Having a Humidifier in your Baby’s Nursery - What to Expect?

by Hannah Edmonds writer and editor

When new parents are setting up a nursery for their baby, they’re very careful with looking over every little detail. They tend to research about everything, from buying rocking chairs to reading and asking for reviews about various healthcare products. What is often overlooked, but is just as important as any other item, is a humidifier. Parents are often confused and are found to ask questions like why is there a need for a humidifier in a baby’s room. It is a fact that the humidifier plays a very important role in maintaining the health of the baby, as well as keeping the air in the room pure and clean. This article will discuss and provide an answer to this question, as to why is there a need for a humidifier in the baby’s room and what benefits does it offer?

One of the major benefit of having a humidifier in your baby’s room is that it provides protection against the dry air in the room. It helps in maintaining moisturized air which is really helpful, especially in winters when the weather is dry. Furthermore, if you live in a country where the weather remains dry and cold mostly, a humidifier would help in maintaining air that is breathable and comfortable for the lungs. It is also a fact that when you’re living in a country where the weather tends to remain cold for most of the months, you use heaters which steals the natural moisture in the air. This would result in your baby being exposed to bacteria and infections, and your baby can fall sick.

When the air around us is dry and harsh, it results in the following: sore throat, breathing problems, stuffy nose and dry sinus. Since babies are more prone to getting infected, they can easily fall sick during the cold months. Having a humidifier will help maintaining the moisture in the air, making it breathable and it will allow your baby to sleep comfortably. Furthermore, the baby will not be exposed to bacteria and infections, as they don’t travel in air that is moisturized.

Furthermore, the humidifier will help in avoiding the baby to have dry and irritated skin. Babies are sensitive to cold weather, they can easily get red patched or irritated skin. Moreover, this dry air can cause diseases like eczema, which are very common. However, it’s very dangerous for a baby to get such disease, therefore, proper care is required.

Adding to this, a humidifier provides a comforting, rhythmic hum to the baby which will help the baby to get a good sleep.

However, following are some things you need to be careful about:

• Burns

In case you’ve purchased a humidifier that is warm, you need to be aware that your child can get hurt from it. It releases hot steam which is why it should be kept far away from the baby. Also, you need to keep a check on the baby every once in a while.

• Clean it up

If you’re not cleaning up the humidifier, it would result in the growth or bacteria and may cause infection or other disease. You should clean the humidifier once a week with distilled water. You can change its filters as well, as mentioned in the instructions by the manufacturer.

• Dry it

Drying you humidifier between the usage times, is an important task. It will ensure that no bacteria, mold or germs grow within it.

Having a humidifier installed in your baby’s room is the best and natural way you could help in keeping your baby stay healthy and away from cold and other diseases. Especially if you’re living in a place that has a dry climate, a humidifier would really help.

Some other benefits include:

You can purchase a warm humidifier in order to keep your baby warm and moisturized, when the weather is cold. It is a fact that the skin of your baby is sensitive and sometime the regular room temperature is not enough to result in a comfortable sleep. Therefore, a warm humidifier would help in such cases.

Furthermore, humidifiers are also great in developing the voice of your baby. The vocal cords of your baby are overly sensitive the temperature changes. For instance, if the weather is dry, it would result in the throat getting sore and would create dryness. Furthermore, when the weather is cold, this may lead to the vocal cords getting exposed to viruses and bacteria. This would affect and result in changes in the way your baby is making sounds. Therefore, a humidifier would help prevent your baby from being infecting and getting exposed to such viruses.

Children commonly have allergies and in case of asthma, the breathing condition of your child can severely be affected if he’s in a dry environment. Therefore, if there’s a humidifier present in your baby’s room, it would improve his breathing which as a result, would clean the respiratory system. It is important to note that a clean humidifier would only help. A dirty humidifier can make the condition worse.

Thus, humidifiers are important gadgets to have in your baby’s room. They help and assist us in keeping the baby healthy in multiple ways by making the air breathable and preventing from infections. They also help in easing the symptoms of cold and your baby can get a comfortable sleep if there’s a humidifier in the room. However, it is important to consider the precautions as well and keep a check on your baby when there’s a humidifier in the room. Note that cleaning the humidifier holds great significance. A dirt humidifier would be of no help, and would make your baby exposed to more bacteria and infections. Therefore, as new parents, getting a humidifier for your baby would be a great idea in order to keep your baby healthy. You can get a warm or a cold one, depending on your requirement.