Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are often found in a baby’s nursery, but are they really necessary? The answer depends a lot on the climate in your area and even the condition of your home, and both humidifiers and dehumidifiers offer a lot of pros and cons that must be considered before you make a final decision.
What Does a Humidifier Do for Baby?
Humidifiers have one main purpose, and that is to add moisture to the air. Contrary to what many people believe, both warm-mist and cool-mist humidifiers do the same thing, so most pediatricians recommend the cool-mist units because if your baby accidentally gets too close to it, he/she won’t be injured or harmed like with a humidifier that blows warm air.
These days, humidifiers made specifically for babies are not only great at keeping away stuffy noses and earaches, but they are also cute as heck, even coming in animal or other designs that make them both useful and adorable. A humidifier not only keeps baby healthier, but also keeps the air a lot purer and cleaner, which greatly reduces the number of sicknesses your baby has to contend with.
Babies are especially susceptible to colds and stuffy noses, as well as congestion and other ailments, and a good humidifier will take care of these problems the all-natural way. By simply adding a little bit of moisture to the air in the baby’s nursery, that baby can sleep better and enjoy better health all year long.
Should They Be Used All Year Long?
A good baby humidifier can be used all year long, although many parents choose to use them only during the winter months when babies are more prone to illnesses. Putting more moisture in the air keeps nasal passages a lot less dry and keeps the child much less prone to various ailments, and since babies can get sick any month of the year, using a humidifier 12 months a year is never a bad idea.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the room can’t get too humid, so you’ll want to make sure the room is comfortable so that you can adjust the settings if you need to do so. Today’s baby humidifiers use advanced technology and work efficiently and around the clock, and they are easy to use, quiet, and stay in use for very long periods at a time.
Baby Humidifiers Offer Many Advantages
Just because these humidifiers are made for babies doesn’t mean they don’t work as well as the ones made for adults. In fact, some of the many advantages that these humidifiers provide include:
- They are whisper-quiet so they don’t wake baby
- They shut off automatically when they run out of water
- Their buttons are large and easy to use
- They come with high and low mist levels
- Most of them do not use expensive or cumbersome filters
These humidifiers can easily be placed on a dresser or nightstand, and many of them also include a built-in nightlight which adds a special convenience. They are efficient, safe, and keep the room extremely comfortable, and they can be operated for long periods of time before they shut themselves off when the water runs out.
What About Dehumidifiers for Baby?
Just like humidifiers, a good baby dehumidifier is often necessary, especially if the nursery is in a room that gets too humid, such as a room on the lower level of the home. Dehumidifiers do the opposite of humidifiers; instead of adding moisture to the air, they extract excess moisture and humidity so that the room is less humid, not more humid. Much like humidifiers, there are now dehumidifiers made especially for small areas such as nurseries.
Dehumidifiers made for babies usually accommodate small areas around 200 square feet or so, and they shut off whenever the water bin gets full and when the humidity gets to the right level. In fact, the unit will turn itself on and off throughout the day as the humidity level in the room changes, working hard all day long to keep the humidity at the right level – a level that you set yourself.
If you’re interested in purchasing a dehumidifier for your baby’s nursery, you need to first know the approximate size of that nursery, because dehumidifiers are made for specific sizes of rooms, and you’ll naturally want one that is the perfect size. Check on the packaging that holds the dehumidifier, because the manufacturer always lists the sizes that each product can accommodate.
Dehumidifiers Made for Baby Come with Grown-up Features
Just because the dehumidifier you choose for your baby’s room is small doesn’t mean its features aren’t just as effective as one made for adults. In fact, unlike humidifiers, dehumidifiers made specifically for babies can be difficult to find, but as long as you find one that is big enough to accommodate the square footage in the nursery, you can rest assured knowing it will work efficiently from then on.
Some of the many advantages of a good dehumidifier include:
- The ability to shut off once the water bin gets full
- Automatic on and off features to accommodate the changing humidity levels
- Enabling the AC to work more efficiently, saving you money on your utility bills
- Compact, convenient, and super-quiet
- The ability to change the relative humidity setting so that it is always comfortable in the room
Dehumidifiers don’t just remove excess moisture from the air, but they also remove airborne particles such as bacteria, fungi, and many other allergens, keeping the air cleaner and decreasing the chances of mold and mildew from forming in the room. This keeps baby healthier and less likely to get sick, and if you need to, you can always change the humidity level so that your needs are better accommodated.
Finding the Right Humidifier or Dehumidifier Is Easier Than You Think
With both humidifiers and dehumidifiers, the one you choose is important if you wish to get one that is efficient, inexpensive, and safe. If you’re shopping around for either one of these units, there are some things to keep in mind, including the following tips:
- Make sure the unit is able to accommodate the square footage in the room you want it to be in
- Make sure the brand name is reputable and familiar to you
- Always follow all of the instructions in the user’s manual so that the unit stays both efficient and safe
- Try to find one that shuts off automatically when the dehumidifier’s water bin gets full or the humidifier’s water runs out
Both humidifiers and dehumidifiers come in various sizes and with many different features, but at the end of the day, you’ll just want one that does what it’s supposed to do and does it right. Most units are also very reasonably priced and affordable regardless of your budget, meaning you can buy more than one if you need to.
Of course, for babies’ rooms you’ll also want a quiet unit so that it doesn’t keep baby awake. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers are perfect because they make the air cleaner and keep baby healthier a lot longer. They are also an all-natural way to keep babies comfortable, and if you like, you can even add a few drops of essential oil to the water in the humidifier to help baby be even more comfortable.
