The Scoop on Croup

Croup can sound frightening, especially in the middle of the night.

It often starts like a simple cold. Then suddenly, your child wakes with a harsh, barking cough and noisy breathing.

What’s happening is swelling around the voice box and upper airway. That’s what creates the sound and makes breathing feel harder.

As Dr David Hancock explains, it’s caused by common cold viruses, but the location of the infection is what makes it different.

Croup tends to come on quickly and is often worse at night.

It also spreads the same way colds do, through coughs, sneezes and close contact.

What helps

The most important thing is to keep your child calm.

When children become upset or distressed, their breathing can become noisier and more difficult. Sitting with them, reassuring them, and keeping things quiet and settled can make a real difference. If you’re having to do this, it’s a good idea to seek help.

Because breathing noises can be hard to judge, it’s always reasonable to have your child assessed if you’re unsure.

When to act

Seek urgent care straight away if your child has a harsh, high-pitched noise when breathing in at rest (stridor), is working hard to breathe with the skin pulling in around the ribs or neck, is drooling or struggling to swallow, or looks pale, blue around the lips, or unusually drowsy. If symptoms are only present when your child is agitated or active, and your child is otherwise settled and breathing comfortably at rest, it still needs review, just not necessarily emergency care.

Our urgent care clinic is open 8am to 10pm, and we can assess and guide you on the next steps.