Vaporizor vs Humidifier

I was told by the Ped. not to use anything that heats the water because it's bad for them. I just have a $20 cool mist vaporizer that I got at Walmart and it works great! You can also get a bottle of stuff that keeps the minerals and the smell out of it. One capful is all you need of the stuff and you should be able to find it with the vaporizers.
J.

Vaporizor= hot air, humidifier =cool air, as for what to use, my ped. insist on the humidifier because of the bacteria that a vaporizor can produce, not to mention the risk of steam burns. Be sure to clean your humidifier daily as it to can produce bacteria. If still undecided ask your ped.

Someone said that a humidifier takes the moisture out, that would be a dehumidifier. A humidifier makes it humid. The difference is the amount, a vaporizor puts a lot more water in the air. A humidifier can be either cold or warm. I have a cool-mist one (the same one Rebecca described) and it works great. I bought it because every nurse/dr/parent I have talked to said to use it for my lung problems, and for my sons. They have always told me not to use a warm one, always use the cool mist, I think because bacteria doesn't grow as well in cold. They also have a filter that cleans the air as it adds humidity to it (I live with a smoker... so mine got gross pretty fast!) There is also a Vicks plug-in vaporizor that has helped me and my son a LOT last winter. It is a little plug-in thing that puts vicks in the air, and I noticed a huge difference every time I used it. Not necessary, but helps a lot. I use that along with the humidifier (the plug in does not add moisture, just adds vicks to the air for you to breathe in). Good luck and I hope your son's cold is better soon! Hope this helps!

J.

I don't know what the difference is, but when my baby was sick with a stuffy, runny nose and a cold her doctor and nurses all agreed that we should put a cool-air humidifier in her room. Target has a nice, smaller, semi-quiet and easy to use and fill cool-air humidifier by Vicks. I think it was around $20-30.

Good luck!

R.

I'm not sure what the difference is either; but I prefer using air purification throughout my home since it naturally purifies away not only odors/mold/smoke; but also bacteria. My six of 10 kids who still live at home have been increasingly respiratory ailment free since I put our first air purifier in in Nov. 2002. Bacteria removal works. No more over the counter cold meds, etc. for us. Seems like if they go out and come home with some signs of a cold or flu...they sleep in the purified air a night or two (plus I may sanitize their room with the purifier for a couple of hours before they go to bed)...and the symptoms are gone.
My oldest has our first grandchild born Aug. 5th this year and they have an air purifier in their home...it's been great. Such a problem solver and preventer.

B. in WI

I vaporizer puts moiture back into the air and the humidifier will take the bad moisture out...
For colds you want the moisture to be put back into the air to help breathe easier and open up the passage ways!
Hope this helps!
L.

I threw out my humidifier! I notice whenever I have a cool air humidifier running, sick or not, I get a horrible chest cold. It seems to make my cough worse (yes, it's clean!). I love to sit in the bathroom with the hot shower running whenever I'm sick or my kids are sick. Loosens everything up and the warmth feels good. There's also children's vapor plugs (I can't remember the manufacturer) that heat in the outlet and smells great. Helps my babies when they're congested. Good luck!
C.

There are a couple of confused responses to this question.

Vaporizers and humidifiers both put moisture into the air, which eases breathing in dry winter air. The difference is in how they do this. Most humidifiers basically draw air across a wet filter, while vaporizers use a steaming or misting mechanism to spray fine particles of vapor into the air. (Some humidifiers also utilize a cool-misting mechanism, just to confuse us, I'm sure).

Warm steam vaporizers make the air feel most comfortable to breathe when you have a cold, but you must be very careful with the placement of a warm steam vaporizer when children are nearby as the spray can easily scald skin. I have also used a cool mist vaporizer, which had the same effect as far as getting moisture into the air, even if it doesn't feel quite as comfy/cozy as warm steam. Cool mist vaporizers are recommended for children's rooms. You will want to choose one with no more than a 2 gallon and change the water every day. Once a week, wash out the water reservoir and and any "slimy" parts with a mild bleach solution.

I have found that vaporizers can be very difficult to keep clean because calcium builds up on the vaporizing mechanisms. The older they get the more cleaning they tend to require. To clean you will need to soak machine parts in vinegar, so be sure that the model you purchase is easy to take apart for this purpose.

Humidifiers are a good choice if you want to increase the moisture in the air of a larger room or more than 1 room. They tend to be easier to keep clean, that is if you purchase the special bacteria-killing chemicals to add to the water each time you fill. I think humidifiers are a more costly way to go, and a bit cumbersome if you just want to use it occasionally to ease respiratory ailments. Of course, humidifying the air all winter can be a preventative to respiratory problems, so consider carefully which suits your needs best.

One last piece of advice if you do go with a humidifier... I purchased a Hunter humidifier one year, only to have the motor quit within a few months. After a lot of hassle, they replaced it with a brand new model, and the same thing happened again! I would say, avoid the Hunter brand.

Good luck!

Humidifier puts cool moisture into the air. the vaporizor puts hot moisture with the the vapor medicine that you can buy @ the drugstore. That's the difference. with your child you may wasnt the vaporizor to loosen the congestion. But as always check with your doctor just to be sure this is right for your child.

The reason that you get build-up in vaporizers is because you need to use distilled water. If you read the directions it specifically says for best results use distilled water. If you spend the $1 on distilled water you won't have that problem.

I don't use a vaporizer anymore. I tried the Sudacare Vapor Plugs in my son's room and it's great. He can sleep without coughing and sniffling and I don't have to worry about changing the water or whether the vaporizer is too loud to get any sleep (which they almost always are). I just put in a vapor pad and plug it in. When he wakes up in the morning I unplug it and I'm done.

Caveat: This is off the top of my head.

A vaporizor is cool mist while a humidifier is steam. They can be recommended for different things. The vaporizor can grow mold if it is not kept clean. The humidifier kils mold spores and bacteria because it uses steam but it can be a burn hazard. I have one of each. I think most of the cute ones made for kids, ours looks like a penguin, are the cool mist vaporizor type. I just saw a Thomas one at Target, too cute.