Colds and children seem to go hand in hand. The fact of the matter is that, at one time or another, most children will not only experience the common cold, but most children will also have croup cough. Croup cough, although it sounds horrible when your child has it, is generally not harmful to your child. It just means that your child won’t be feeling good for a while, and that you need to give your baby some extra attention.

Croup cough can be recognized, primarily, by the “barking” cough that most children get when they have croup cough. This barking cough occurs because the child’s windpipe and voice box have swelled and are inflamed. At younger ages, when the larynx becomes inflamed, it tends to interfere with breathing. Difficulty breathing, then, is another common symptom of croup cough. Other symptoms of croup cough might include hoarseness, a low grade fever, a “whine” noise when the child breathes, or crackling sounds when the child breathes out. There are actually four different strains of croup, and the symptoms of each can vary somewhat. All of them are characterized by that barking cough.

You can treat croup cough relatively simply. It is important that if you suspect your child has croup cough that you take him or her to your health care provider. Your health care provider can help to properly diagnose the croup cough, and to make sure that there is not some other problem that should be treated a different way. Once you know for certain that your child has a croup cough, you can treat it first by using a vaporizer in your child’s room. This will help the air become moist, and easier to breathe for your child. If your child has a fever, you can generally give him or her Tylenol. The most important thing is to watch your child’s breathing when he or she has croup cough. If it becomes labored and he or she seems to be having difficulty getting enough air, contact your health care provider or emergency room.

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