What can I do to help a child with croup?
A doctor will normally advise on what to do, or whether hospital admission is needed. The sort of advice your doctor may give is as follows.
- Be calming and reassuring. A small child may become distressed with croup. Crying can make things worse. Sit the child upright on your lap if their breathing is noisy or difficult.
- Lower the fever. If a child has a fever (high temperature) their breathing is often faster, and they appear more ill. To lower a fever:
- give paracetamol liquid (Calpol, Disprol, etc) or ibuprofen.
- remove all the child's clothing if the room is not cold.
- Give the child lots of cool drinks.
- Cool air - some people find that it is helpful to have a stroll outdoors, carrying the child upright in the cool fresh air.
Steam used to be commonly advised as a treatment. It was thought that steam may 'loosen' the mucus and make it easier to breathe. However, there is little evidence that this does any good. Also, some children have been scalded by steam whilst being treated for croup. Therefore, steam is not recommended.
Other treatments
- A steroid medicine may be prescribed. Steroid medicines help to reduce inflammation. A single dose often eases symptoms within a few hours. Steroid medicines do not shorten the length of the illness, but they often reduce the severity of breathing symptoms.
- DO NOT give cough medicines, which contain ingredients that can make a child drowsy. This will not help a child who may need extra effort to breathe.
- Antibiotics are not usually prescribed as croup is normally caused by a virus. Antibiotics do not kill viruses.
When to seek medical help
Always consult a doctor if you have any concerns about your child. In particular, see a doctor quickly if:
- The child's breathing becomes rapid.
- The child needs extra effort to breathe, or is struggling to breathe and becomes restless. (Breathing is often noisy with mild croup, but it is difficulty in breathing that is worrying.)
- The child is drooling or unable to swallow.
- A fever persists despite giving paracetamol or ibuprofen and removing the child's clothes.
- The child's colour is pale or going blue. (A normal colour for a child with mild croup is pink or flushed. A change from this to pale or slightly blue is worrying.)
- Coughs and colds in young children
- Coping with your toddler's coughs and colds
- More on your toddler's health and wellbeing
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leanne wilson, about 1 year
my son is just under 2 and a half years old he has had croupe 4 times in 18 months and every time he has it it comes worse, the 1st phew times it got better with just the steroid and oxygen this last time he had to have the steroid wich didnt work along with the oxygen it took two lots of adrenalin and he had the numbing cream put onto his hands ready for the drs to put him to sleep to breath for him they said it was uncommon for croup to get worse the more a child has it but kian definatley gets worse we was told to get a de humidifier by the nurses wich has helped him.
Report this commentloraine garnett, about 1 year
my grandson is 5 and he gets croup nearly every 4 months each time he has to go to hospital were they give him a steroid could you tell me if it could be anything other than croup
Report this commentkelly, over 2 years
when should they go back to school? been diagnosed this morning!
Report this commentmatthew haire, over 2 years
is there any prevention for croup, my son is 5 years old and has had croup 11 times, and hospitalised 8 times , i really worry going anywhere abroad or away from home in case of other episodes.we have tried steam , calpol ,rest and no central heating on, and we even keep a small dose of dexamethosone at home on the doctors recommendation but he still ends up having to go into hospital.he also has asthma and eczema which are under control
Report this commentVicky Jones, over 2 years
Loads of info - but should my child go to school whilst he has croup?
Report this commentamanda jerome, over 2 years
My son is 6 years old now and has had croup 9 times is there a reason for it to keep returning
Report this commentJason Cook, over 2 years
The article was good and confirmed stuff we know, but how do we prevent croupe attacks? Is there a steriod we can keep at home?
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Rachael, 11 months
My daughter has suffered from croup from about three months old and is now 5. It starts in november and the last session is usually the end of May. It is very typical of croup cold like sympt then croup for about 7 day peaking on day 3, she used to sleep through it letting us move her around and out of house but now is tired and really furious at the whole thing. We have tried all most all things (even having her hair sent to arizona for allergy testing) and at one point each worked for a while, the steam, de humidifier, letting her get to the sickness part etc but at the moment on the adivce of an old lady, when the cough starts usually as her head hits the pillow, I sit her up right as possible and turn a heat pad on full, I wait 5 min till it hot then wrap it on her chest. It has worked all this winter, the heat seems to dry it out, I just wanted to pass this on as if like me your child is the same, it is heart breaking and I wish I had know about this a long time ago, thanks for reading x x
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