Does Your Child Suffer From Croup?

As the temperature drops, Croup amongst other bugs is already appearing.  Homeopathy offers lovely remedies to help nurture your little one through this time and help to give you more sleep through the early hours of the morning.

Croup is a virus that affects the airways, in particular the voice box and the windpipe.  Often this virus begins with a runny nose, cough and a fever.  With Croup, there is a swelling in the voice box and windpipe that makes it difficult to breathe.  The cough may begin as a normal cough then  change to a characteristic barking cough and often a sound when they breathe in.  The cough is usually a dry cough but can often alternate between a dry cough and a ‘wet’ cough where you can hear mucus being coughed up or rattling in their chest.  Sometimes in the middle of the night, your child may develop the barking cough suddenly without any sign of illness prior to this.  Your child may appear quite well during the day or have a mild cough but at night develop a barking cough and may have trouble breathing.  It is usually worse at night or in the evening as the temperature drops.

The Homeopathic remedies you will want on hand are Aconite, Spongia and Hepar sulph.

Aconite

• Give at the first sign of a cold
• If your child begins the barking cough in the middle of the night with no warning
• Cough, fever or runny nose after being out in the cold air
• This remedy may last throughout but you may find it stops working after 24-48 hours or even sooner

Spongia

• Dry cough – whether barking cough or hacking dry cough
• When Aconite stops working
• Difficulty breathing with a dry cough
• This remedy may still work for the ‘wet’ cough but if not time to change
• Alternate with Hepar sulph if the cough alternates with a ‘wet’ cough so give during dry cough

Hepar sulph

• Wet cough – can be barking or just a wet mucus sounding cough
• When Spongia isn’t helping
• Difficulty breathing with a wet cough
• This may work for the dry cough as well but if not us Spongia and alternate as the cough changes from wet to dry and back to wet

This should help get you through this illness by lessening the symptoms and hopefully you will all sleep better through the night.

Other remedies that can be really supportive for your child is Vital Potions ‘Kids Coughs and Colds Herbal Tea’, Vital Potions ‘Kid’s Croup Herbal Tincture Mix’ Vitamin C  with zinc and ENT for Kids available at Wholistic Health Macedon Ranges.

If your child needs a consultation, you can book with Kate in person or online here.