Home Remedies for Croup
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Croup Home Remedies:
Submitted by April at 2009-12-20 10:33:47
Symptoms of croup are caused by narrowed airways. They include a barking cough; a raspy, hoarse voice; and a harsh, crowing noise when breathing in. The cough is very distinctive, so you'll know it when you hear it. It is often compared to the sound of a barking seal. Sometimes children breathe fast and need to sit up to breathe better.
Symptoms of croup often improve during the day and get worse at night. Sometimes children have croup attacks that wake them up in the middle of the night for a couple of nights in a row, but the illness usually improves gradually in 2 to 5 days.
Even though your child's coughing and troubled breathing can be frightening, home treatment usually eases the symptoms.
Try to stay calm during an attack, and soothe your child. Crying can make the swelling in the windpipe worse and make it even harder to breathe.
Breathing in moist air seems to help during a croup attack. Fill your bathroom with steam from the hot water faucets, and sit in the room with your child for 10 minutes. Or hold your child directly over a humidifier, and let the vapor blow directly in his or her face.
Breathing cool night air also seems to help sometimes. Dress your child in warm clothes, and go outside for 10 minutes.
If symptoms improve with these methods, put your child back in bed with the humidifier blowing nearby. Do not smoke, especially in the house. If the symptoms happen during the middle of the night, it is a good idea to sleep in or near your child's room until morning.
It is important to keep your child well hydrated. Offer water, flavored ice treats (such as Popsicles), or crushed ice drinks several times each hour.
I got this information off of Web MD...It worked for me...
rating: 8 (3 votes)
Submitted at 2003-11-07 17:47:18
Place a cold, damp cloth on the throat to minimize swelling.
rating: 6 (7 votes)
Submitted by Tina from Tipton Co. TN at 2004-12-27 16:17:19
My child has regular attacks. Keep a humidifier in your house because you need cool air, not warm air to help. Dry air is the cause of the attack. If you are in your car open a window. If you do not have a humidifier and your child is having severe breathing problems, take them to the emergency room . There they will get a breathing treatment. On in severe cases will you need surgery.
rating: 6 (13 votes)
Submitted at 2003-11-07 17:47:18
Drink lobelia extract in water for pain, inflammation, and coughing.
rating: 6 (17 votes)
Submitted by Tabitha at 2006-12-10 11:53:59
My daughter also suffers regularly from croup. I too, agree with most of these remedies. But just to throw another out there, the ENT doctor I work for also suggested sitting my daughter in a chair, put a blanket around her, and place her right in front of my open freezor door. This, at first, sounded like a form of child abuse, but now my daughter is 6 years old and when she wakes up croupy, she knows exactly what to do to make herself feel better.
rating: 5 (17 votes)
Submitted at 2003-11-07 17:47:18
Lobelia extract on the throat, chest, and back will help relax muscles.
rating: 5 (17 votes)
Submitted at 2003-11-07 17:47:18
To help loosen phlegm and congestion during an attack, fill a bathroom with steam by turning on the hot shower and have the child breathe in the bathroom until the attack is gone.
rating: 5 (21 votes)
Submitted at 2003-11-07 17:47:18
Drink lemon juice and honey to relieve the throat.
rating: 5 (23 votes)
Submitted by KR at 2008-09-06 22:33:16
I suffered from croup as a child. I remember:
-bathroom filled with steaming shower &
-head over a steaming pot of water with towel over my head. Just be sure you don't burn yourself. Keep mustard handy....see 'burn'. :)
-The Pot of steaming water really does work, you just need the towel to keep the steam in. Kind of a good facial also.
rating: 5 (2 votes)
Submitted at 2008-09-21 16:53:01
I make my son chew vitamin A soft gels to coat his throat. I also make lots of tea with peppermint and chamomile to help him relax. Bundling him up and taking him outside if it is cold works the best to stop him from crying and helps open his airways.
rating: 5 (1 votes)
Submitted by Lori Wilson at 2009-02-24 16:36:48
I have had 4 boys, all had croup regularly each winter. The best remedy I used was something called COMPLEX CROU - it is a homeopathic remedy.
Start it at onset, giving 10-20 drops in plain water and repeat every 4 - 6 hours for the first day. If you catch it the first night,(you know when it starts at 11 pm.) it will usually go away within one day of drops. If you miss the first signs, it will usually take 3 days with constant drops every 4-6 hours to keep at it. Once all bark-y symptoms are gone, use the drops at night just before bedtime for 2 more nights for good measure. Works like a charm. Remember to keep them away from sugar as well.
With my first son, I had not found this remedy and found the steam showers, vaporizers not very helpful. We spent his first two winters bundled up in sleeping bags, sitting up outside for most of the night so we could get some sleep. Don't wish that last resort solution on anyone - although in Canada, it works! All the best.
rating: 5 (7 votes)
Submitted at 2008-09-29 10:45:48
when my son has the croup, we give ivy syrup, this helps relax and soothe the brochial tubes. If he wakes up unable to breathe we've found a steamy hot bowl of water with eucalyptus oil very helpful. I do agree with the humidifier use also and the cool night air usually seems to help.
rating: 0 (0 votes)
Submitted at 2010-02-12 21:53:01
my great aunt used onion juice for the croup
rating: 0 (0 votes)
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