Barking Cough

[Anonymous]

That’s the only way I know how to describe it! Sarah is sick AGAIN! It’s like the deep dry cough I always get a few days before the phlegm sets in and it becomes a yucky nasty cough. I can hear and feel her wheezing. She is also sneezing like crazy and it seems her stuffy nose from 2 weeks ago that I THOUGHT was clearing up is now back full force. UGH!!!

The reason I’m posting is because, believe it or not, in Sarah’s 17 months of life we have NEVER had a cough before. Never! It way always a stuffy nose and then ear infection. Do you take your children to the doctor for a cough? Do they prescribe anything? Are there any OTC medicines that have worked well for your LO’s? WHAT CAN YOU DO???

Has anyone ever used Children’s Clariten to clear up stuffiness? Sarah doesn’t have allergies and this is obviously due to a cold but her sitter said that her ped. swears by it. Benadryl does nothing for her so I was looking to try something, ANYTHING…to help her!

THANKS!
Amy

[Anonymous]

That barking cough sounds like maybe croup? My little brother used to get this every fall. There’s no cure, it’s just like a cold but a cool mist is a common recommendation and it usually only lasts a few days. You could probably get some good ideas by googling croup. Hope that helps. Sorry I don’t have any recc’s for the OTC meds. Katie

[Anonymous]

If it’s croup I have no idea what works, but if it’s a typical cough from a virus, Delsym OTC works wonders for my kids. It lasts twelve hours which is great at night. The other thing that works is prescription cough medicine with codeine. Codeine is a great cough suppressant but it wears off in a few hours and may not be good if she’s having respiratory symptoms like wheezing. I’d probably call the doctor if she’s wheezing. That always worries me.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Katie and Christine! I just googled croup and it sounds exactly like what Sarah has!! I think she has “spontaneous croup” because it came on suddenly about 11pm last night. UGH! Hopefully it will pass soon. Her nose is like a faucet…worse than I’ve ever seen!

[Anonymous]

aww i am sorry amy! i dont think i would take her in unless like christine said..she is wheezing or other symtoms appear along w/it… like high temp.

but maybe a humidifier or vaporizer would help? i am not too experienced with those things..

i hope it doesnt last too long and she feels better soon!!

[Anonymous]

Hi! I am so sorry! Kaden had croup about 1.5 months ago and 2 things were done…a cool mist humidifier (and his was baaad) he sounded like a barking seal…so they gave us a prednisone syrup which cleared it up faster. I was also told not to give him Benadryl or anything with “drying action” in it b/c it can dry out the airways and make it worse!

HTH!!! I’d def call the ped, if anything to report it.

sorry she has it. It is very common and it usually clears up fast. We just kept the humidifier blasting in whatever room Kaden was in and then in his room at night.

[Anonymous]

Hey Amy. Claire had croup when she was about Sarah’s age. It came on really quickly.. she woke up with it after a nap. And it is a scary, seal bark type of cough with wheezing too. It was during the winter, so taking her outside worked really well. Also, going into the bathroom with lots of steam (turn on the shower hot, hot, hot) and sitting with her also helped. It freaked me out so much though that we went to the doc. and she was put on a steroid.

As for the stuffy nose and cough.. we are going through a bit of that here ourselves. Ben had a stuffy nose and sneezing, then nasty runny nose and now he’s sneezing again… I’m beginning to suspect that it’s allergies.. His ped. also suggested the Claritin as Benedryl makes him nutty. I just bought some today (actually a generic version). Haven’t used it yet, but I’ll let you know. That being said.. I would probably take her to the doc. for the cough before giving the Claritin.

[Anonymous]

My older ds used to get croup a few times every fall and winter. Some kids are just more prone to it. We used a cool mist humidifier is his room all fall and winter and when he woke at night with the barky cough, we steamed up the bathroom by turning on a hot shower and brought him into the bathroom and sat in there with him for several minutes. The steam helps alot. They also recommend that after being in the steam, you take her outside for a few minutes and the cold air helps (make sure you put a jacket and hat on her if it’s cold out). If you have “What to Expect the Toddler Years”, there is info on treating croup in there. The croupy cough itself only lasted a day or two but then it turned into a regular cough that would sometimes last for weeks. We have used Delsym cough medicine and also a prescription cough med called Tannate. Once or twice, he’s been put on oral steroids to clear it up. Because John gets coughs so freqently every fall/winter, the pedi is considering putting him on an inhaler this winter to see if it helps. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Oh Amy,

So sorry to hear about this. I don’t have much to add as we are having the runny nose and sneezing as well, some cough too but not barking…. I have put Cooper in the bathroom in his exersaucer with me the last 2 days while I showered to get the steam as well. We are using Pediacare cough and decongestant but if it is croup, probably don’t want to do that. It seems to keep Cooper awake so who knows.

[Anonymous]

Seth just recently had this too and it did pass quickly. Our ped. always told us that a cough was ok as long as it did not sound like it was in their chest and then it would need to be checked out. You can give some OTC things to make it more productive if it really starts to bother her at night.

Also, for the runny nose being worse than normal that may be because of the tubes. I know Seth’s nose runs more when he is sick now. Maybe it is draining out of her nose instead of the ears (which is good!)…..

Hope she feels better soon!

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! She was actually in great spirits today! I’d rather have a runny nose than a stuffy nose that’s for sure! She is able to breathe…therefore she has been able to sleep…which is fantastic. She didn’t really cough much today, but I tried to keep her happy and comfortable b/c they say crying can trigger it. We’ll see if she makes it through the night OK. The cool mist humidifier is on full blast in her room. Thankfully we just bought a new one a few weeks ago.

I never thought about where the usual “ear” stuff would drain now but I’d much rather have a runny nose than an ear infection!!!

Thanks to Jill’s advice, I didn’t end up giving her any OTC medicine to dry up her nose b/c I was afraid it would make things worse. We’ll see how the next few days go!

You guys are the best!

[Anonymous]

momoftwoboys wrote: My older ds used to get croup a few times every fall and winter. Some kids are just more prone to it. We used a cool mist humidifier is his room all fall and winter and when he woke at night with the barky cough, we steamed up the bathroom by turning on a hot shower and brought him into the bathroom and sat in there with him for several minutes. The steam helps alot. They also recommend that after being in the steam, you take her outside for a few minutes and the cold air helps (make sure you put a jacket and hat on her if it’s cold out). If you have “What to Expect the Toddler Years”, there is info on treating croup in there. The croupy cough itself only lasted a day or two but then it turned into a regular cough that would sometimes last for weeks. We have used Delsym cough medicine and also a prescription cough med called Tannate. Once or twice, he’s been put on oral steroids to clear it up. Because John gets coughs so freqently every fall/winter, the pedi is considering putting him on an inhaler this winter to see if it helps. Good luck!

Ditto!! My LO got croup 3 times during this past fall and winter. It was awful!!! He is definitely prone to it. Everything in the above post worked for us, minus the Delsym. We never tried that. Glad things are looking better now!! 🙂
valkay182007-09-23 22:14:31

[Anonymous]

I don’t want to scare you,but we got a letter in the mail from my daughter’s school that said there is a case of whooping cough at the school. Just wanted to give you a head’s up… I am in Kansas,BTW,not sure if it’s all over or what. My son’s pediatrician said there have been quite a few cases!

[Anonymous]

Late to this but…sounds like croup. Alana woke up at a similar time a couple of weeks ago with the “seal” barking cough and wheezing. She was prescribed some prednisolone for it as well. It really was only bad at night, which is typical. I think that the cold or virus that they have that causes the croup is often worse than the bite (of the seal cough…ha ha).

Everyone keeps telling me by the time she starts school she will be immune to everything…..

[Anonymous]

Hope Sarah is doing better!!!

[Author]

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