Baby Health - How Humidifiers Help Prevent Coughs and Colds
Why Use a Humidifier
Humidifiers are one of the few options you have when dealing with a congested baby. Here are the benefits:
- Maintain the proper humidity to prevent dry skin and sore throats
- Reduce susceptibility to coughs and viruses
- Ease breathing for babies who have dry coughs
- Ease breathing for congested nasal passages
Winter air usually has low moisture content. Basically, humidifiers replace moisture that heating systems take away from the air.
Guide to Humidifiers
Types of Humidifier
There are several types of humidifiers, and over the last 4 years, we've tried each type. We currently use a Kaz Warm-Mist vaporizer in our children's room, and a ultrasonic humidifier in our own room.
| Type | How It Works | Pros | Cons | Example |
| Ultrasonic | Creates a cool mist by means of ultrasonic sound vibrations. | Quiet, easy to use, easy to clean | More expensive | Impeller | Creates a cool mist by means of high speed rotating disk. | Less expensive | May be noisy | Evaporative | Transmits moisture into the air invisibly by using a fan to blow air through a moistened absorbent material, such as a wick or filter. | Anti-microbial filter options | Often noisy, high maintenances, needs filters | Steam vaporizer | Creates steam by heating water with an electrical heating element or electrodes. | Warming, low-cost | High maintenance, noisy |
For a baby's room, it's important to consider the noise level, and whether the noise is a soothing white noise, or a disruptive noise. Ease of use is very important as well. A humidifier that has a good system for changing the water will be used more often.
Maintenance must be easy since you must change the water and clean the humidifier regularly to prevent any water-borne micro-organisms or minerals from being dispersed by the humdifier. Some people recommend using distilled water to prevent any minerals from building up or being dispersed. Others go for humidifiers with purification, or anti-bacterial systems built-in. We make sure that we clean out our humdifiers regularly.
When babies are congested, warm-mist humidifiers are essential. They help keep the room warm and most, and can help babies breath easier. However, warm-mist humidifiers require more maintenance and care when setting them up.
Ultrasonic humidifiers are the easiest to use, and are usually very quiet, making a soothing "white noise" as they generate a cool steam.