Do you need a humidifier for a child’s room?

Everyone in the family is preparing for the arrival of the baby. Diapers and «tons» of diapers, undershirts and other high-quality children’s clothing have been purchased. In addition, good parents took care of having their own bed for a future family member. They read «mountains» of literature and collected all possible advice from the most famous pediatricians in the world. It seems that nothing is forgotten and everyone is waiting for a miracle.

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But besides clothes and food, mother’s attention and own sleeping place, a child, and especially a newborn, simply needs a healthy microclimate, which for some reason many people forget about. A good microclimate for a child cannot be in a room with a humidity level of less than 50%.

The problem of dry air is present in almost all apartments and houses in our country. In the cold season, heating radiators operate at full capacity, lowering the humidity to extremely low values.

Important!
It is impossible to increase the level of humidity in the apartment by ventilation.

How to raise the humidity of the room to the desired values?

Raise the humidity in the apartment in several ways:

• Do wet cleaning several times a day indoors.
• Hang heaters with wet towels.
• Get an open aquarium.
• Purchase a humidifier for a child’s room.

There are several types of humidifiers that will quickly raise the humidity of the room to the required limits.

• Traditional. The air flow created by the fan causes moisture to evaporate, which impregnates a special cartridge.
• Steam. It fills the air mixture with water vapor when it boils in the working tank of the device.
• Injector. It releases moisture into the surrounding air masses in the form of an aerosol.
• Ultrasonic. Due to the oscillations of the emitter, it knocks out microscopic particles of moisture from the surface of the water, turning it into a «fog».
• Air washers. Of course, they are more related to air cleaners, but they also moisturize the air mixture very well.

Characteristics that a humidifier in a children’s room should have

The air humidifier in the children’s room should be safe and effective, it should not cause any discomfort to the child, be silent. It is very good that the air humidifier for newborns is as autonomous as possible.

We have compiled an overview of air humidifiers from various manufacturers. If you wish, you can familiarize yourself with it and choose the best device for yourself.

The humidifier in the child’s sleeping room should filter the air to rid it of dust and various inclusions. Now about each type of this equipment in more detail.

• A traditional humidifier can certainly increase the humidity in a room. The effect of its work is achieved by exposure to a strong air flow on a special spongy material that is saturated with water. But we all know from physics lessons that active evaporation of a liquid can be created by an increase in temperature and a strong air flow. It is not advisable to use a strong air flow in a children’s room, so this device is not suitable as a humidifier for children.
• Steam climate equipment has a high performance, as a result of which it will quickly raise the humidity in the children’s room. But such devices raise the air temperature in the room, and the danger from hot steam is serious. If there are children over 7 years old in the room intended for humidification and the children’s steam humidifier is equipped with a hygrometer for automatic shutdown, it can be used.
• Nozzle apparatus for humidification. The principle of operation of this device is to create a high pressure in the water system and supply it through the nozzle to obtain a fan spray. But here the quality of the supplied fluid will play a big role. If it contains a large amount of mineral salts, then they will certainly clog the nozzle, and this will affect the quality of aerosol creation. But it is extremely difficult to call a nozzle climate device a silent air humidifier for a nursery.

• Air wash. This is an air cleaner that works on the principle of contact of the air mixture with the wet surface of the drum located in the device. The fan supplies air to the drum, where it is cleaned and saturated with water vapor. The device is virtually silent, maintenance-free and easy to operate. Air washers are absolutely safe and do not create drafts. The only disadvantage of such a climate device is the lack of automatic shutdown when a certain level of humidity is reached. But the increase in humidity is a side effect of this device. When equipping a children’s room with a hygrometer, this climate equipment is perfect for purifying and humidifying the air.
• An ultrasonic humidifier for newborns may also be an option. Thanks to its principle of operation, this device is almost silent and does not increase the air temperature in the room. But you should pay attention to such climate systems, where there is an automatic shutdown when it drops below the permissible water level. Most devices are equipped with a climate control system and a fairly serious filtering system. But ultrasonic humidifiers are quite demanding on the quality of the liquid, and when using tap water, a white coating may appear on pieces of furniture, formed by mineral salts in the water. But there is a plus of this device — the breakdown can be fixed independently.

Advice:
Before purchasing and using climate equipment, be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules of use and safety precautions when handling such devices.

What causes low humidity

Many people ask if a newborn needs a humidifier? Our answer is yes. Low air humidity, combined with its high temperature, dry out the mucous membrane of the nose and throat of the child, it dries up, and various bacteria and microbes perfectly multiply in it. And this is against the background of the almost complete lack of immunity of the newborn, the first possibility of infection with viral infections.

With insufficient humidity in the children’s room, the child may experience pain during sucking movements, due to the drying of the oral mucosa.

In addition, the child receives moisture and cools down through breathing, i.e. inhaling moist and cool air, which is impossible to do without a humidification and air conditioning system.

Advice:
Due to the fact that the climatic equipment has an ideal microclimate for the reproduction of certain types of microbes, it is imperative to clean and replace the filter elements in a timely manner, as well as wash the water supply tank, according to the terms established by the manufacturer.