Anyone know anything about croup?

My 19th month old was diagnosed with croup on Wednesday night. None of my other children have ever had it and I don't know what to expect. He has absolutely no voice and sounds extremely wheezy with every breath. He has the dog like bark, but isn't coughing very often. Can anyone help fill in the blanks? I've heard it's respiratory and I've heard it's all in the vocal cords and wind box. I'm really confused and concerned!

In my opinion, you need take your baby to the ER urgently!

Croup is very dangerous and can cause the person with it to lose their airway (death when at home). This is a very serious illness.

When someone is wheezy, they need a breathing treatment. That barky cough and infrequent cough are big red flags of croup to me. There is a possibility that your baby is losing strength to cough because of all the constriction in their lungs (what the wheezing represents). Muscles can tire and people can go into ventilatory failure with time.

Croup can be difficult and dangerous to treat in the hospital. If an artificial airway needs to be placed, it would be done in the operating room because the airway can spasm shut at any time. Sometimes, a trach has to be placed to keep the patient alive and breathing.

dont worry about it...just make sure you have a humidifier in his room! if he gets croupy, you can also try goin in the bathroom, turnin on the hot water, and letting the bathroom fill up with steam...dont scare him though, just play with him on the floor while he breathes in steam...my little brother had croup when he was little and was hospitalized for it...once they diagnosed him, life was much easier~!