Croup

[Vics128]

My little boy is one years old and for the last 5 months he has suffered dreadfully with chest infections. He has been sent to casualty twice, and then again last night, this time being diagnosed with croup. Everytime he catches a cold, he ends up with a chest infection, and he has had a cold twice a month (or there abouts) since he was 7 months old. He doesnt go to nursery, but occasionally through the week I meet up with friends who have children of the same age. This is where he picks the colds up from, but he ends up suffering more than they do!!!

He really enjoys the company of other children (and I admit I enjoy the company of the mothers) and I think it is good for children to mix with other children to learn social skills. But do you think I should keep him isolated for a few months, so he has a chance to recover fully from this bout of illness, or does he have to get the colds to become stronger. The doctors have said unfortunately he is prone to this, and most likely every winter we will be in the same boat.

I just want him to get better. So, should I keep him away from other babys (cos I no that all babys get colds all the time) Or do I just ride it out? Please help me x

[Altosruleok]

Ride it out. He'll develop immunity in the end, although, having had a son who used to get croup, I know how awful it is. He'll get stronger, too, as he gets older, so is less likely to be as ill.
I'm assuming you do know about the benefit of carrying him into the bathroom, running a bath, and filling the room with steam? This used to help us a lot when my son was coughing. It's not a pleasant thing to have to do in the middle of the night when all you both want to do is sleep and he's getting more and more distressed and you're just desperate to be able to help him. But if you can just keep him as calm as possible while running the water, and then sit there in clouds of steam and sing to him, it does help.
Good luck; you've got all my sympathy in this. But just remember that it usually does get better as they get older.

[kick3m0n]

defintely keep him socialising. His immune system will get stronger as it has to deal with these infections (that's how our immune systems grow), and anyway, he could easily develop a cold/chest infection if you or hubby or another adult had a sniffle, it's not just kids he'll catch it from. Apart from that, you want to absolutely encourage him to be social with kids his age, and so isolating him would be a terrrible idea.

[boobesque]

i would just ride it out. my 7 year old has had it more times than we can count, he now gets it every 3-4 months and is no longer severe enough to go to hospital, but when he first got it (at around 2 after starting nursery!) he used to have to go in to hospital.

our gp has said he will grow out of it and touch wood, he seems to be. I would try altos suggestion of the steam room, unfortunately for me that didnt work with my son! I wouldnt ever recommend a steam unit (you can but in pharmacies) my gp said that although they can help sypmtoms of croup they can often hide more serious problems (my son sometimes has an asthma attack as well as croup).

Good luck, it will get better, and less scary as they get older.

[Vics128]

Thank you all for all your help. I was pretty sure thats what the answer would be, just wanted some reasurance. Also if any of your kiddies get it again, when we were at the hospital the nurses said to wrap him up really well and take him outside into the cold air!! this is their new remody as aposed to the steam room. There is something else to try at midnight with an upset baby!!!!

[boobesque]

Strange you should say that, one time when my little one still got it badly, we thought we should take him to the hospital for the cold steam machine and nebuliser and he was wheezing away, we got him outside, it was freezing! the car was also cold and on the way there he stopped! so we got my dad to drive round for a while near the hospital and my son thought this was great, we took him home and he was fine!

These are all things to try unless he is struggling to breath, i know its hard but dont panic, we are quite calm in the handling of my little one when he gets it, unlike the first few times when i was nearly sick with worry!

[Lindylou]

This little boy sounds exactly the same as my eldest son. After many hospital admissions finally referred to a Paeds consultant who diagnosed asthma. If your son hasn't seen a consultant yet, then insist that he does. Good Luck. p.s. my son still has asthma but it is well-controlled.

[caro_]

Check for asthma - althouth it will not be conclusive until he is 18 months old. Do not be scared of socialising. My boys were in full time day care by the time they were 1, they caught everything going but have not missed a day off school (they are 7 and 5) yet! My old GP said if they get the germs early they will be better at primary age - it certainly worked for my two. The children who stayed at home are often off school but my two are not (mind you I work full time and have a strong work ethic so equally that will contribute!)

I found steaming a right pain. Buy some olbas oil, put in on a tissue and place under the pillow or under the sheet if he is too young for a pillow.

The earlier correspondent is also right - this time of year a cold frosty morning works wonders.

[emmapayne27]

Keep socialising, My son suffered the same still gets it maybe once or twice a year, I found it was when he was blocked up and had to breath through his mouth, try otrivine nasal drops for children, if it gets a bit much try vicks in boiling water the steam helps. obviously be carefull he doesnt have to be too close like we would.