A humidifier is one of those things you probably haven’t thought of adding to your registry – until winter rolls around and it’s impossible for many of us to breathe without coughing or go a day without lathering ourselves in moisturizer. I’m particularly sensitive, so much so that my nose will start to bleed if the humidity levels are too low. A humidifier is critical for everyone in my family particularly when the temperatures drop and along with it the humidity levels and, when we go to Israel, there’s the opposite problem – too much humidity.
I love the Nanit because it tells me the exact temperature and humidity in the nursery, so I know when I need to plug one in.
“Our immune systems work best at 40-60% relative humidity,” says Hannah Hrencher, the assistant product manager at Vornado. “So, regardless of type of room, we recommend keeping it at 40-60% relative humidity, especially in the drier/colder months when we are more susceptible to sickness. Also, if the baby has congestion or a cough.”
On that last point, when my son got COVID he was coughing a lot at night, which combined with crying made a humidifier a must. Sleep experts also often recommend using a humidifier during sleep training if you’re doing a “cry it out approach.”
I’ve used a few humidifiers including the Frida one which I love because there is NO filter. It also has a convenient night light, but the downside is that it can sometimes make the floor pretty wet. I’ve also used the Canopy, which people love because it’s mist-free – unfortunately, I found that it didn’t work at all. The humidity level didn’t change and I often made a mess with water splashing when I moved it. Vornadobaby Huey Nursery Evaporative Humidifier, on the other hand, has the ability to humidify the whole room without making a mess on the floor, an easy-fill tank, locking controls, low light pollution and a good warranty (5-years).
Vicks’ 3-in-1 SleepyTime Humidifier is another great option because it’s also filter-free, has a nightlight, and has a strong enough fan to to push the moisture beyond the area around the humidifier (as does the Vornado).
A last thing to consider when shopping for humidifiers is that some are warm mist, some are cool mist and some offer both. “Warm mist humidifiers use a heating element to heat the water to where cool mist humidifiers typically use ultrasonic or evaporative technology,” says Hrencher. “For the nursery, we’d recommend one of our evaporative or ultrasonic humidifiers to remove the element of heat. The anti-microbial wicks used in our evaporative humidifiers and the mineral cartridge used in our ultrasonic humidifiers help reduce water-borne bacteria without having to boil water.”
