And Then There Was Croup

[MarinaVanessa]

So one of my DCB stayed home yesterday because he spiked a fever over the weekend and DCM called to let me know. All of the other kids were fine but I still kept my eye on them. Late afternoon yesterday my DS (10 months) was extremely irritable but he's been teething and hasn't been sleeping well (he has teeth number 5 & 6 coming in) .

This morning DCM calls to tell me that DCB will be staying home another day and that he still has a fever and has been coughing. Then another DCM calls to tell me that another DCB has a fever and will be staying home. I do temperature checks on all of the kids; DD is fine and I send her off to school but tell her that if she feels ill or sick to ask to go to the nurses office and have her temperature checked and I will pick her up, DCG is fine also and DS is at 99.

I just got a call from DCM #1 and DCB just got out of a Dr's appointment and has croup . He will be out for the rest of the week. I just did another temperature check and DCG is still fine but DS has a low grade fever of 100.4. I am now debating on whether or not to call the other DCM to let her know to keep an eye out and to call DCG's adult to let him know also and that my DS has a fever and give him the choice of picking her up early or not. I know croup is contageous but rarely is it very threatening so I'm on the fence. Call now or wait until pick-up?

[MommyMuffin]

I would call. Just to give the DC parents a heads up. If I was a mom working and you called I would appreciate it, I would have a chance to make an appt with the dr perhaps for tonight.

[bice99]

I would call. Just to give the DC parents a heads up. If I was a mom working and you called I would appreciate it, I would have a chance to make an appt with the dr perhaps for tonight.

Totally agree. Our 9 year old DD had croup at least once a year until she was 7. Normally kids outgrow it around age 3. It's just a virus that in bigger kids/adults causes you to lose your voice. Restricts the trachea. But in little ones, whose windpipes are already the size of straws, it results in that lovely croup cough. Our DD would get it and no one else ever had it as severely as she did just b/c that's who she was. We all just had the basic cold.

[MarinaVanessa]

Yeah that's what I was leaning towards too. I texted DCG's adult to let him know that DS has a low grade fever and that we had a confirmed case of croup in one of the kids that was out. I'm giving him the option to pick up or not, with the understanding that if she does get sick that she'll also need to stay home.

Now I have to get a hold of the other DCP's and let them know too and I guess I should just start disinfecting everything again now. Yay, fun <-- sarcasm

[Christian Mother]

Croup is def. not fun...I had my first bout with it last yr before the summer. My little guy just turned 2 yrs old and he has a pretty low immune system. He doesn't bounce back as quickly as most kids and tends to be always be sick..bronchitis, bad allergies, asthma..you name it. This little guy got it and the week was hit and miss with low grade fevers..which is how it pretty much starts out and then that ugly cough. I knew something was up. They did take him to the doctor and kept him home the next day but brought him back. I told them that normal incubation of croup is 3-7days fever free. I am glad they have decided to keep him home all week. I learned on this particular case that sometimes they will not give an antibiotic for croup but w/dcb they did give him one bc he is asthmatic so he needed help clearing his lungs to breath. But if the doctor does not give a antibiotic then they need to stay home til that fever and rough cough is completely gone.

[Jewels]

Croup itself isn't really contagious, its the virus thats contagious, which is just a cold, My son turned every single cold he ever had into croup when he was 3 and under, but no one else ever got the croup cough only him, my doctor said, that once a kid gets croup they are more likely to turn most of their colds into croup, some kids get croup others just get the cold. its the same a laryngitis in adults, no one else is going to catch your laryngitis, but they will catch the cold. And again its only a virus so there are no antibiotics, but they usually prescribe steroids to reduce the swelling so they can breathe easier.