We all want what is best for our children: the best food, the best school, the best life has to offer…
What if you could keep your kid healthy every season and give them a better night's sleep? Using a humidifier in your child’s room is a surefire way to improve their overall health, soothe itchy skin, a dry or scratchy throat, and improve congestion.
What is a Humidifier?
First and foremost: what actually is a humidifier?
A humidifier is a home improvement tool that converts water into water vapor, which is then released from the device and into the air. The purpose of a humidifier is to increase the moisture levels or “humidity” of a particular space in order to maintain a healthy environment.
Weather and seasonality are the primary culprits for dry, harsh air. When humidity levels drop to lower levels during the fall and winter months, you may observe symptoms like:
- Dry, chapped skin
- Eczema or psoriasis flareups
- Runny nose
- Congestion
- Dry or itchy throat
- Chronic cough and sore throat
- Dry, flaky scalp
Optimal humidity levels fall between 40% and 60% year around. Optimal indoor air quality should be a priority regardless of season. So, before packing up your humidifier for the season, think again. Similar to forced heat, air conditioners pull moisture out of the air, reducing humidity in the room making the air dry and stale. When the air is dry, it begins pulling the moisture from your skin. To avoid this discomfort, when the heat or AC is on, your humidifier should be too. Where exactly your home should fall on this relative humidity (RH) scale is based on outdoor temperatures, indoor factors such as heat or AC, or personal preference.
Benefits of a Humidifier for Kids
You may be familiar with the general benefits of a humidifier, but how exactly does a humidifier help kids and what are the benefits of regular use?
The key benefits of using a humidifier for your child’s room include, but are not limited to: easing congestion, soothing a sore throat, and improving dry, itchy skin.
Ease Congestion
As you probably know, children are especially prone to stuffy noses and dry sinuses. You have inevitably experienced the uncomfortability of a stuffy nose more than once in your life, and we can all agree that it is frustrating, exhausting, and just plain annoying.
When your child experiences nasal congestion, they are likely to have disrupted sleep and overall frustration and fussiness. Using a humidifier in your child’s room can help to increase moisture in their nasal passage and reduce inflammation for easier breathing.
Soothe Sore Throats
A dry, scratchy, and painful throat can make a good night’s sleep merely a lofty dream. A humidifier adds lubrication to your little human’s throat, which releases mucus buildup, alleviates dryness, and reduces coughing.
Alleviate Dry, Itchy Skin
Youthful skin is delicate and sensitive. While our adult skin can weather a storm, literally, our children’s skin is far more volatile to the surrounding environment. When air is dry, your mini may experience itchy or flaky skin on their body, eczema flare ups, dry scalp, and more.
Incorporating a humidifier into your home can improve dry, inflamed skin by improving the moisture barrier and reducing TEWL (transepidermal water loss) as a result of dehydrated air.
What is the Best Humidifier for a Kid?
One of the most overwhelming parts of being a parent - that no one ever tells you - is the stress of making the “right” decision for your child. Luckily, the “right” decision is unique to you and your situation.
So, how do you choose the right humidifier for your kiddo? We recommend considering the following features when choosing your humidifier: cool mist vs. warm mist, device output, run time, and cleaning requirements.
Cool Mist vs. Warm Mist
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), using a warm mist humidifier or vaporizer poses a potential risk for infants or young children. The actual mist emitted from a warm mist humidifier is perfectly safe for children since the mist cools to room temperature before reaching the room surfaces. The water tank of warm mist humidifiers can be hot to the touch as a result of boiling water in the water tank. If your infant or toddler touches the water tank, or pulls the warm mist humidifier down from the shelf or nightstand, they can get seriously burned.
The AAP recommends the use of a cool mist humidifier in your child’s room.. Finding the right cool mist humidifier is important. The safest humidifier for your child is an evaporative humidifier such as Canopy. Canopy’s anti-microbial filter catches bacteria and metals, and uses a no-mist technology to produce invisible, clean moisture. Canopy is easy to use, easy to clean, and will look great in your children’s bedrooms, playrooms or nurseries. For extra safety, make sure that the cord is also out of reach from your child, or completely hidden from view. As you know: children will get into anything.
Output
When searching for the best humidifier for your child’s room or nursery, you need to consider the output of the device. You want the output of your humidifier to cover the entire square footage of your little one’s room. If the room size is 200 square feet, you need a humidifier with at least a 200 square foot output. If the room size is 500 square feet, you need a humidifier with 500 square foot output.
Run Time
Run time is a key feature when choosing the best humidifier for your kid. The longer the run time on your humidifier, the larger the tank size. The larger the tank size, the less frequently you need to refill your device.
Especially during the cold, winter months you need to keep the humidity levels of your child’s home at optimal levels. This means you need a device that covers not only the 12-14 hours of sleep at night, but 1-3 hours for naps, and 3-4 hours of play time in their room. At minimum, you need a humidifier with 16 hours of run time. Ideally, you want a humidifier with 20+ hours of runtime to reduce the frequency of refills. Canopy’s 2.5 liter tank has a 36 hour runtime, keeping your children hydrated day and night.
Cleaning Requirements
Let’s be honest: you could place your child in a life size bubble suit, and they would still manage to make a mess of your home. You have enough to clean without the stress of a complicated humidifier device with 47 parts. No, thank you.
When choosing the best humidifier for your child’s room, you need a humidifier that is easy to take apart and most importantly easy to clean. Since it is recommended to deep clean your humidifier weekly or monthly depending on the frequency of use, easy cleaning is a necessity. It’s important to regularly clean your humidifier to reduce the risk of any mold growth. Most humidifiers on the market are difficult to clean and the process can be tedious.
Unlike the rest, Canopy is easy to take apart and dishwasher safe (I mean..wow). Simply take apart your Canopy, toss it in the dishwasher, sit back, relax, and pour that glass of wine you finally have time for.