Croup

Croup

Parenthood has its nightmares, but few terrors can compare with this: You wake up to the sound of junior struggling for breath with a cough so deep that it sounds like the barking of a St. Bernard. He gasps and sputters for a lungful of air--only to spill it out with the most shrill cry ever to punish a set of eardrums. Yes, it does sound awful--but as many parents have learned, to their relief, this terrible sound is usually nothing worse than quite common croup.

Croup is an inflammation of the voice box and windpipe that usually strikes children between three months and five years of age. "It usually occurs at night, because breathing becomes more shallow and the muscles in the neck don't work as well when you're asleep," says Karen Wendelberger, M.D., a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. It won't go away in the wink of an eye, whatever you do. But you can help ease your child's hacking. Here's how.

Bring vapors to the child. "Since a narrow airway doesn't get enough secretions, probably the best thing you can do is add humidity to your surroundings with a cool-mist vaporizer," says Leonard Rappaport, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and senior associate in medicine at Children's Hospital in Boston. "Place it with the vaporizer blowing in your child's face, so when he's asleep, he's literally getting wet. If croup is bad during the day, run the vaporizer during the day as well." A cool-mist vaporizer can be purchased at most department stores and drugstores.

Or bring the child to the vapors. If you don't have a cool-mist vaporizer, take the child into the bathroom, close the door, and run a hot shower. That will produce enough steam to give short-term relief.

Calm Junior with extra TLC. When they're sick and unhappy, babies cry--but crying and getting agitated will further swell the airways. "Doing anything to soothe the child and keep him calm and happy will certainly help," says Birt Harvey, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, He recommends "holding, rocking, cuddling and talking--anything that will help soothe the child."

Adds Dr. Rappaport: "The calmer the child is, the more likely he'll breathe normally."

Go outdoors. "If it's a cool night, exposing your child to the cool night air can help add humidity and moisture," adds Dr. Harvey "Just make sure to keep your child bundled up."

Ban the milk bottle. Milk and other dairy products cause more phlegm, just adding to congestion. "Eliminating milk won't cure croup, but avoiding it will make it easier for your child to breathe," says Dr. Wendelberger. "Instead of milk, try giving a child with croup clear liquids like water or apple juice, especially before bedtime."

Hold baby's head high. Keeping your child upright helps make breathing easier, adds Dr. Harvey.