If you’ve got a new baby at home, you’re probably working overdrive to make sure the little darling is as comfortable as possible in his or her earliest days. These are precious moments, so finding tools that help keep your baby happy means you can focus more on spending quality time together.
When setting up your nursery, consider investing in a humidifier to help create a truly soothing environment for your baby.
Is a humidifier safe for babies?
A humidifier turns water into mist, which naturally moisturizes the air. Ultrasonic cool mist humidifiers are especially safe for babies, because they don’t use any heat; they use vibrations to create the mist, and the mist is cooling instead of warm.
Of course, you’ll want to check with your paediatrician before bringing anything new into the nursery. Once you have a humidifier, make sure you are keeping it clean to prevent mold, and that you change the filter every three months to keep the mist as pure as possible. You’ll also want to keep the nursery’s air between 40% and 60%, which can be easily measured with a humidity sensor. It’s also a good idea to put the humidifier far enough away from the crib so that the mist goes into the air but not directly onto your sleeping little one.
What are the baby benefits of using a humidifier?
There are many possible benefits of using a humidifier in your baby’s room. Babies are inherently more sensitive to their surroundings, which can make it easier for them to feel irritated by dry air, irritants such as dust, and more. A humidifier helps by:
- Soothing dry skin. By hydrating the air in the nursery, a humidifier adds moisture to your baby’s skin, lips, and hair. Because of this, it can even help provide relief from other skin issues, including eczema.
- Clearing nasal and throat passageways. Because it eliminates dry air and the irritants that come with it, a humidifier can help your baby breathe better. Hydrated air basically acts like a natural lubricant that can clear away mucus and combat dryness.
- Preventing sickness. Viruses and bacteria love dry air, so you can help prevent the spread of these things by keeping your baby’s room humidity at an optimal level.
- Helping them fall asleep, and stay asleep. Because we all sleep better when we breathe easy—babies especially.
What’s the best humidifier to get?
The Cloud Humidifier from Vitruvi is a great option. Combining form and function, it won an Architectural Digest Best Sleep Award and an Esquire Home Award, and has already sold out multiple times.
“When my baby got his first cold, I rushed to order a humidifier, and the sleek and pretty Cloud was an easy, functional, aesthetically-pleasing choice,” writes journalist (and new mom) Katy Spratte Joyce. Cloud runs for up to 24 hours, meaning you won’t be running to refill it every time baby goes down for a nap; it also has a light-free night mode that won’t distract during lullabies, and is whisper-quiet, emitting just enough sound to double as a soothing white noise machine.
The Cloud Humidifier also fits easily on a nightstand, and has an automatic safety shut-off. It’s perfect for your baby’s room (and, let’s be honest: yours, too).
