The Best Baby Humidifiers To Help Ease Night Time Congestion

We love a good humidifier, but have you ever considered getting one for your baby’s nursery? A baby humidifier has become a popular parent purchase and pick for the baby shower wishlist, as it comes with a whole host of benefits that’ll help your bundle of joy sleep healthily and happily, even during the dreaded cold and flu season.

We’ve shared everything you need to know about baby humidifiers, what to consider, and our pick of the best that are safe to use and beneficial for your little one.

If you’re able to use them with your little one, make sure to pick a humidifier that can withstand oils being added and try out new essential oils in small amounts over a short period of time, to ensure they don’t cause any irritation.

Are Humidifiers Good For Babies?

Humidifiers are great for the whole family, including babies. Popping one in your baby’s nursery can help them sleep more comfortably during the night and breathe better, especially during the winter months when the heating is more often than not cranked-up to fight the cold. While the warmth feels like a blessing, it does run the risk of drying the air out more than usual, which in turn can aggravate your baby’s breathing and delicate, sensitive skin.

A baby humidifier helps to keep moisture in the air to prevent this from happening, as well as help to:

• Ease cold and flu symptoms such as coughs and congestion

• Ease symptoms of eczema, allergies, and other respiratory illnesses

• Prevent mould and bacteria build-up

Speaking to an expert, Sleep Consultant Lucy Wolfe said, "They can be helpful to add moisture to the air that can support clearer breathing and avoid drying out your fragile skin, especially when the air is dry due to climate and central heating. It is certainly becoming a more popular parent purchase, but I don’t typically recommend them unless the parents themselves feel strongly about them.

"My understanding is that moisture is gently distributed into the environment that helps to avoid the mucus in the nostrils from drying up, which may help to avoid congestion or avoid common coughs and colds. As a result of the moisture, that is balancing out a dry atmosphere, largely caused by insulation and central heating, this may also help to avoid their baby skin from also drying out and becoming itchy. So helpful for children prone to coughs, colds and congestion and maybe also children with skin irritation.”

While it’s not a must-have on the baby buy list, we’re definitely tempted to get one for the range of benefits involved.

Where is the best place to put a humidifier?

You want to place it somewhere in your baby's room where it’s out of reach of little hands and won’t get accidentally knocked over. You'll also want to place it somewhere where the mist can disperse well into the room so you don't get a build-up of moisture on any surfaces or the ceiling.

Be sure to check what size room your humidifier is made for. A room too big could make your humidifier redundant, while a room too small for your humidifier could cause condensation and dampness.

What kind of humidifier is best for babies?

There are two main types of humidifiers: Cool-mist humidifiers and warm-mist humidifiers. The difference? Warm-mist humidifiers boil the water before misting it into the air, whereas cool-mist humidifiers use ultrasonic vibration technology or an evaporation filter. Simple as that!

While they work much in the same way and will have the same effect, it’s recommended to choose a cool-mist humidifier as the safer option for the nursery should any accidental knocks or mishaps happen. That’s why we’ve chosen exclusively cool-mist humidifiers in our pick of the best.

What to consider in a baby humidifier?

As well as the type of humidifier, you might also want to consider other features for your baby’s humidifier:

Auto shut-off: You should opt for a humidifier with an automatic shut-off so it'll turn off when the water runs out. That'll give you peace of mind that the device won't cause danger to you or your baby, and won't damage the device itself.

Noise: Lucy also said, “Some models make a slight sound too and this may act as a 'white noise' background sound that can be comforting for some children as it is reminiscent of the womb.” Slight noise can be comforting for your baby, but a loud humidifier will not do anyone any favours. You want to make sure the one you pick isn’t noisy so it won’t disrupt your baby’s precious sleep.

Added features: Some humidifiers made specifically for babies also have some additional night-time soothing features such as light projections, night-lights, and sounds and lullabies.

Cleaning: It’s important to clean your baby’s humidifier to reduce the spread of bacteria, but some can be a little tricky to clean. Opting for one that's less of a hassle to clean than others, will save a chore being added to the to-do list!

Essential oils: You may find that calming essential oils help you get to sleep, but they should not be used on babies younger than three months old. Older than three months, a few drops in the humidifier can help to encourage sleep and even relieve signs of colic. Not all oils are safe for babies so you’ll want to check with your doctor beforehand.

Eleanor Weaver is the Deputy Homes & Garden Product Editor and has been a writer for Grazia. She loves looking for home inspiration in her spare time and trying her hand at new crafts, from Jesmonite casting to candle-making, crochet to painting.