# Croup: When to go to the ER?



## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

Baby bella had croup last night. For some reason my girls get croup fairly often









Well, she was wheezing and off and on gulping in air and it freaked me out! I tried about 20 minutes in the steamy shower room and I had her drink rice milk, but neither stopped the wheezing.

She was calm all the while and off and on sleeping.

I took her to the ER because I was scared, but once there, she just got more worked up and worse off. They gave her breathing treatments and a steroid shot to help bring down the swelling in her larnyx.
She slept pretty well the rest of the night.

So I am wondering did I do the right thing by giong to the ER at that point? When do you go and when not?

Of course they said I did the right thing there, but they also said it was a mild case of croup in comparison with how bad croup can be, so I was wondering if she maybe would have been better off at home?

And since my girls keep getting croup, I don't want to make them go through the awful doctor experience more then needed...

thank you for help.
-
LaLa


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## corrie43 (Mar 9, 2003)

We have gone to the ER twice for croup, once by ambulance. My ds is 3. The first time he was wheezing really badly and having trouble catching his breath, so we called our doctor and she listened to him over the phone and said to take him in. The second time was during flu season and he woke up in the middle of the night coughing, wheezing, and throwing up large amounts of phlegm. He was having such trouble getting a breath in I was scared. when the ambulance got here is O2 level was low so they brought us to the ER. They even took me and the baby too because we were home alone and my ds didn't want to ride alone. His breathing is worse when he is upset so they let us ride with him.

Croup can be very scary and once they have it they are more likely to get it again and again.


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

it is scary! I remember the first time bean had croup she was just one year old and projectile vomitting on top of all the rest...I was in a panic and really second guessing myself on a thousand parenting choices I'd made up to that point!

It is a scary night with croup in the house









Do you know why it is that they are more likely to get it again once they've had it?


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Laura,

I swear this sounds a lot like what we dealt with about 6 months ago with Kenny. Hard coughing, puking snot, difficulty breathing ... took 'em to the hospital and I swear they nearly killed him ... they double dosed him with albuterol and something else (that I can't remember the name of right now) and his blood pressure shot through the roof, instant fever, was sooo red and screamed for 3 hours. That was at the Army Med Center ... have not taken him back there since.

At Medical Coll. of GA they called it RAD (reactive airway disorder) and sent us home with a nebulizer and inhalant. When he gets really bad, we give him albuterol ... it has been 3 months since we gave him a treatment, but had to two nights ago b/c he could not stop coughing.

We can't figure out the trigger ... but we know it has to have something to do with whatever triggers his allergies.

I say WHENEVER it is a BREATHING problem ... you have little else to do but get them to the ER. I can handle just about anything else, but a blocked air passage has to be remedied in a matter of seconds - not a 10 minute drive to a hospital, kwim?

Once there, you can designate what you want to happen or not ... at least you are there should something happen that needs to be treated.

They are always irritated with what I will and won't let them do - but he's MINE and they can kiss it if they think I'm walking in there to hand him over.


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

I wonder if it is the same thing!?
Poor Kenny!

They didn't give us anything to take home for breathing treatments, but they told us that we can expect this to happen any time she gets a respritory infection until about age 4


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

Kenny's was extreme enough to be hospitalized twice. He has dealt with reflux since birth and I believe that the problem was that it aspirated to his lungs and caused an infection ... which was how we ended up in the hospital.

Since then, we went through a period of time where he was on Zantac and then we pulled him off that, the antibiotics and stopped giving him morning and night treatments. We have a spacer and an inhaler for 'spot' treatments once every blue moon.

Once he starts the cough - and it is discernable - we try to see if he'll work through it. If it is still constant after a half hour or so - he gets a treatment. It usually only takes one.

It is ALWAYS coupled with some type of respiratory irritation or what seems to be 'allergies.'


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

poor sweetie


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## hippiemom (Jan 7, 2002)

immediate rx for croup is moisture. best is to steam up the shower/bathroom very well, and sit in there with your child for about 20 minutes. this will in most cases relieve the stridor, or larynx attack that causes breathing difficulty. the "seal" cough is the first warning of this, the alarm that should send you to the steam!

my son has asthma, and of course he was the first ever of my 3 kids to get croup.... my older non asthmatic daughters have never had it. when he started the barky cough, we scooted him to the bathroom right away for steam, then did his nebulizer treatment. that stopped it. we kept the neb nearby the next night for safety, but he was better. ironically it is easiest for us to manage croup for him b/c we have the neb here at home anyway. many er's will do an albuterol treatment if you go in.

of course, if you notice a child truly struggling for breath (wheezing deepy, ribs showing every time she breathes in, turning pale/blue/lips dark), call 911. i agree with the above that you do not mess around with breathing trouble. when in doubt seek help. like everything, croup comes in all severities. when it is very severe, medication is in order and very effective. with that first croup with my son, we did bring him in due to his asthma. after the steam, neb, and a trip in the car, he was fine and right jolly by the time we got to the hospital. the doc said he sees this almost every night. often just getting out in the night air will stop the attack as it is usually higher moisture outside at night. oh well, we tested his o2 just to make it worth the trip and went home. :LOL it was good to get the reassurance, and to go over home treatment with the doc.


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## HeatherSanders (Jul 20, 2002)

hippiemom - what do you use in your home nebulizer? We have done the shower thing and it does help along with the nebulizer as well ... but the coughing takes a considerable time longer to calm down than what you've described.

I wonder if there are times when we are dealing with croup and they just never called it that.


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