What Is Humidifier How to Choose Best
Daddy Brad: In homes all across America, parents are finding machines spewing strange mists into their children's bedrooms. Daddy Clay: Yes Brad, this week in The Lab, we're talking about humidifiers. Daddy Brad: Today's episode on so-called humidifiers is brought to you by the Baby-Bjorn Baby Sitter Balance, the best bouncy seat on the market, Baby-Bjorn. Daddy Clay: So winter is here and with it cold and flu season. Is it helpful to your child's health to have a humidifier in the room? Well, to find out, we spoke to our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Ari Brown. Dr. Ari Brown: When you have a young child who has a cold, there aren't too many things you can do. One is using salt water nose drops or saline nose drops. You can't overdose on those. Helps loosen up the secretions. Helps the baby either sneeze or swallow the mucus. And the other is a humidifier, because making the air moist also helps clear the mucus out of the baby's nose and throat. So those are nice, easy and safe remedies. Whether they work or not, debatable. But definitely safe and something that might help your baby and you get to sleep. People always ask me, "Should I get a vaporizer or a humidifier"? And the difference is a vaporizer is intended to add medication or other remedies into the air that's going into the room. And that is not recommended. A humidifier is really all you need because you're adding water into the air and that's what helps loosen up secretions. Parents always ask me, "Should I get a cool mist humidifier or a warm mist humidifier?" And I usually recommend the cool mist because a warm humidifier is gonna make the room feel like the Bahamas which is not very comfortable to sleep in. And the other thing is that because it's warn, it generates heat on the device. And if a child is crawling, they might actually burn their hand or some other body part. It's a good idea if you're using a cool mist humidifier for several days in a row to actually clean it out every once in a while. Because otherwise you're just gonna be spewing dust particles into the air. So using diluted bleach solution will help if you're using it for several days. Daddy Brad: Daddy Clay as you know I'm a little weather involved. Here's an interesting tidbit. Did you know that humidity can make you feel warmer in the summer but yet colder in the winter? Daddy Clay: Oh, thank you Al Roker. But you know, when you're inside, there's a certain range of humidity that's ideal. Between 30 and 60 percent. Any lower than that, you get the drying of your lips and mucus membranes, it can be a danger to your health. Any higher than that, it can contribute to mold formation, which is bad. Daddy Brad: Now if you're a weather geek like me, you can actually buy a humidistat which will tell you the actual humidity level in your house and let you know if you need to get a humidifier. So you've got a few humidifiers here. Daddy Clay: Yes, all three of these units are ultrasonic cool mist humidifiers. These two are from Crane. You can see they've got this very cute design concept with the animal. They use ultrasound to create these tiny mist droplets. It operates almost completely silently. And this is the unit from Vicks called the Starry Night. And the cool thing about this humidifier, it both creates the mist and it also has this nightlight on the top that projects stars and moon on the ceiling. Daddy Brad: Back in my day, we used to put a kettle on the stove if we needed a little humidity. Daddy Clay: When we were kids, we had vaporizers. That's what they called them. They used a heating element essentially to create steam. Now the upside of that is that boiling the water actually purifies it and takes away any germs or bacteria that might be present in the water. The downside of course is steam is hot. Daddy Brad: Yeah, don't ultrasonic wave do-hickeys take care of all the viruses and agents in these things? Daddy Clay: No, actually they do not. Which is why you have to follow very carefully the manufacturer's suggestions for care and maintenance of these units. They're very simple to care for and clean. So you have to follow the instructions. Dads, if you're not willing to clean these things, don't buy one. Daddy Brad: We hope that you have a safe and healthy winter. And so do the folks at Baby-Bjorn, makers of the Baby Sitter Balance, best bouncy seat on the market, Baby-Bjorn. Daddy Clay: Hey, do you use a humidifier in your house? Tell us about it. Do you have a model that you like or tips for keeping it clean? Share your ideas with us at Fancimall. We want to hear from you and you're certain to hear from us. We'll see you next time here in The Lab.
Comments
Post a Comment