Disclaimer: Medical advice given on this page is for patients of Rivendell Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine only.Please consult your child's physician for any medical questions.

Croup

There is no way to predict which child will develop croup, but hopefully, this page will make it easier for you to deal with. There are some very important things that you can do to keep your child comfortable.

	Don't Panic! If you've never dealt with croup before, you will most likely become very alarmed both by:   what your child's cough will sound like (a barking dog or seal) by the way your child is breathing (you may see what are called retractions - where the skin in between the ribs seems to be sucked in) and the "wheezing" noise your child may make when breathing in. Keep in mind that your child will get more frightened if you panic. In this case, the breathing difficulty and cough will get much worse!
	Bring your child outside as breathing the cool air tends to shrink some of the swelling in the airway after about 10 minutes. This is usually better than trying to steam up the bathroom.
	Run a cool-mist humidifier as this is much safer than one that boils the water to make steam.
	You may try some Delsym® to help with the cough at night time.
	There are situations in which your child may also need to be put on a short course of steroids during the initial stages of croup in an effort to avoid significant narrowing of the airway that years ago prompted many hospital stays. This decision will be made at the time of your child's visit to the office should it be necessary. Generally, though, this is only necessary for small infants and toddlers, as older children rarely develop significant narrowing.

Generally speaking, most children with croup don't run any fever. For those children that have fever, it may be in the 101-102 range, and may last up to 4-5 days. For the child with fever whose temperature seems to start rising several days after it seemed to be getting better, or for the child who suddenly develops fever after about a week, then please call the office to make an appointment as this usually means your child is developing some complication such as an ear infection or bronchitis. As always, should you have any questions, don't be afraid to call the office.

Disclaimer: Medical advice given on this page is for patients of Rivendell Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine only.Please consult your child's physician for any medical questions.