Best Humidifier?

[1st Time Mommy]

Can anyone recommend one?

[colleenfs]

We had a cheapie, and it made the most god-awful noise, so I just tossed it splurged on an Evenflo one for $40 at BRU. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...433847-0019249. The loud setting is quite loud, but you may find that the white noise is actually helpful.

You should probably get a cool mist humidifier, as warm mist can burn the baby. Also cool mist are easier to maintain.

Colleen
Mama to Julia 1-10-02

[teddy]

I think the Fields and Dr. Sears recommend a vaporisor over a humidifier. The thinking is that the water is boiled first, thereby killing any bacteria, before it is sprayed into the room as a warm vapor. I got mine at Walgreen's (Vicks brand) and it was way cheaper than a humidifier.

[juliasdad]

Yes. Get the Slant/Fin humidifier. Not cheap, but it has the advantage of using UV light to kill bacteria and mold spores so that the moistened air that is output is truly germ-free.

-dan

[emilyf]

We don't have one, and haven't missed it. We have radiator heat, so our house isn't overly dry-but I wouldn't say it's an absolute must have-especially for a spring or summer baby.
Emily
mom of Charlie born 11/02

[nohomama]

I second the Slant Fin humidifier. Great for baby or anyone in the family with asthma or an upper respiratory ailment.

[chrissyhowie]

We had a cool mist humidifier (Vornado) for a while, but I never felt much of a difference in our super dry apartment. It also was pretty noisy. Recently we switched to a Honeywell model 3040 warm mist humidifier (amazon.com sells them). It is soooo great! Not only is it quiet, but it works very well. I can actually feel a difference in the room. On the high setting, it actually works too well causing our windows to look like a steam room! It does not have a UV light although I don't think that is all that important as long as you maintain the warm mist humidifiers properly. I was wary at first of getting a warm mist device, but you really would have to put your hand over the mist for a good long while before risking getting burned.

HTH,
Chrissy

[akc]

We went through two cheap ones before we decided it was a waste of money and got the Hunter Douglas CareFree Humidifer Plus (2.5 gallon). There was a recall of an older model, but these are out in a variety of sizes. My favorite things about it are: 1) it doesn't "spit" water at all - moisturizes but with no wetness - amazing, 2) its permawick filter system doesn't need to be replaced, and 3) the humidstat is the godsend - we set it for the appropriate humidity level and it turns itself on if it drops below that and off when it reaches that level again.

We are such believers that we actually ordered another one for our room! It is about $75 though - we got ours through Frontgate, but you can go online to find places that carry it. We figured it was worth it to not keep spending $20-30 on humidifiers that lasted two weeks!

akc

p.s. on vaporizer vs. humdifier - the only difference is the vaporizer send warm air out while a humidifier doesn't bother to heat it. I think it is better to have the warm water if you don't have a good filter system - one that might open up to bacteria, etc. Other than that, it's personal preference. Our pediatrician told us that a humidifier was the way to go because he didn't believe it made a difference, so that's also someone you could ask. They (peds) often have recommendations

[riostoker]

We had an Evenflo one which was awful (white base, round blue top). It was impossible to clean, and the motor got all rusty, so the water always looked rusty even right after cleaning. Yuck!

We got the Hunter Care-free humidifier for $50 at Lowe's recently (Home Depot didn't have it, only Lowe's) after doing a lot of research on humidifiers, and we love it! There is a noticeable difference in the air in our dd's room when we use it as opposed to the Evenflo one which didn't seem to do anything. It is easy to clean, and you don't have to clean it as often. I love it! We're going to get one for our room too. Highly recommend it.