What should you know about croup remedies?

Croup is an upper-airway illness that can cause a harsh, barking cough and a hoarse voice. Swelling around the voice box can make breathing noisy, especially when a child is upset or during the night. Many children also have cold symptoms, such as a runny nose or fever. A barking cough is a common presentation of croup, but the cough alone cannot show how narrowed the airway is.

Hold or sit with the child upright and speak quietly. Crying can increase the effort of breathing, so reassurance is useful. Offer frequent sips of fluid and allow rest. Follow the dose instructions on any fever or pain medicine recommended for that child; do not give cough medicines unless a clinician advises them. Avoid steam from hot water because burns can occur and steam is not a dependable treatment. A clinician may prescribe medicine to reduce airway swelling, and a nebuliser treatment may be used when symptoms are more marked.

Seek urgent help if noisy breathing continues while the child is resting, the skin pulls in between the ribs or at the neck, lips look blue or grey, the child cannot speak or drink normally, or the child is unusually sleepy. Drooling with difficulty swallowing, pauses in breathing, or rapidly worsening symptoms also need emergency assessment. Contact a child health clinician for a new barking cough, fever with breathing symptoms, or symptoms that are not settling.

Ask whether the breathing noise occurs at rest, whether prescribed medicine is needed, how to judge worsening symptoms, and what to do if the cough returns overnight.