The Croup

It amazes me that a child can go to bed perfectly fine, no sniffles, no cough, no nothing and by 11:45 pm wake up coughing and crying uncontrollably. My boys have had 'croupy' coughs in the past, but the way Casen woke up late Monday night honestly scared this momma (and nurse ) to death. He sounded absolutely horrible, had stridor (which is a sound that is made when the airways are swollen and it is harder to breathe), and of course said it hurt when he coughed. He did not have fever at that time, but I got him calmed down and turned the cool mist humidifier on him. I laid next to him, wide awake, just listening to him breathe, praying it would not get worse. Around 3:00 am he woke up screaming crying and coughing again saying his head hurt. My first thought was fever, and sure enough he had 102.7. So I got him medicated and finally after his fever broke we finally both fell asleep around 4:00 am. Luckily, the cool mist humidifier was making his breathing easier.

We both stayed home yesterday and of course he was good, except for the croupy cough. He no longer had stridor, thank goodness. I did not take him to the doctor, knowing there is not really anything they can do. We laid low all day and he remained fever free. He again slept with the humidifier last night and luckily had a much better night. We both went back to school today and when I picked him up from school, she said he did great! Thank goodness!!!

I am hoping this will not happen again in either of my boys. They say that the age of three is the magic age when they will no longer get these horrible symptoms from the croup because their airway is maturing. That is a blessing, because I can honestly say this is one of the scariest nights I have had with either of my boys!