What should you know about croup sound like?

The cough comes from swelling around the voice box, so it is deeper and sharper than an ordinary throat-clearing cough. The voice may sound raspy or weak. Stridor is a high-pitched, rough sound heard mainly when breathing in; it can become louder when a child cries or coughs. A blocked nose can also make breathing noisy, but it usually sounds wet or snuffly rather than harsh and musical. Listening to the child while calm and resting gives more useful information than listening during a tantrum.

Keep the child calm, hold them upright, and avoid making them lie flat if that worsens breathing. Offer a drink only if swallowing is comfortable. Record a short sound sample for a clinician if the symptom comes and goes, but never delay urgent care to make a recording. Avoid hot steam and smoke. A clinician can decide whether airway-swelling medicine or nebuliser treatment is appropriate.

Seek emergency help when stridor is present at rest, breathing takes visible effort, the child cannot speak or drink, saliva is pooling, lips look blue or grey, or the child becomes very tired or difficult to wake. Arrange prompt assessment for a new barking cough with worsening symptoms, persistent hoarseness, or fever with marked illness. The volume of the cough is less useful than the child’s breathing effort and behaviour.

Ask whether the noise is stridor, whether it occurs at rest, how to record changes safely, which treatment may help, and what threshold should trigger emergency care.