Are Air Humidifiers (Cold And Warm) Safe For Babies And Toddlers?

For new moms and dads, nothing is more exciting than setting up baby’s first room. It involves picking at every detail with tremendous care, ensuring that everything is conducive for a young child. However, there is one crucial factor that can often get overlooked when setting up the nursery. What kind of atmosphere will your baby arrive to meet?

Granted that most parents appreciate how important it is to create a warm, cosy and humid environment, one question always lingers. Are air humidifiers safe for babies? Absolutely! Air humidifiers are 100 percent safe for newborn babies all the way to growing toddlers.

In fact, air humidifiers are not only safe for your babies; they are also good for them too and come recommended by many paediatricians. This is because babies have extra sensitive skin and an even more susceptible respiratory system. If the air is too dry and harsh, your child feels it the most and displays signs of inflamed nasal passages, sore throats, blocked noses and even irritated skin.

The worst part is that once your small bundle of joy gets a respiratory infection or flu, you can’t give them similar over-the-counter drugs that teenagers and adults take. Instead of having to subject their fragile little bodies to strong medication, an air humidifier can prevent all these issues and more.

Must-Have Features For Baby Humidifiers

When looking for a baby humidifier, there are special features that need to be considered. Unlike adults and teenagers, infants are very sensitive to even the slightest variations in humidity levels; that is why the following features need to be included.

1. Humidistat/ Hygrometer

This is simply a built in meter for measuring the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. Ideally, you want this level to be somewhere between 30 to 50 percent at all times when your child is in the room.

Without a humidistat, you might be flying blind in the nursery because you won’t have an idea what the levels are. If you underestimate the value and shoot for more moisture, you might saturate the atmosphere with water and cause adverse effects such as mouldy ceilings and a damp, musty environment.

2. Anti-Microbial Technology

It is important to ensure the integrity and quality of the water you use in your baby humidifier. Some leading brands use UV lights or silver ion to kill all germs in the water and prevent mould from growing in the humidifier. Alternatively, you could manually clean your baby humidifier with soap and disinfectant, but units with anti-microbial tech do not require any cleaning.

3. Automatic Off Switch

Not only does the auto off switch turn a humidifier off when the water runs out, but it also saves you energy. Children do not know how to operate appliances in the house. The best baby humidifiers run almost independent of any human interaction.

4. Low Noise Emission

This last feature should come naturally. Every parent wants their babies to sleep in a quiet and welcoming environment without any disturbance in the middle of the night. While most humidifiers emit small bubbling noises, research shows that babies actually sleep better with a little soothing hum.

Read also: Can A Humidifier Damage Electronics?

Precautions To Take When Using A Baby Air Purifier

When used correctly, humidifiers are among the safest products in a household. However, when it comes to babies, special care and precaution needs to be taken every step of the way. The precautions include:

1. Use Distilled Water Only

While most air humidifiers do all right with tap water, always use clean, distilled water for the baby’s room. Tap water contains some trace amounts of minerals and impurities that get worse in hard water. These impurities then build up in the humidifier and could be scattered all over the room. Distilled water is the most purest and contains almost no impurities.

2. Store The Humidifier Unplugged And Out Of Reach

Just like any other home appliance, the rule of thumb is to keep out of reach of children. Kids and toddlers are always adventurous and curious to know what this is and how it works. They tend to get all touchy and might tug at the cord and bring the whole thing crashing to the floor. Make sure you store the baby humidifier away from inquisitive little arms.

3. Regular Cleaning

The baby’s humidifier needs to be cleaned almost regularly with soap and disinfectant. Skipping out on this could lead to massive build-up of bacteria and mould that could affect the health of your young ones.

Bottom Line

Thanks to major leaps in technology, today’s baby humidifiers are not only 100 percent safe for them but are actually being recommended by doctors and paediatricians worldwide. Keeping your baby hydrated and in excellent condition is imperative for their physical and emotional development. Make sure you have a humidifier ready in the nursery at all times, always clean and properly maintained.