Best Guide To Buying Humidifiers For Babies and Children

So you’ve stumbled here to try to find the best humidifier buy for babies. First off, congratulations on having a baby! If you are not having a baby, congratulations on being an amazing person buying an amazing and helpful gift. If you’re neither of those, well, congratulations on just being you. In order to help you pick out the best humidifier for babies, we have done our research to create an informative guide that should narrow down your search to find that perfect humidifier for babies (or for adults)!

As we all know, the humidifier in the baby’s room is a very important decision and should not be taken lightly. Your baby is very sensitive to the air around them and the extra moisture in the air from the humidifier can help in a number of different ways. That is why we will first begin discussing the benefits of humidifiers for babies.

Benefits of Humidifiers For Babies

Protecting Baby’s Skin:

The most important reason that parents prefer to have a good-quality humidifier in their baby’s room is because it provides protection against dry air. This is especially true in the winter months when the indoor air is especially dry due to the heating system. When heaters are turned on, indoor humidity can drop to less than 10% (when in fact, the average home should be 20%-30% in the winter and up to 40%-50% in the summer). With the drop in humidity, viruses can grow more quickly, which cause a baby to get sick more easily. Think about it this way, most adults have sensitive skin- imagine a baby’s skin if it is not properly taken care of.

The humidifier also helps to protect the baby from other dryness that is caused throughout the year such as: chapped lips, dry eyes, and itchy skin. These can all irritate babies no matter where you live, but especially are common in colder climates.

Fighting Against Colds and Illnesses:

Humidifiers can be used as preventative tools to help babies feel more comfortable if they are feeling cold or flu symptoms. Since they have a rough time adjusting to the dry air caused by the heater, the humidifier moistens the air around the room to provide the baby with a less ‘dry’ feeling. This typically alleviates some of the irritation around the throat, nasal tubes, and the nasal passages.

Misconception: Many first-time parents believe that they will only need a humidifier when the baby is sick. This is actually false. A humidifier also helps babies sleep better (sick or not). The lack of moisture actually makes babies and small children uncomfortable in their sleep.

For the Baby’s Voice:

As we develop, our vocal cords need humidity to help us feel comfortable talking. Imagine a very cold day or a very warm/dry day- how difficult it is to talk when there is almost no humidity. Now, it is the same for a baby; they have very sensitive vocal cords and need an ample amount of humidity in the room in order to feel comfortable sleeping, making noises, crying, etc… otherwise they will feel irritated and unpleasant.

see more:- Things to Note While Buying a Humidifier System

Types of Humidifiers for Babies

When choosing the best humidifier for babies, you have to first understand the types of humidifiers offered on the market. There are two types of humidifiers that are regularly available for purchase: Cool Mist and the Warm Mist Humidifiers. The third option would be in-duct humidifiers, which are humidifiers that are installed within the actual air ducts of the home. Though this may make sense for home renovations/purchases, we will not go very far into detail with this option. The two types of humidifiers for babies are:

Cool Mist Humidifier for Babies: The cool mist humidifier does not have a heating element that allow the water to be heated up. The largest advantage of having the cool mist humidifier for babies is that there is no risk of the baby or child to get burnt by the machine when they get too close to it. Though this unlikely to happen, there is always a chance that the baby gets too close to the warm mist and hurts themselves.

Parent tip: If you will not keep a close eye on the child or will not have the humidifier out of reach of the children, we recommend the cool mist

General tip: cool mist humidifiers do not do anything to make the mist any cooler- they just use room temperature water so the mist feels ‘cooler’ on the skin.

Warm Mist Humidifier for Babies: Warm mist humidifiers heat the water with a built-in heating element. The humidifier boils the water into steam. This actually sterilizes the water so that fewer bacteria can be spread across the room.

Another name for the warm mist humidifier is vaporizer. As mentioned above, there are really no major difference between the warm mist humidifier and the cool mist humidifier aside from the heating element. They are built in nearly the same way and produce a similar mist function.

What To Consider When Choosing the Best Humidifier For Babies

When choosing the best humidifier for babies, you have to understand some of the considerations that must be made in order to make a purchase.

Price: Though there is an entire range of products out on the market, we typically recommend not purchasing the cheapest ones. The benefits in price typically do not justify the quality of product that you are receiving. With that said, you also don’t have to go out spending an arm and a leg to buy a humidifier for a baby (or for yourself). The typical humidifier should cost between $40-$100 dollars depending on some of the features, quality, brand, warranty, etc… that you are looking for.

Safety: We understand that this is an electrical water which uses water. That can be scary- especially for first-time parents. That is why you should consider doing your research (which you are doing right here!) and making sure that this is exactly that product that you want. If you are not comfortable with the warm mist humidifier, we recommend you consider choosing the cool mist humidifier for your child.

Noise: Though they vary, cool mist humidifiers can, at times, be louder than warm mist humidifier because they have a fan. Some models do have silencing features, which allow for them to be quieter. This can be beneficial- especially if you have a baby that is sensitive to noise.

Water Quality: Many humidifier companies and pediatricians do recommend that you filter your water. This is due to the fact that tap water has minerals that can clog up the unit, which will stop it from creating mist. Filtered water can be purchased for under a dollar at the store, or you can install a water filter in the home for relatively cheap. This may be beneficial so your humidifier lasts longer and maintains its quality.

Humidifier Maintenance and Cleaning: These are vital to make sure that the humidifier is performing well. Typically, the warm mist humidifier take more cleaning and maintenance than the cool mist humidifier.

General Tip: Some units actually have replaceable filters. In order to clean these filters, you can either replace them every few months or soak them in hot vinegar water about once a week.