At home remedy for Croupe or upper respiratory?

Ok well my daughters doctor (she's 16 months) has one of those 24/7 call a nurse hotlines so you can talk to them before having the on call doctor paged. Well my nephew had croupe a few wks back and my daughter was exposed to it and apparently he never got over it and got pneumonia, my mom got pneumonia a short time after being around him. I know it its self isn't contagious but i also know the infection that causes it can be. My little girl woke up from her nap and her cough had gotten alot worse. She has a cough that sounds like a baby seal kinda barky, no fever but lose of appetite. so i called that hotline cause i'm worried she might get pneumonia and the nurse told me that it could be treated at home with some warm tea honey and a cool mist humidifier has anyone ever heard of something like this being treated at home? Or do you think maybe that nurse was tryin to push her beliefs and not the actual best way to go about treating my little girl