How to Treat a Croupy Cough in Kids

A barking cough in a kid isn't a standalone illness; it's a sign of a respiratory tract pathology or other diseases. Viruses are often the culprit behind a barking cough.

Treating a barking cough in a child is a must, as it's a dangerous condition that can lead to suffocation in extreme cases. In kids, the vocal cords' gap is anatomically narrower, and the submucosal tissue is more lax, so when a viral infection occurs and the mucosa around the vocal cords gets inflamed, the airway narrows. That's why the symptom of a barking cough pops up.

Only a pediatrician can prescribe a proper treatment, but parents should know how to react when this symptom shows up.

What's Up with That Barking Cough

When the vocal cords, the back of the throat, and the larynx get inflamed, you start getting this cough that sounds like a bark, kinda like a dog's. And there's no mucus coming out, so it often feels like a fit that's tough to stop. It really freaks parents out if their kid starts coughing like this in the middle of the night.

With laryngitis, you get this dry cough. It's called unproductive because it doesn't come with any mucus.

A barking cough in a little kid is dangerous; it can lead to laryngospasm, which can cause severe respiratory distress.

Kids' larynxes are built differently than adults'. They're shorter and narrower, have a lot of blood flow, and are packed with soft tissue. So, inflammation leads to significant swelling and even more narrowing of the airway.

Kids have a hard time with these coughing fits. During a coughing spurt, they can't take a full breath, their lungs don't get enough oxygen, and the coughing makes them lose a lot of air, leading to hypoxia, which affects other organs too.

With a dry, prolonged cough, air comes in through the mouth. So, it doesn't get warmed up or moistened, which irritates the throat's mucous membrane even more. This makes the coughing fit drag on.

Reasons for Coughing

The treatment for a cough depends on its cause. In children, its occurrence can be linked to the following pathological conditions:

• infectious inflammation of the larynx – laryngitis;
• croup – acute stenosing laryngotracheitis;
• common colds;
• diphtheria;
• whooping cough;
• allergic reactions;
• foreign bodies in the respiratory tract.

In rare cases, a barking cough in a child appears due to developmental defects of the respiratory tract. Severe anomalies are diagnosed during the prenatal development period, not all of them are incompatible with life. Some defects are identified in the first few months of life. They are indicated by a disruption of the sucking reflex, signs of respiratory insufficiency. However, minor deviations may only become noticeable after the first cold.

In preschool-aged children, the nervous system processes of excitation predominate over inhibition. Therefore, they easily get upset over trifles, become frightened, and crying turns into a tantrum. Breathing becomes oral, air irritates the vocal cords, which are already under strain from screaming. A non-productive cough joins in.

In the throat, there are branches of the vagus nerve that lead there from the stomach. Therefore, irritation and tension during coughing can lead to reflexive vomiting.

Foreign objects in the airways pose a real danger. They don't just block the passage; they can also damage the mucous membrane. Small batteries, when they enter the human body, start to corrode. The electrolyte leaks out, leading to severe chemical burns.

Additional Symptoms

Other symptoms vary in intensity depending on the cause of the cough. With acute respiratory infections, a fever might be the first sign. For the flu, it's typical for the fever to spike up to 104°F without any stuffy nose or phlegm. Later on, you might see a runny or mucus-filled discharge from the nose, and the cough could become productive.

An increase in body temperature, fever, are signs of intoxication. They come along with:

• a feeling of chills;
• headache;
• weakness and decreased activity;
• loss of appetite.

Respiratory infections show up as a sore throat, difficulty swallowing. Little kids might refuse to eat because of this, preferring liquids or just to drink.

For an infectious process, an increase in the size of the jaw and neck lymph nodes is typical. They become firm, hurt when touched or when turning the head, but remain movable under the skin.

An attack can start suddenly. This mechanism is typical for:

• laryngotracheitis;
• an allergic reaction;
• a foreign body in the lungs or bronchi.

The thing about diphtheria that sets it apart from other conditions is that it gets worse gradually. Before it really hits, you'll see these whitish films on the tonsils that are tough to scrape off with a spatula. Over time, it changes color from white to a dirty gray or yellow, and in some cases, it gets soaked with blood. Other cold-like symptoms, like a runny nose with diphtheria, clear up pretty quick, leaving just a cough and a hoarse voice.

What's unique about the barking cough with diphtheria is how it makes breathing in hard, with loud wheezing that gets worse during a coughing fit. At this point, the kid might show the following symptoms:

• sweating;
• nervous excitement;
• blue coloring of the face or around the mouth and nose;
• rapid heartbeat;
• irregular heartbeat.

The kid becomes sleepy and lethargic. It's crucial for parents not to miss the early signs of this disease, as delaying treatment can lead to serious complications or even death.

You can tell the difference between a barking cough from allergies and one from other causes by its sudden start and the absence of cold symptoms. The lymph nodes remain inconspicuous, but swelling in the throat might be accompanied by severe swelling of the face, eyelids, ears – areas that are especially fatty.

First Aid Methods

To treat a child's barking cough, you first need to diagnose it, figuring out which illness this symptom is a sign of. However, parents need to know how to ease this symptom, how to relieve a coughing fit before seeing a doctor. Since a child's barking cough is caused by swelling of the inflamed mucous membrane in the vocal cord area, which makes it harder for air to get through the larynx, various methods should be used to create conditions that ease this state.

What to do at the first signs of respiratory tract pathology depends on the severity of the condition and the suspected cause.

Young kids under the age of 3 should be hospitalized. They often have this type of cough progress into laryngotracheitis with respiratory failure. Before the ambulance arrives, you can alleviate the condition using the following methods:

• moisturize the air;
• try to calm the child down;
• give them warm liquids to drink;
• remove any tight clothing;
• perform inhalation.

To normalize the microclimate in the room, you need to air out the room to reduce the level of dust. Mopping the floor will help get rid of viruses that are in the air and dust. To achieve an optimal humidity level, special devices are used or wet towels are hung on radiators.

In emergency situations, they fill the tub with hot water and close the doors. They sit in such a room with a child for 10-15 minutes until the coughing decreases.

When you've got a cold, it's crucial to keep up with your fluids. Sometimes, getting rid of phlegm can be delayed due to not having enough fluids. Kids are given warm milk, herbal teas with anti-inflammatory properties, regular tea, fruit drink, or compote to drink.

Among home remedies, foot soaks can sometimes do the trick. The dilation of blood vessels and the acceleration of blood flow reflexively lead to a reduction in the swelling of the larynx.

For inhalation at home, they use a pot with warm water, adding salt and baking soda. This solution soothes the throat and reduces the unpleasant symptoms of the illness. It helps with a runny nose and nasal congestion.

Main Treatment

You can't just go popping pills on your own. Only a doc can properly check out your kid's condition and recommend a treatment plan.

In some cases, you gotta suppress that cough reflex. For that, they use narcotic and non-narcotic cough suppressants. The first kind works by chilling out the cough center in the brainstem. But they're only used for short stints to avoid getting hooked. The non-narcotic ones don't have that downside. But, no go on using them when it's tough to cough up mucus because it's too thick.

To thin out the mucus, they use mucolytics, and to help boot it out, expectorants are the way to go. For the little ones under a year old, their cough reflex isn't fully developed yet, so these meds are a last resort.

Don't give mucus-clearing meds to your kid after 6 PM. The peak action hits during the night, which could trigger some serious coughing fits.

Supportive therapy is used to dial down the severity of other symptoms. For fever, kids can take paracetamol and ibuprofen. Other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a no-no.

A bout of laryngotracheitis can be knocked out with an adrenaline shot and inhalations that include diphenhydramine, adrenaline, and furacilin. Additionally, antihistamines might be prescribed.

Coughing is a symptom of many illnesses. Before prescribing any treatment, the doc needs to pinpoint the exact cause of this condition to use the most effective meds.