My 5 month old has a stuffy nose and cough. Which is better for these cold symptoms a vaporizer or a humidifier? I heard to use cool mist, but from which one? Thanks.
I use a cool humidifier and haven't had any issues with mold or cool temperatures. When my little one gets a cold,I also put some vicks on a wet towel and place it near his crib (not in). He wakes up without a stuffy nose and breaths well through the night. You can even do this without a humidifer.
Actually I had the same question the other day. I asked the pharmacist and was told that hot steam vaporizers are for use for a week or two when a child has a cold and a cool steam humidifier is for use all the time to keep moisture in the air. Try the vicks oil you put with a vaporizer it works great for little ones.
They say to use a cool mist humidifier, but I think that puts out too much cold air. I guess it is supposed to help them though. I just put vaporub on her feet, that helps better than a humidifier.
We use a cool humidifier and have never had a problem. No mold, or cold air issues for us. Ours doesn't have a filter and is extremely quiet. When my daughter has a stuffy nose I plug in a small Vics vapor rub vaporizer that you put little tabs in. Works like a charm.
I've found that cool mist is fine for every day (or at least, before we replaced our house humidifier - now we don't need it) but the warm version is good for a cold/cough.
The cool mist works best -- I think it's called a humidifier -- I too get the terms confused! Sometimes the cool mist actually irritates the cough, so weigh out how bad the stuffiness is against how bad the cough is. Hope that helps!
I like what susan had to say, and that is pretty much what I do.
I have the Vicks vaporizor that you can add eucalyptus or rosemary oil to, or Vicks makes some stuff you can put in the water which gives it kind of the vicks smell to open up and loosen up the gunk. I use it anytime my daughter is stuffy or has a runny nose. Plus, it warms the air and makes them more comfortable. Concern is that it has a hot coil, so you need to put it out of reach of the child or turn it off when they are awake. I, personally don't like the cool mist ones, they make the room really cold and you risk mold in the filter and machine.
Hope that helps.
