but what can you do for your child if they wake up wheezing and coughing? Well, we found out pretty early on that you probably do not need to bring him to the hospital. Croup is scary, but is usually not serious enough to warrant a midnight trip to the emergency room. To treat croup at home, first try treating it with steam. This is probably the most commonly used treatment and rightfully so, as it is quite effective. We turn the shower on as hot as it will go, leave the shower curtain open, close the door and window and sit in the bathroom with our son for about ten minutes.

If your child is still having trouble breathing after that, you can try taking them outside in the cool air. This can help to clear up croup as well. We usually try to use this as a chance to calm our son down as well. He often gets really worked up and scared during croup attacks, and certainly anxiety makes the attack worse. Try bundling your child up in a blanket and walking him around outside for awhile. Stay calm and talk to him quietly about things you see and hear outside: owls, stars, etc. Being outside can be really calming and the cool air can help to clear the child's airway.

If your child has reoccurring attacks of croup, your doctor may prescribe an inhaler to use in the event of an acute attack. Our son has an Albuterol inhaler with a special mask on it that we use. He does complain about the taste of the medicine though and will sometimes refuse the mask, so my husband devised a clever solution for this problem. He puts a piece of candy in our son's mouth before putting the mask over his face. That way, he tastes the candy, not the medicine. This has been effective for us in getting him to calm down a little bit and allow us to administer his medication.

Of course, if these remedies do not work or if your child seems to be getting worse, take him to the hospital. Croup is most often treatable at home, but it can be necessary to have him seen by a doctor right away.

Finally, remember: Stay calm. Your child can sense if you are anxious, and become scared. Fear really does make the croup worse as the child may tense up and hyperventilate, adding to the breathing problems. Stay calm and in control and your child will be fine. Good luck!