In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…. Then, God said ‘Let there be light… and croup.’ You probably won’t find that last part anywhere in the Bible, but it should have been put in there. Croup, I believe, is God’s test for parents. When your child has his or her first croup attack (and pray they don’t!), it is one of the scariest moments of your new parenthood. If you haven’t heard of croup already, let me tell you a little story.
My first experience with a croupy child occurred about two years ago. I was in bed sleeping, when I heard my youngest son coughing and struggling to catch his breath. At first, I thought he was just getting sick… maybe a little cold. But the breathing got progressively worse over the next few minutes, until he was hardly breathing at all (or so it seemed). There was a few second delay between each labored breath (that I later found out was caused by swelling around his airway), and his coughing sounded like the barking of a baby seal. The coughing and breathing troubles made my little guy cry, and all that did was make the situation worse. It was horrible for me. Here was my baby, suffering, and I couldn’t do anything to help him feel better. Since I didn’t know what to do, I immediately took him to the emergency room. On the drive there, the symptoms got much better and they were hardly noticeable by the time we checked in (because he was breathing in the cold winter air, as I will talk about later). After a steroid shot and a hospital stay of a few hours for observation, we were released. The rest of the night, my son slept in my bed so I could keep an eye on him. He slept fine after that, even if I couldn’t sleep a wink.
Croup is a common viral infection, usually affects children up to three years old, and is characterized by a ‘barking’ cough. When you hear one for the first time, you’ll know it… your child will sound like a baby seal. It is this cough that will allow the doctor (and you) to diagnose your child as having croup. Other characteristics include runny nose, trouble breathing, and wheezing while breathing. Since croup is caused by a virus, there is no cure. Luckily for us parents, there are treatment options.
One option, although I have never tried it, is to use humidity. Taking your child into a bathroom and turning on a hot shower (to create steam) is suppose to help open the airway and make breathing easier. Another option, and the one that works for me, is to take your child into a cool environment. Since croup seems to generally appear in the late fall or winter time-frame, standing by an open window or going into the garage may do the trick. I usually wrap my little guy up in a blanket and walk outside with him for a few minutes until he can breath better. The cold air helps ease the swelling around the airway, which opens the windpipe and allows easier breathing. Finally, you can treat croup by opting for a steroid shot. Your pediatrician can administer this with little notice, and it is relatively inexpensive. Our child had another croup attack last night, so we called this morning and informed our doctor. We ended up getting an appointment a few hours later, and the total cost for the office visit and shot was $88.
Now that I know the symptoms and treatments, I feel much better about handling the situation when my child suffers from croup (and this seems to happen two or three times a year). First, and probably most important, don’t panic. Second, begin the treatments as soon as the symptoms appear. Third, let your little one breath cool air. And finally, if the first symptoms of croup appear on Thursday night/Friday morning, it is probably best to go to the pediatrician for a steroid shot. That one short visit will definitely make your weekend better.
Remember, I’m not a doctor so I am not trying to offer any medical advise. I’m only relaying my personal experiences, so please click here, here, or here to learn more about croup. And good luck on God’s croup test… I hope you pass!
[tags]education, doctor, family[/tags]