Breathing is very difficult. Stridor is usually only present with crying or coughing. As the disease becomes worse, stridor also occurs when a child is sleeping or relaxed. It is usually part of a cold. Swelling of the vocal cords causes hoarseness.
Stridor occurs as the opening just below the cords becomes more narrow.
During this time, it can change from mild to severe many times. Croup is usually worse the first few days and then turns into a bad cold. Fever may or may not occur with this illness. The worse symptoms are seen in children under 3 years of age. Inhalation of warm mist Warm moist air seems to work best to relax the vocal cords and break the stridor.