What a night!
My little man was sick last night. :-( You always hate to have a sick child,
but for some reason, when they can't breathe, it makes it that much scarier!
Daddy has had a cold and thought it would be nice to share with the family ;-)
So far, my little boy is the only one that has caught it. He suffers from an asthma
type reaction to colds. I have asthma, so I guess that is where he probably got it from.
Last night he developed croup after going to bed. It was scary because it didn't sound like any kind of wheezing I had ever heard before. I called the doctor and that is what she said it sounded like.
I had already tried giving him a breathing treatment that didn't seem to make a difference which scared me even more! But the doctor told us to get the bathroom all steamy and let him sit in there for 10-20 min. I have to tell you that it worked like a charm! For a few hours anyway, but it really helped, surprised me. Since I have asthma, humidity bothers me, so I wasn't sure it would work, but it did. Ok, so I couldn't sleep for wanting to go run and check on him. So, around 4am, we were up again after I checked on him and he sounded bad again, so back to the breathing treatments and the bathroom. It worked again, so we got a few more hours of sleep before we got up so I could call the doc and take him in this morning. Croup is really only a night time thing, and would you believe it, when he got up this morning he really did sound better, I gave him another breathing treatment and when we got to the doctor's office about 1 1/2 hours later, the doc said his lungs sounded fine! Whew, hopefully we won't be up all night again, poor little man, he didn't sleep real well either. The doc gave him some steroids for the next few days and then it is just a matter of waiting out the cold.
Now, for my daughter ;-) Hopefully she won't catch too much of the nasty stuff.
I took her to the pharmacy with me while my husband took my little boy home. As we were waiting for his prescription to get filled, she started messing with stuff on the shelves, of course... but the really neat thing was, she started to read the price tags! :-) I couldn't believe it. She has been recognizing numbers in books up to ten and will tell you what they are. But, she has never done it outside of familiar books, I was blown away. She said "nine" but I thought she was pointing to another number so I told her no, but she pointed to the nine again, a little more clearly and said it louder "nine!" I had to laugh because she was right and she knew it and I was wrong! ;-) Kids are so incredible!
So, that was the last 12 hours of my life so far. Wish me luck tonight.
Definition of croup: My definition from experience, not technically a medical definition.
Croup is the tigtening of the airways and the throat that results from a viral cold. It has a distinct bark like wheeze and cough, not unlike what a seal sounds like. Treatment is generally a hot, steamy bathroom for 10-20 min and then outside for a few min in the cold air. This should relax the airways. In some cases, a breathing treatment might be necessary, but in most cases, one or two trips to the bathroom will work until morning so you can get them to the doctor. Going to the doctor is probably not necessary if the bathroom trick works, and just let the cold take it's course, the croup part will only last a few days. If you are like me and a worry wart, then take them to the doctor and the doctor may prescribe some steroids to give for a few days which will also help to relax the airways and prevent the croupy sound. This may not be done with babies that don't have asthma type symptoms with colds like my little boy does.
Hope this helps!
All the best ~
but for some reason, when they can't breathe, it makes it that much scarier!
Daddy has had a cold and thought it would be nice to share with the family ;-)
So far, my little boy is the only one that has caught it. He suffers from an asthma
type reaction to colds. I have asthma, so I guess that is where he probably got it from.
Last night he developed croup after going to bed. It was scary because it didn't sound like any kind of wheezing I had ever heard before. I called the doctor and that is what she said it sounded like.
I had already tried giving him a breathing treatment that didn't seem to make a difference which scared me even more! But the doctor told us to get the bathroom all steamy and let him sit in there for 10-20 min. I have to tell you that it worked like a charm! For a few hours anyway, but it really helped, surprised me. Since I have asthma, humidity bothers me, so I wasn't sure it would work, but it did. Ok, so I couldn't sleep for wanting to go run and check on him. So, around 4am, we were up again after I checked on him and he sounded bad again, so back to the breathing treatments and the bathroom. It worked again, so we got a few more hours of sleep before we got up so I could call the doc and take him in this morning. Croup is really only a night time thing, and would you believe it, when he got up this morning he really did sound better, I gave him another breathing treatment and when we got to the doctor's office about 1 1/2 hours later, the doc said his lungs sounded fine! Whew, hopefully we won't be up all night again, poor little man, he didn't sleep real well either. The doc gave him some steroids for the next few days and then it is just a matter of waiting out the cold.
Now, for my daughter ;-) Hopefully she won't catch too much of the nasty stuff.
I took her to the pharmacy with me while my husband took my little boy home. As we were waiting for his prescription to get filled, she started messing with stuff on the shelves, of course... but the really neat thing was, she started to read the price tags! :-) I couldn't believe it. She has been recognizing numbers in books up to ten and will tell you what they are. But, she has never done it outside of familiar books, I was blown away. She said "nine" but I thought she was pointing to another number so I told her no, but she pointed to the nine again, a little more clearly and said it louder "nine!" I had to laugh because she was right and she knew it and I was wrong! ;-) Kids are so incredible!
So, that was the last 12 hours of my life so far. Wish me luck tonight.
Definition of croup: My definition from experience, not technically a medical definition.
Croup is the tigtening of the airways and the throat that results from a viral cold. It has a distinct bark like wheeze and cough, not unlike what a seal sounds like. Treatment is generally a hot, steamy bathroom for 10-20 min and then outside for a few min in the cold air. This should relax the airways. In some cases, a breathing treatment might be necessary, but in most cases, one or two trips to the bathroom will work until morning so you can get them to the doctor. Going to the doctor is probably not necessary if the bathroom trick works, and just let the cold take it's course, the croup part will only last a few days. If you are like me and a worry wart, then take them to the doctor and the doctor may prescribe some steroids to give for a few days which will also help to relax the airways and prevent the croupy sound. This may not be done with babies that don't have asthma type symptoms with colds like my little boy does.
Hope this helps!
All the best ~
posted by Leigh Burge @ 12:48 PM
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