Humidifiers: cool or warm mist?

[mamainflorida]

Hi everyone,
How do you know whether to use a cool or warm mist humidifier? Does it depend on where you live/climate, season, etc?

We're in South Florida, so when baby will be born (July), it will be extremely hot and humid... in fact, it already is! Does this make a difference?

Thank you for your help!

[zag95]

WE have a Crane (Frog) cool mist-I had read that cool mists were better because it doesn't make the room as warm- and since you already live in a humid climate, maybe you want to use a cool mist also? Have you asked your pediatrician?

[newg]

cool mist.......I think there is something about the warm mist that isn't good for babies

[WatchingThemGrow]

Talk to your ped first. I'm not sure you'd actually use on in FL where it is already so humid. We've only used them in the cold winters where the heat is on and dries out the air so much it makes us all cough- NOT the case in So. Fl (I'm from there :) )

[AngelaS]

Warm. I only use them if we're battling serious congestion and then I crank them up. I've been told that warm works better but that doctors have to recommend cool because of the risk of burns that comes w/using warm mist. :P

[mamainflorida]

Thank you all! Bottom line... I need to check with my pediatrician... Now I need to find one (a pediatrician, that is!)

Thanks!

[ThreeofUs]

Just another view: I use warm only because the cool air humidifiers (at least the three I've tried, including Crane and Vicks) put particulate matter in the air - it's the white dust people mention in the reviews. This makes me and my kids cough more! Good luck.

[the2bobs]

Warm--peds usually recommend cool b/c of the burn risk associated w/ warm humidifiers but I have no idea how you're going to get burned on that thing! We've had a few warm ones and none of them produced steam warm enough to burn.
As mentioned above, with warm you don't have that white dust all over and it kills germs---you don't have to de-mold the thing every few days like you do w/ a cool one. We got ours at Bed, Bath & Beyond (used 20% off coupon) and they're good to get it from b/c you can return at any time if it breaks, you don't like it, etc. The warm ones are much more expensive than the cool ones, but worth it.
We only use it when DS is sick and windows are usually closed (heat or AC is on) so weather shouldn't matter so much. It gets pretty humid here in the summer.

[let73]

Warm--peds usually recommend cool b/c of the burn risk associated w/ warm humidifiers but I have no idea how you're going to get burned on that thing! We've had a few warm ones and none of them produced steam warm enough to burn.
As mentioned above, with warm you don't have that white dust all over and it kills germs---you don't have to de-mold the thing every few days like you do w/ a cool one. We got ours at Bed, Bath & Beyond (used 20% off coupon) and they're good to get it from b/c you can return at any time if it breaks, you don't like it, etc. The warm ones are much more expensive than the cool ones, but worth it.
We only use it when DS is sick and windows are usually closed (heat or AC is on) so weather shouldn't matter so much. It gets pretty humid here in the summer.

We also use a warm one because it is much easier to clean.

[RMessinger]

I read on one of the boxes that cool was for daytime and warm was for nighttime. But that could have been for adults. You should definitely ask a pediatrician. If you're LO isn't crawling yet I wouldn't worry about the burning factor. But if you have space (not in a small NYC apt) then perhaps you can put it on a dresser or night stand that keeps it higher up.