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I had a scary moment on Saturday night/Sunday Morning. My daughter called out in the night, and I went to her room and found her wheezing and struggling to breath. She was suffering from the Croupe virus and the Strider condition (Coupe is the inflamation of the vocal cords for adults the virus becomes laryngitis, Strider is the condition that causes the difficulty breathing).
My older son had this problem years ago, and it was so bad we had to go to the emergency room, so I was familiar with what was going on. I tried treating Bailey with steam, but she was so paniced she wouldn't relax, making the condition worse. I gave her an Abutoral breathing treatment, but it was ineffective. After exhausting what I could do at home, I loaded her in the car and headed to the emergency room.
On the way I rolled down the windows because the fresh, moist air is good way to combat Strider. After being on the road for 15 minutes and forcing her to talk to me periodically to make sure she was still breathing, I heard her breathing easy up. I was able to turn around, go home and treat her again with steam in the bathroom. I felt like if I could get her to relax, I could get the condition to abate to the point she would be able to sleep through the night. But even knowing how to treat the condition, when your child is stuggling to breath it will firmly plant your heart in your throat.
My daughter is 3 and half, which is old for Strider to be a problem, typically it only affects children under 3. If you have a small child, pray you don't have to deal with this.
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