With the transition of fall to winter, everyone is bound to get sick at some point. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know already, correct? It’s just the way it goes when you live in a cold weather climate. I know, we should move, right?! But since that’s not happening anytime soon, we can all just cry about together. I give us full permission! Ha!

Occasionally, sometimes your average cold or fever might turn into the dreaded CROUP. Ugh!!!!!!!! If you haven’t had to deal with croup before, you might not even know what it is. But if you have kids, you most likely will find out soon enough {sorry to be the bearer of bad news here!!!} So what is croup, exactly?! According to the Mayo Clinic website, croup usually occurs in younger children and it refers to an infection of the upper airway, which obstructs breathing and causes a characteristic barking cough. Translation: NOT FUN.

Fortunately for me, my first child Brody, has yet to get croup! He actually doesn’t get sick very much at all {watch, I say this now and next week he’ll come down with something – oh goodness I hope that doesn’t happen!!}, but when he does get sick, it’s usually a low-grade fever and a simple cold that lasts a day or two at most. It typically doesn’t develop into anything more!

Now, when it comes to Levi, he’s a whole other story!!! And a few weeks ago, at midnight, Isaiah and I all the sudden heard these really loud barking cough sounds coming from his room. It was so odd because he had previously been 100% healthy but I knew this bark sound was not normal and went in there immediately. {Sidenote: later the doctor mentioned that this is usually exactly how croup begins… out of nowhere!!!} What we soon realized is that he was having extreme trouble breathing and that his vocal cords were very swollen. He could hardly talk and when he did, his voice was raspy and high-pitched – he sounded like a horse.

We were scared!!!!!! So much so that we almost took him to the ER!!!! But, I did know a few friends who’ve had kids with a history of getting croup and decided to dial the doctor on call at Levi’s pediatric practice. After telling her about his scary symptoms, she assured us that it definitely sounded like he had your typical case of croup and we most likely didn’t have to make the trip to the ER. She also gave us some tips to treat it at home in the middle of the night, and they worked!! If they didn’t, we would have gone to the emergency room immediately but there ended up being no need for that. Thank goodness!!!!!!! He did sleep with us in our bed for the rest of the night {which was a first for our fam!} and that gave Isaiah and I peace of mind and put us at ease.

With that, today I’m going to share the suggestions of my doctor for how to treat croup in the middle of the night!! I should preface by saying I am NOT a doctor, but like I said, these things worked for us and if I can spare you the trouble of getting all worked up if your child ever gets croup in the future, I’m going for it! Oh! And I’ve also included some remedies from my instafriends because when this happened, I shared about it on my stories and so many of you DMed me telling me what’s worked for you too!

Here it goes:

1. Bring out the humidifier!!! Adding a few drops of eucalyptus oil into the humidifier is always a good idea as well.
2. Switch off from going into a really HOT steamy bathroom to really COLD air. If need be, wrap your kiddo in a cozy blanket and head outside with him/her. I was told this is so helpful for opening up their air passage ways.
3. Give the child his/her correct dosage of Advil to help fight the cold.
4. Once the child calms down, try to get him/her back to sleep. Sleep helps.
5. Take a video of your child breathing and if you can get the barking cough on camera too, that would be helpful. If your pediatrician has office hours, go in the next morning. If not, make the earliest appointment that you can for the next day. While at the office, show the video to the doctor. This can help determine the best medication for your little one. In most cases, it will be a steroid!

Above all, stay calm! Way more easier said than done, I know. But as the parent, you have to make sure you stay calm for not only your own sake, but for your child’s too.

That’s it!!!! Hopefully no kiddies in your household will come down with croup anytime soon but if they do, I sincerely hope this blog post helps to get you through the tough night. Also, I highly suggest that you PIN this post for future and send it over to any new parents you know!! Knowledge is power, am I right?! Use the pink buttons below this post to do so!!

Have your kids ever had croup before? If yes, how did you deal with it? Let me know in the comments! Xox