Croup...or something else?

My daughter has croup....again! Is there any reason that she would get this so often? She is 5 years old and gets croup about 4-5 times a winter. Usually not this close together though(just had it 3 weeks ago). I was told the older she got the less severe it would get. Is there any other thing that I should have the doctor check??

My 10 month old recently had croup. The Barky voice went away thank goodness. So did her fever. The cough on the other hand kept on returning. We found out that the horrible cough she was getting, was due to asthma. It is a type of Asthma that only affects the child when they get sick. It has something to do with the Mucas. She is now on a Nebulizer, and doing better.

my son was that way up until he turned 6 (he's now 7). Here's some tricks to help your daughter:

1- go in the bathroom and turn the shower on all the way to the hottest, open the window just a tad it will created more steam. Sit with her in there for about 20 minutes 3 times a day.

2-go for a ride with the car window down. Make sure she is nice and bundled just let her breathe the cool air

3-get vicks vaporizer and let it run in her room when she sleeps, keep the door a tad open

4- rub vicks vapor rub on her chest and back, warm up a face cloth or small towel and place it on her chest

make sure that if the cough sounds gurlgy that she is coughing it up. These methods help to losen up the stuff. If she isn't coughing it up then you need to see the doctor to make sure she isn't getting pneumonia.

I am not a doctor but croup has many different causes. There are a conglomerate of different diseases that cause croup and immunity to a particular strain that causes a certain disease or illness only lasts for a short time.
Influenza is one type of disease that can cause croup. There are so many different versions of the flu that you may be temporarily immunized to one but will contract another strain. The "flu" is a version of the orthomixovirus.
Some of the other viruses are adenovirus, measles and RSV.
They do have a vaccine for the more prominent strains of these every year. The average age for growing out of this condition is around 5 years old but everybody is different.
Here is some basic information for you about the condition and some of the information is from my knowledge of Microbiology. Hope this helps!

has your daughter ever recieved a Haemophilus Influenza vaccination? aka Hib

croup is usually caused by viruses,and since there are so many different viruses it is possible to get it frequently.With croup the cough sounds like a barking seal and the child may have stridor,a squeaky sound in the throat when they inhale.with the cough best thing to do at home is run a cool mist humidifier ,take the child outside,or run a hot shower and let them breathe in the humified air,if you hear stridor it's best to take them to the ER asap because that indicates swelling or narrowing of the airway,which needs to be treated with epinephine or a steroid.children with asthma sometimes will have bouts of croup more often and if it is an infant ,especially a premature one ,they are especially at risk and its best to take them to the ER right away.hope this helps.