The barking-type cough coming from your infant can be scary, but is a common ailment. The dry, seal-like sound your baby makes means he has croup, a viral illness most often seen in children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. Croup may have you worried, but can generally be managed in the comfort of your own home.
Causes
Your infant's barking cough may begin as a normal head or chest cold. The cold virus develops aggressively into croup within a couple of days of contracting the illness. The viruses that cause croup are very contagious and are spread through person-to-person contact as well as through the air.
Severity
Croup, like other viral illnesses, can range from mild to severe. The level of breathing difficulty and stridor, the wheezing noise your infant makes when she breathes, can indicate the severity of croup. Mild croup usually manifests itself through the barking cough and stridor while coughing at night; during the day your child may be her happy self, alert and seemingly healthy. Moderate cases of croup include more pronounced stridor in between coughing fits, irritability and marked breathing difficulties. Infants with severe croup may show extreme exertion while breathing, difficulty feeding, agitation and a bluish coloring of the skin. Medical attention may be required for moderate cases of a barking cough and is needed for all cases of severe croup.
Accompanying Symptoms
A barking-type coughing and stridor in infants are just two of the symptoms that signify croup. Many babies also develop a fever while the illness runs its course, most often ranging from 100.4 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Contact your pediatrician for advice if your infant is younger than 3 months old and runs a fever higher than 100.3 degrees. Give your baby fever-reducing medicines for temperatures spiking higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Your baby may also have swollen lymph nodes on his neck.
Treatment
Treatment for a barking, croupy cough in infants is generally performed at home by the baby's parents or caregivers. Keeping the infant calm is a key factor in the treatment; a crying, agitated baby has a harder time breathing than a calm child. Run a hot shower and take your baby into the bathroom or place a warm-mist humidifier near your infant's crib to introduce moisture into the air. The humidity helps calm your infant's airways and moistens chest secretions to facilitate expulsion through coughing. Encourage your baby to nurse or feed as often as possible. Babies with severe croup may require nebulizer treatments or the delivery of oxygen to make breathing easier. Do not give your infant cough medicines to treat croup; contact a doctor before giving your baby medications other than fever reducers.
