Nighttime is a frightening time for parents with an ill child. Unfortunately, croup, which is a viral illness, often appears in the middle of the night. It is one of the most frightening conditions for parents because usually a child wakes in the night who is having extreme difficulty breathing and making a barking sound like a seal coming from the next bedroom. This usually invokes a great deal of panic and worry. The first thing parents should do is take the child to the bathroom, close the door and turn on the hot shower. Spend 15-20 breathing in the hot steam. If that doesn't help, I recommend taking the child outside in the cool night air and that usually will break the child's attack. Then I would like for them to run a cool mist humidifier beside their bed. Any child who has had a hard time breathing at night, should see the pediatrician in the morning and if the breathing does not improve, they should be taken to the Emergency Room. Fortunately, today we don't see the severe type of croup that we did years ago.