Croup cough is an infectious illness of the respiratory system that commonly affects babies over 6 months of age and young children during the winter months when the weather is colder. It can be life threatening as it can lead to breathing difficulties in those infected. If the child is not properly treated and monitored it can lead to death.

Before Croup can become this serious, there are early warning signs parents should look for when determining if their child has croup. Early warning signs include but are not limited to hoarseness, sore throat, hacking cough, gagging or vomiting, and fever. The earliest signs of croup cough infection takes place two to three days after being infected. Hoarseness, or a rough quality to the voice, is one of the first signs to lookout for when determining if a child has croup. Even in babies as young as six months, that do not speak, you should be able to distinguish a hoarseness in their babbles and gurgles. If the hoarseness is accompanied by a sore throat this is the first sign that an appointment should be made with the doctor.

Another early warning sign of Croup cough is the dry hacking cough. The cough is sometimes described as a barking seal, the way it sounds. At night the cough becomes progressively worse and can lead to gagging or vomiting. It is the “barking seal” cough that parents distinctly recognize from other childhood illnesses. The major part of the illness can last for three days with a wet cough following for up to two weeks. Although croup can be frightening for children and parents alike, it can be easily treated. With the proper medical guidance and treatment.

Treatment can include nasal drops to open blocked and narrowed passage ways. Cough suppressants and decongestions can also aide in relieving symptoms while the child is being treated. Before giving any over the counter medicine to your child it is recommended that you seek professional medical advice, see a doctor. A doctor can give you the proper diagnoses and recommend steps that will ensure your child’s health and well being.

An example of the Croup Cough Sound

I found a good video to answer your questions about Croup Cough.

I will never forget the first time I came down with croup, or whooping cough. It has the telltale sound of a seal barking when a person coughs. It is known as Pertussis in the medical field, and children these days are vaccinated for whooping cough, though in my day a person had to suffer with it and hope the mucous did not completely close off their throats so they could breathe.

It was the late seventies and the middle of the night. I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days with cold-like symptoms–coughing, stuffy nose, headache, fevers, and body aches. I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I couldn’t swallow. I had to cough so badly, but when I did, it was just a dry, hacking, barking cough. It hurt and burned my throat. My mother was frenzied. I was the first of her children to ever come down with croup. After several phone calls to the pediatrician, I was put into a hot shower, where the steam and moisture filled my lungs. I was able to start coughing up some of the mucous that was clogging my airways and slowly suffocating me. My lips turned from a pale blue back to their rosy pink color, and the color began returning to my cheeks. It was frightening, but the worst of the illness was over. A course of antibiotics cleared the rest of the illness, and from there I was fine.

When I entered fourth grade, there was a wonderful Language Arts teacher who had also suffered croup in her childhood. She, unfortunately, did not receive the same care I was given as medical advances to understand and treat the illness had not yet come to light. She had a constant, barking cough. And though it had been decades since her bout with croup, she still suffered from a chronic cough that lasted her entire life. It’s interesting how just a few decades of medical advances can change a person’s life. Later in life, when I had children of my own, there was an outbreak of croup at my son’s daycare center. Even though my son had been vaccinated for Pertussis, there were other children at the center who had not been vaccinated. It was spreading quickly among the children in the center.

My son became ill shortly after, and although he had been vaccinated to prevent the illness, he had still become infected with croup. Evidently, the vaccine is extremely effective, but if a child’s immune system is struggling for some reason, they can become ill with croup. He had chronic reactive airway disease at the time, and the croup almost killed him at the young age of two. Fortunately, with a hefty course of IV antibiotics, steroids, oxygen, and a long hospital stay, he recovered fully. It gave my family quite a scare, though, and none of us will ever forget the gurgling sounds of our young son suffocating on the fluid in his lungs, and the hacking, barking cough that was the tell-tale sign of a case of croup.

Croup cough occurs commonly in young children and is characterized by a harsh sounding cough that sounds severe, but is rarely serious. Croup most often starts a few days after the start of a common cold, and causes swelling in the windpipe and breathing tubes leading to the tell-tale barking cough.

Croup symptoms often improve during the day and worsen at night. The total duration of symptoms may last anywhere from 2 to 5 days. The diagnosis of croup should be made by a health care professional and may be done over the phone. Although there is no magic bullet cure for the cough you can help alleviate the symptoms with some at-home treatments.

The most important thing you can do as a parent is try and keep your child calm during a croup cough attack – be calm yourself, and your child will be re-assured. Breathing in moist air for ten minutes helps a croup attack. Moist air can come from a sink filled with hot water or a humidifier. If an attack occurs at night try to use moist air to reduce the coughing and then place your child back in bad with a humidifier nearby. Make sure your child takes in plenty of water to keep hydrated since dry throats make the symptoms worse. If your child has a croup cough attack lasting more than 30 minutes, or the period of croup lasts more than 5 days, consider seeking professional medical help. You may be prescribed medication to help speed up the healing process.

You should also call your doctor if your child has trouble swallowing, has blue lips or fingernails, or becomes listless. Cough medication and antibiotics do not help with croup cough symptoms and have not been found to shorten the duration of croup. To prevent your child from getting croup cough in the first place is to keep your child away from others who have croup or croup symptoms. Anyone in contact with someone who has croup cough should wash their hands thoroughly and avoid letting children play or come in contact with other children that have croup. If your child experiences severe difficulty breathing call your local emergency services immediately.