Croup

It looks like Samantha has her first case of croup.  Around 11pm last night, a sound came from her bedroom that made me sit up in bed, and made Adam run into our bedroom to ask me if I had made that noise.  It sounded like a barking seal and it was loud. 

A bit later, Sam woke up crying and we could tell she was not going back to sleep so we went in to give her Tylenol and some love.  When it was time for her to get back in bed, she asked to keep her bedroom door open which we've never done before.  I did want to be able to hear her and I thought it was a good time to test out this new freedom.  Even though she can open doors now, she hasn't bothered to come out of her room at night yet.  That is just typical Samantha.  But I know someday she will open that door and I thought leaving it open this time might help to comfort her and give her some practice at the same time.

I had to return her to her bed 3-4 times, and Adam did it once.  We used the Supernanny technique.  The first time, I said, "It's time for bed, sweetie."  The second time, "Bedtime."  All other times, no words, just a gentle and calm touch when picking her up.  She cried for about a half hour, which is probably what she would have done with the door closed anyway.  Then she stayed in her room for the rest of the night.  She woke up coughing a few times, but she stayed in bed.

I hope this bodes well for the future of bedtime.

I Googled "croup" this morning and it appears that she has a mild case that won't require a trip to the doctor, but she might miss her second day of day care this week if the fever doesn't pass quickly.  I really hate that.  We're also having our friends' son (the one we went to the Bahamas with) stay with us this weekend, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she gets better quickly.