Croup generally lingers. Both my kids had it several times under 2 yrs old. Mine usually started out with 3-4 days of cold symptoms, then went into about 3 days of very barky coughing/difficulty getting air in&out, and then another 3-4 days of cold symptoms. When we hit the crisis phase of breathing, it was a hospital visit in the middle of the night for steroids/inhaler-type meds to open airways. She may have described a barky cough, but a child with real croup will generally have a critical 1-3 days where breathing is extremely laboured. I kept my kids home from daycare for a week. Ask for a doctor's note to verify it's not really croup.