What Is Your Opinion on Humidifiers?

Cool mist humidifiers work wonders... and I just tried a new trick I recently read about- at bedtime rub vics babyrub on their feet and put socks on. My daughters sniffles were gone the next morning!!!

Asheley I have 3 kids and we have used a humidifier and I remember the first time we put it on in my eldest son's room we left it on all night since no one told us that if left on for a long period of time it will cause mold. Needless to say we had to clean that up after it developed on the wall :(. But other than that incident we use Vic's and humidifier's when the kids are very congested. Also lots and lots of fluids. I hate to say it but there are some doc's out there that quickly dismiss anything that doesn't have to do with traditional methods of getting well i.e. medicines. Good luck oh yes the ingredient in Vic's that makes it work so well is menthol which if you wanted to try something different you can also rub lemongrass essential oil with some massage oil onto the chest (this seems to also help my kids)
C.

empty the humidifier every morning and clean it. Fill it before each use. The humidifier is a definate yes. Even though my parents used vicks on me as a child, I would not use it on my child. Vick's is just menthol that opens up the nasal passages for a short time. Skip the vicks and use the humidifier.

Hi A.,

We have both a warm and cold mist humidifier and have found that it helps a great deal. We are using the warm one right now to battle a cold/cough. I agree with the other postings that say if you clean it regularly (a good reminder to me to do so) you won't have issues with bacteria. If you use it infrequently (during colds) you shouldn't have mold issues on your walls. One thing we do that I haven't seen mentioned below is that we also put a few drops of tea tree oil into the water which produces a menthol-like smell into the air, is anti-bacterial for the water, and even helps our own sleeping since our baby's room opens into ours. You might be able to skip the Vicks if you try using the tea tree oil in the water. Good luck. These responses show that it's always wise to also check with Dr. Mom (or moms in this case) for some informed experience!

Hello A.,

My daughter’s doctor pointed out the same things with the humidifier but said there are ways around it. One, she said to get a cold mist (I don't think it did anything though) and two, be sure to clean it daily! I do remember reading about one on this site that is anti-bacterial, or something like that. I hope someone shares that information again, because I want to get one this year.
As far as the Vic's goes. I used it on my daughter and myself last year, and it worked great and my doctor didn't say anything about it (although I'm not sure I mentioned it). I would just make sure you are using the baby Vic’s, not the adult, it's much more mild.
One last suggestion for stuffiness (I swear my daughter was sick from Oct until March last year) is to raise the head of the mattress. I would roll a small towel up and put it under the mattress and that did help.
Best of luck!
C.

A., this is from the consumer reports website:

Buying a humidifier for baby? Keep it clean

Now that the FDA issued an advisory in 2008 strongly recommending that over-the-counter cough and cold medications not be given to infants and children under age 2 because of the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects, a humidifier is more important than ever. Using a cool-mist humidifier, saline drops, or a suctioning bulb can relieve your baby’s stuffy nose without drugs. A humidifier can also help ease itchy skin and other problems associated with dry indoor air.

But don’t buy a humidifier if you don’t think you’ll be able to clean and disinfect it regularly. The standing water in a dirty room humidifier is a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, which can get blown back into the mist that’s released into the room, causing itchy eyes and worsening any breathing problems your baby may have. The more you use a humidifier, the more vigilant you need to be. Here are three ways to safely maintain a tabletop model:

1. Change the water daily. Empty the tank, dry all interior surfaces, and refill with clean water. Don't be swayed by tank size. Generally, the larger the tank, the longer your table-top humidifier can run without running dry. A one-gallon tank may run up to 11 hours; a 1.5 gallon tank may operate up to 20 hours without refilling. But no matter how large the tank, you should change the water daily, so buying a humidifier with a larger tank won't save you a step.

2. Descale your humidifier often. Although some parts may be washable in the dishwasher, they still need to be descaled (demineralized) with vinegar to reduce water-mineral buildup, which can decrease a humidifier's output, especially if you're not using distilled water. They also need to be disinfected with bleach. Completely dry all parts between descaling and disinfecting. And after disinfecting, carefully rinse the tank to avoid breathing harmful chemicals. Follow the manufacturer's directions and schedule for descaling and disinfecting parts and replacing filters, wicks, and the like.

3. Clean it before you store it. And clean it again when you take it out of storage.

So often I hear what some doctors say sometimes and I just shake my head. I think common sense has gone on a permanent vacation...

You, not the doctor are correct in this instance. Humidifiers (the steam ones - not the cool mist ones) vastly help in many ways with all sorts of colds, sinus and bronchial infections. If you change the water once a day and clean it really well between uses, you will not have a problem. Also, in a steam humidifier (vaporizer) the water is steam as it leaves the unit - too hot for bacteria to survive.

I use essential oils in my vaporizer - tea tree, lavender, roman chamomile, etc. Using a humidifier has shortened the duration of respiratory infections of all my kids, plus myself and it helps them to sleep better at night to boot. I recommend it to anyone who asks - it is WAY better than the over the counter medications such as benadryl, or other antihistamine that only stops your body's natural process of getting rid of infection.

Trust your intuition - and good luck!

Use a cool mist humidifier, empty it completely every morning and leave the top off so that it can air dry. Also, rinse it's main basin with some diluted bleach once a week and rinse it well after that. As for Vicks, the pharmacist warned me away from it big time. He said that all of those products (not just Vicks) could be harmful to young children (under six, I think he said). I think it was the menthol, but it could have been a different ingredient (this was five years ago), but basically he said that products containing vapors to open up nasal passages have an ingredient that can negatively affect children's systems and even cause young children to experience "an altered state of mind." He was quite adamant about it. He was a trained and licensed pharmacist at Walgreens. I cannot promise that he was right, but it was enough for me. As someone else suggested, run a hot shower to steam up the bathroom, and hold your daughter in the steam (obviously safely away from the hot water if it is still running) for 15 minutes. Try to suck out some congestion with a bulb syrings. Sometimes saline drops can help loosen stuff up, too. Then the cool mist humidifier should help, too, as long as you empty it every morning religiously and clean it once a week (bleach kills mold and bacteria and leaves no residue, unlike many other cleaning products). I hope this helps. You might want to do some more research on the menthol type products, but, personally, I avoided them based on what the pharmacist said, and we made it through colds just fine.

Vapor Rub does have medicinal qualities. The herbs used (eucalyptus, mint, camphor, etc) dilate the breathing passages and break down mucus membranes, creating easier breathing. It is not a myth, as your doctor says. Any herbalist could tell you more...I'm sure there are online references, too.

Use it at the first sign, I say. It certainly doesn't hurt.

My baby is 16. They outlawed warm humidifiers way BACK, but my mom (an RN) used them, and I did with my first two kids. You must clean them ALL THE TIME (bacteria/dust), big pain! They make COOL misters now, not as effective. A warm shower helps more. My mom also use to run a sink of hot water (as kids), then we would lean oover it with a towel over our head for the steam to loosen up our noses. That said, I disagree HEARTILY with the Vicks statement.It can help ALOT! My grandmother used to make my mom SWALLOW a spoon of it, how gross is THAT!? My mom used to rub it on our chests if we had CHEST colds BUT IT MUST BE WASHED OFF BEFORE GOING OUTSIDE IN THE COLD!!!!!We also used it in and on the nose before bed or just when you can't breathe when your nose is too stuffed up. Just put some up the nostrils! I still use it that way. But I prefer the MENTHOLATUM brand (green bottle), it seems thicker. It absolutely ROCKS on seriously chapped (cracked and bleeding) lips: put it on before bed and they are almost normal the next am. Or the kind of chapped inside/and edges of nose that cracks and bleeds(usualy from blowing/wiping w/kleenex).
My kids hate it, esp the smell BUT
my granddaughter loves it, when her nose is all nasty/stuffy, it allows it to loosen and be blown out. if you want to BREATHE, it works. Your little one prob can't BLOW nose yet, but do start teaching her how NOW. Show her how you blow through your nose by doing it on her hand. She will pick it up fairly quickly and then it will get easier.
ps I frankly think the misters and humidifiers just move it to the chest/lungs quicker. Isn't it better to keep it in the head if possible? The metholatum allows the cold goop to come out the nose, not up through it. Good luck.

We don't use the humidifier anymore, and we bought a small air purifier for my daughters room and that has made a huge difference in colds, coughs and allergies. I also love baby vicks for any kind of cough. I always rub it on my daughters feet at night and she sleeps peacefully through the night.

Our doctor said he doesn't recommend them either; for the same reason; they can grow mold etc. I bought a Vicks/Kaz humidifier and there are instructions in it about keeping it clean. You need to empty the water out each day and do a cleaning once a week with white vinegar. We had great results with the humidifier too.

Our doctor has always recommended a vaporizer while they sleep when one of our kids had a cold. As long as you dump the water and let it dry out in between uses, it should be fine. I also tend to replace the filter every year, just to be safe.

I've always hated the smell of vicks, so I never tried it on our kids. But my M-I-L swears by it. She used it on my husband and B-I-L when they were kids, and she still uses it on herself.

If it seemed to help, and neither of you minds the smell, there is certainly no reason NOT to use it! Doesn't matter if it is all the mind or not.

-D.

It sounds like your Dr. has had some bad experiences with people who didn't take proper care with humidifiers and has become afraid to recommend them. You need to clean it out daily and put fresh water in, so it won't develop the problems the Dr. mentioned. I don't think it matters much whether the humidifier is warm or cool mist as far as effectiveness is concerned. However, the cool mist humidifier is safer because if the child happens to get up and touch the warm mist machine, it is possible they could get burned.
As far as the Vicks is concerned, I'm not sure it does any good either, but do know my parents used it for me all the time (rubbed it on my chest and some into my nostrils) and it was at least comforting to me.
I have found saline solution is good to help clear nasal congestion too. Either purchase Simply Saline (it doesn't contain a bunch of other chemicals that might burn sensitive tissues like some saline solutions have) or you can make up your own with about a quarter teaspoon of sea salt and a pinch of baking soda disolved in a cup of boiling water. Let it cool to room temp. and use a bulb syringe or eye dropper to put drops of the liquid into the nostrils. The saline solution also makes a good gargle for children who are old enough to handle that process, and helps clear throat congestion.

Hi. I don't know who your doctor is but I've never heard of a doctor speak against a humidifier. As long as you keep it clean then it should be fine. If for example you only use it at night then make sure you empty it during the day and clean it out. Just don't use the kind that get hot, a cold mist one is fine, the hot ones could burn a child. Vix normally helps too so again not sure about why your doctor is so against it. With all the medicines for infants 2 and under being removed from the drug stores your only recourse is a humidifier. Doctor Sears (pediatrician) the show "The Doctors" highly recommends it as long as you keep it clean. HTH!

Gosh, talk about a Dr. who has never TRIED vicks or baby vicks... why on earth have they survived if they didn't work???
We're not supposed to give them cold meds anymore... so what are we supposed to do when they're wheezing at night? Baby vicks works... and won't hurt the baby! I actually like the baby version myself better than the adult version. We use them anytime someone has a cold... and love the plug-ins, too. We don't use a humidifier, but we do have a fish tank in the house, which serves the same purpose except it doesn't put the water in the air intentionally. Good luck!!!

I don't know about the Vicks, but I think every doctor we have had has suggested using a humidifier.

I think humidifiers are great!! yes, you have to keep them clean, but they make a huge difference. Our dog had pneumonia and i had to give her treatments 3x a day with the humidifier and it really helped clear the junk out of her lungs. I also love vicks, the eucalyptus does help clear nasal passages and relieve congestion in the chest. when i was a little girl my mom would rub vicks on my chest and then put a warm towel over my chest and pin it behind my neck for the night under my nightgown. i loved it and do this for my own son. I have also had success with putting vicks on the soles of my sons feet then covering with a pair of socks to keep him from coughing all night. it worked better and longer than any cough syrup ever did. good luck!

V790 Vicks GermFree Humidifier kills any bacteria or mold on the water. I'm sure there are other brands as well. Also, Vicks vaporub has alot of ingredients which are cough suppressant, which sends your illness back in instead of letting it out. I would reccommend homeopathic cough syrups Stodal for kids by Boiron is excellent) or some eucalytus aromatherapy. You can put a couple drops in a carrier oil and rub on back/chest and under nose. Also, look into a neti pot. My kids love it and it clears out nasal passages with a saline solution.
It sounds like your doctor is a sceptic of anything non-medical or prescription. My doctor is like that too. We just don't share what we don't need to anymore. We actually have less visits to the doctor when we do things a bit more naturally.

well.. that is just the opposite of what my dr recommended :-) The humidifier - and they said either warm or cool - will help keep the mucus fluid and thats why you dont get the huge crusties in the morning. i got both warm and cool, and for the summer I would go with the cool, but now that the weather changed I will go back to the warm - the cool seems to add a chill to the air (probably just in my head:-). EITHER ONE - you MUST clean as they say to, and clean it well! I got one that you can put almost all the pcs in the dishwasher so they get sterilized when I run that. I really liked how it made it easier for my son and daughter to rest easy when they had colds - and we went thru a LOT of colds last year with them passing it back and forth to eachother and me! It was helpful with the coughing and flemmy colds, and with the snotty and really awful nose and eye mucus colds. Kept the crusted mess to a minimum, and I could really tell a difference when daddy forgot to turn it on. :-)
I liked the warm mist one as you could add the vicks, which helps alot in general. And the cool one was great to run during the day as it didnt add any heat to the house.
If you do not have time to clean them, or you don't have a good out-of-the-way surface to keep it far from little hands, perhaps its not for you... but for us it has been and is great.
HTH

Hi A.,
Humidifiers won't grow junk in them if you clean them out every day and put fresh water in them. You can clean them with soap and water or with bleach as well if you're really nervous about it. But think about it, people can drink from the same water bottle all day long, or from an office style water dispenser for days and they're fine. So it's kind of silly to think some horrible, baby-killing bacteria is going to grow in your humidifier in one day's time. Cool mist is definitely helpful in keeping their little sore, dry throats moist while they sleep, and it's one of the standard treatments of choice for babies with croup as well. I have one myself because my 6 month old currently has croup and it definitely seems to have helped. Think about when you have a cold and usually your nose is plugged up, so you wake up with a very sore and dry throat from mouth breathing all night. The same thing happens with babies, and maybe even worse since they are strictly nose breathers. So there's nothing wrong with them, just clean them every day.

Dear A.,
I'm pretty sure people have been using humidifiers since about the same time they invented the electrical outlet. (lol). I have never known of any ill effects. You just have to be sure to change the water every day. They can be washed in soap and water and just like your coffee maker, you can put vinegar in the water and allow that to steam through. It will help with any minerals that build up in the steaming mechanism and keep it from getting clogged. The vinegar is harmless.
Now, as for the Vicks, I absolutely swear by it and have suggested it numerous times on mamasource. It is not just a mind over matter thing. The vapors really do help with clearing your nostrils and chest congestion. I do not recommend ever putting it inside your nostrils, but rubbing on the chest and back or a little just beneath the nostrils works like magic. It can also be used on cracked feet and rubbing it into your toenails can prevent/clear up fungal infections of the nail. Mentholatum works too. I've used both. There is never an occasion when I do not have one or the other in my house. At my dollar store, they have huge jars of "off brand" vicks. It works exactly the same as the brand name stuff. Some people can't stand the smell of it, but my kids always liked it. My son is 13 and I still rub it on him when he gets sick. My 22 year old still uses it too.
I can't, for the life of me, understand why the doctor would tell you not to use it. If it works for your child, go for it. For another thing, it provides relief in an external fashion and I always preferred trying that before having my children take cold medicine which can actually make them hyper.
I'm sure you will get other great responses, but I see no reason to avoid a humidifier or the vaporub.

Take care and let us know when your new baby arrives!

Hi A.,
I think it's funny that your doc suggested no humidifiers cause my doc swears by them too. My son was getiing cold after cold and he suggested to get a humidifier to help clear the nose and throat. At the time my son was only 4 months... I tried the suggestion and it worked great! You may want to get a second opinion from another doc just to see the different responses there are. Good luck!

It seems a lot of different people and doctors have different opinions about humidifiers. I can only speak from my personal experience. I think they are really helpful when trying to clear out your chest and nasal passages. I use the warm one, because cold makes everything constrict and my lungs get irritated.

Vicks also is helpful in my humble opinion. I have asthma, so whenever I get a cold it usually goes into my lungs. Vicks rubs have helped me get to sleep many a night. I have quite a bit of experience with this unfortunately...

Just as a sidebar, hot showers or baths with salts in it helps tremendously to warm and loosen up. They now have salts specifically for kids who have colds or flu that my girls like quite a bit. Also I discovered that tea (any kind of herbal will do) helps with moving the fluid out of the nose and lungs rather than taking medicine. Add a little honey to help soothe a sore throat and make the little one happy, oh yeah...

Doctors don't know everything, even though they sometimes act like they do. I say, if it worked for you and your daughter, what better evidence do you need?

YES and YES - they will keep moisture in the air and if you dont she will keep getting sick - from experience my daughter got sick every winter and the doctor explained that the air gets so dry from heaters/fire places that the body will over-compensate for the lack of moisture and create problems like broncitis and pnemonia (spelling?)

If you use one use a cool one and then if she is sick you need to use the hot one with the vicks. We have both. We use "Relyon" brand for the cold one. it hold lots of water and dont have to fill it up as much.

I've only used our cold-mist humidifier for short amounts of time (3-4 days) until the cold passes, so I never worried about bacteria or anything. I guess if you were running the thing every day for weeks on end then you'd definitely want to take precautions against most. But if it helps your child get over the cold faster, then use it!

As for Vick's, I have used that in the past (my ds has only had about 2 colds in his 2+ years of life so far) & I typically will rub it on the bottom of his feet then put socks on him. It's just as effective, they can't smear it or get their hands on it & then put their hands in their mouths, etc.

As for keeping colds at bay, use saline drops daily in her nose, wipe your door handles down with an anti-bacteria wipe or spray when she's been at the park or any other place where kids are congregating, etc. These 2 things seemed to be effective for us during the cold season. Good luck!

With our first round of cold in September (the 2nd week of school!) I went out and bought a warm mist vaporizer by vicks. it did the trick and it is 98% bacteria free steam.

The website is http://www.vicks.com/products/vaporizers and I bought the one on the top left. I got it at Longs.

We use one every time my daughter gets a cold, and it definitely helps her sleep better at night because she doesn't get as stuffy. Her nose is also less stuffy in the morning. I don't know that she gets over colds any faster, but she's definitely less miserable, and getting good rest does help them fight the illness. I've never thought to ask the doc about humidifiers, but the objection about standing water and bacteria seems plausible. When we're not using it during the day, I empty the humidifier and let it drain upside down. This would address the bacteria concern, I would think. You could also clean it each day or every other day by running a mix of water and vinegar through it outside if you're worried about it. However, I don't do this, and when I've disassembled it between colds I don't find any mildew or build-up, other than calcium around the heating element.

Bottom line, I say if it seems to help, keep it going!

My pediatrician does not really recommend humidifiers either. He told all they do is leave the floor and furniture moist without really helping the cold. When I did use the humidifier I didn't see any difference in my daughter so I sided with my pediatricians advice and quit using it and yes it did grow mold in it pretty quickly. The maintenance on the humidifier wasn't worth my time for the lack of results I was getting.

Vicks on the other hand, Yes I am a firm believer in it. It seems to be the best thing I have found for my daughter to get a full nights sleep (and me) when she has a cold. Even if it is a mind thing, I say use it if it works.

I just wanted to add that I frequently recommend humidifiers and/or vaporizers for colds. They are definitely worth a try. As long as you change the filter on a regular basis it should not be harmful. The thought about Vicks is that the ingredients help to soothe the air passages and suppress the cough reflex. It is not clearly understood how it works but it works! There is also a product made by Vicks that is a waterless vaporizer...no worries about germs there!

I think you have plenty of advice on the humidifier. I would suggest you see if you can find someone to borrow one from before you purchase one. It sounds like they might be a pain. I've never used one. Just go in the bathroom run a warm shower. Growing up, my mom would put hot water in a large bowl give us a towel and we would tent our heads in with the steam--a little difficult to do with a small child.

As far as the vicks is concerned--be very careful! Vicks contains camphor which is lethal to small children. A 3 yo younger sib of one of my students got into a container of it, having watched mommy put it on the older child, he smeared the jar all over himself and ended up having near coma-like convulsions.

I think the humidifier with vicks in it sounds like the best of both worlds.

If you clean it out daily that shouldn't be a problem. We switched to a steam vaporizer instead (about $12 at Long's) since the heat kills anything in it.

I don't know why your ped didn't want you to use Vick's, though.

I've used a humidifier in the past and vics but I have heard that it's not good. Don't really know for sure.

Since when is mind over matter a bad thing? We love the Vicks Babyrub which contains only Petrolatum, fragrance, aloe extract, eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil. My 17 mo. old son had croup and the steam humidifier and baby rub worked great. Used them together so I'm not sure what was the best. Just keep the humidifer clean.

As long as you're cleaning it out and replacing the water every day, and rinsing/replacing the filter regularly as well, there shouldn't be a real problem with bacteria. I would think that if it helped your daughter so much, you should keep with it!

I'm not sure about the vick's for an 18 month old but humidifiers are great. You do need to make sure you change the water daily and wash and dry it well after use so that it doesn't grow mold inbetween uses. My little one has asthma like symptoms when he gets a cold and our dr recommends using the humidifier. We do and it definately helps him.

My son's Pediatrician has always recommended a hummidifier when he was sick. She's a great doctor and prior to her he had a different pediatrician who recommended the same thing. As for the vicks I always found that it's the strength of the smell that really does anything. You breath in the smell and it helps get through the congestion. Whether or not the doctor thinks its a mind over matter thing I would continue to use it if it seemed to help.

Wow A.,

Your Child's physician makes a valid claim about the mold and I think it may depend if your daughter has a sensitivity to mold.

Our UCDavis Ped had me use COLD HUM only for congestion and It is not sitting but circulating..and then I wash it out immediately and wipe dry for the reasons your doctor mentioned.

My son has mold allergy and my daughter is prone to illness induced ashtma but that cold humidifier (one in each room) is what breaks it all up when they are sick, which is rare due to a lot of supplements. On a side note, my favorite tip from our Ped. Take off all clothes after outings and school before going into main house.fortuanately, laundry is right after garage.it is more laundry but honestly, my kids stay pretty healthy other than 1 cold or two a year during peak season.

Lastly, cold air outside is our doctors favorite..when things are in their lungs.

As to the Vicks, I think Eucalyptus is comforting and good. I use Olbas oil in the shower...just not to hot because of the mold.

Also, a dehumidifier is great in the winter too.

My doctor suggested the cold mist humidifier over any medicine for my daughter when she had a cold (the first at 2 weeks). We use it every night. I do clean it every day though. We also use the vicks for babies and I love it. I would say keep on using the humidifier especially during the winter when the heater is one and the air is dry.