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Humidifiers are the easiest way to improve the humidity levels in a home.
If you have a young infant in the home, you may be wondering whether your humidifier is as safe for them as it is for you.
Low humidity can affect your infant just as much as you, so your baby will need you to manage the humidity level in their room.
A humidifier can be a great option as long as you choose the right model and follow the safety precautions recommended.
They can even have some additional features built in to help your baby get a restful sleep.
Is Low Humidity Harmful For A Little One?
While low humidity can have pretty noticeable negative effects on adults and older children, dry air can be even worse for newborns and toddlers.
A baby’s skin is much more sensitive than an adult’s and is highly prone to conditions like eczema and other rashes.
Low humidity in their room can exacerbate these conditions and also lead to uncomfortable dry skin and chapping lips.
Babies are also more susceptible to nasal congestion than adults, and since they already have under-developed immune systems, dryness in the home can make them more likely to get sick and lead to frequent stuffy noses.
Nasal passages that are overly dry can also result in nosebleeds, and this can be traumatic for both parent and baby.
Since vapor rubs like Vicks are not safe for babies, you need to treat their sinus congestion in another way.
This is where humidifiers work their magic.
Since the air quality is so important for your young one, it is a great idea to use an air purifier and humidifier together to maintain clean air and the ideal humidity level.
Is It Safe To Put A Humidifier In A Baby’s Room?
As long as you follow a few simple recommendations, humidifiers are very safe products to have around a baby’s crib.
There are many humidifiers even advertised to be specifically for babies, and they will have additional features that most standard Amazon humidifiers are lacking.
If your baby needs some extra humidity in their room, a humidifier is an excellent, and very safe, option.
What Type Of Water Should I Use?
As a general rule, you should always use either distilled or reverse osmosis water for a humidifier rather than tap water.
This is especially important when the humidifier is for your baby.
Tap water is considered hard water since it contains minerals.
These minerals can build up in the machine if you don’t clean it often enough. Distilled water is free of all contaminants and therefore won’t pollute the air around your baby’s bed.
Do I Need To Clean The Humidifier?
Whether you keep the humidifier in a baby’s room or not, you should be thoroughly cleaning the entire machine at least once a week.
You can up the frequency to twice or even three times a week in order to be extra cautious and ensure your baby is only exposed to ultra clean water vapor.
When you clean the machine, the water tank is the most important component as this is the most common breeding ground location for bacteria.
You’ll also want to clean the base and all of the other components that come in contact with the water or the water droplets being expelled.
Does The Type Of Humidifier Matter?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a cool mist humidifier over a warm mist humidifier model.
Steam vaporizers can be dangerous if knocked over, and the warming effect they have on the air can also make bacteria and mold growth more likely. If the hot water gets spilled by a toddler, this can result in some pretty painful burns.
There are a number of cool mist humidifiers on the market, though, and they each have their benefits and downsides for use as a baby’s humidifier.
Whether you choose an impeller humidifier, evaporative humidifier, or ultrasonic humidifier, your baby will benefit a lot from the machine.
Many humidifiers meant for nurseries will even have a diffuser or white noise machine built in that can help your baby sleep soundly surrounded by comforting sounds and smells.
What Is The Best Humidifier Placement In A Baby’s Nursery?
Placing the humidifier properly in the nursery is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you maximise the benefits and minimise the risk.
Putting the humidifier in an easy-access location is important to guarantee you don’t forget about it; a humidifier running on an empty water tank is a recipe for disaster.
Plus, you don’t want it tucked into a corner where moisture can get trapped.
Keeping a humidifier away from hot sources like a heater or direct sunlight is also recommended in order to ensure that the water does not evaporate before it can actually help improve humidity levels.
You’ll also want to make sure that the humidifier is not too close to any electrical outlets, as this undeniably poses a safety risk.
The next thing to watch out for is the placement in relation to the baby.
Since young children are curious about everything, you’ll need to ensure that the humidifier is not within your baby’s reach.
They could easily unplug the humidifier or tip it over by accident, and neither of these scenarios is a good thing for your child or the state of your humidifier.
A safe distance recommendation is 3 ft separating your humidifier from your child.
If you’re wondering where you can possibly put your humidifier that satisfies all of these safety recommendations, the answer is the center of the room.
Putting your humidifier in the center of the room will guarantee that it can evenly spread the water vapor throughout the room, moisture cannot build up in any corners or on your child’s things, and there aren’t any safety risks posed by electrical outlets, hot areas, or curious little hands.
