Putting Humidifiers to the Test
Humidifiers provide many health benefits for kids. The moisture they bring to the air can help so much with coughs + colds, congestion, illnesses like RSV and croup, and eczema. I know all this as a pediatrician. But honestly, as a mom, the constant hassle of cleaning, leaking, refilling, and breaking down can be so frustrating! And when you’re already caring for a sick child, the last thing you need is a hassle.
As I’ve been trying to prep our home for winter + sick season, I wanted to get a high-quality humidifier that would be effective and easy to clean. So I did a little test run of some of the most popular ones out there. I know that everyone has different needs & experiences when it comes to their own family and space at home, but I hope this helps you when you’re picking one out.
In no particular order, here are my thoughts on these humidifiers.
Miro $139
This humidifier is beautiful - it’s elegant and small-medium size. Though it’s initially a little bit of a pain to set up, it’s honestly incredibly easy to disassemble and clean. You clean it with water and soap, put it on the dish rack, and done! The cleaning for me is the best part of this humidifier - it’s simple and stayed clean for weeks. You can refill it without taking the whole thing apart, which is convenient, and it holds a lot of water (1.3 gallon bowl, or about 2-3 nights of use). It’s also very quiet, which is great. I do think that its design is extremely delicate (toddlers running around could easily knock it over or break the pieces). And there are a lot of cords with the control knob/USB port. If you have a nightstand or table that you can put those behind, then it would be fine. But otherwise, it’s very tempting for kids who might see it and want to touch. And it doesn’t put out as much mist as some of the others so needs to be pretty close to provide effective moisture to a child.
CarePod $120
I love this humidifier. Set up took less than 5 minutes, (only 4 pieces, all easily disassembled too) and it’s super easy to clean. Soap and water, put it on the dish rack, all done. It’s got the best mist output of the humidifiers — in my opinion, the most effective. You can also choose three different levels of mist, so you can adjust based on your baby’s needs. It holds about 0.74 gallons of water, which lasted us just about 2 nights. But refilling it is very simple — it’s just like a pitcher of water that you fill up. It’s also very quiet. It has a timer if you want to set it up easily. There is a slightly bright small green light for the power/mist/timer (if your kids need absolute darkness, might be a little too bright.). It’s not as beautiful as some of the others, but I think it’s the most practical and easy to use. And it stayed clean after a few weeks of use. Out of all the humidifiers, this is the one I’m keeping in the boys’ room for winter.
Canopy $150
The Canopy is so popular, I was excited to try it out. It’s very compact and adorable. I like the air filtration element - it filters out dust and particles from the water before releasing it into the air. For cleaning, you can put it in the dishwasher! It is great for skin conditions like eczema, as it does increase the humidity by a bit in the nearby vicinity (it’s definitely better for small spaces). It’s mistless (you don’t see the moisture it’s adding to the air), which might mean that kids don’t breathe in as much direct moisturized mist air. The benefit of mist air is that kids can breathe it in close to their mouths + noses and loosen secretions/mucous to find symptom relief. I don’t think this one provides that as well as some of the others. It’s also super loud, which, if you have light sleepers, could be tough. I think it might be a great one for adults, but I’m not sure that it’s the best one for kids’s illness.
FridaBaby 3-in-1 Humidifier $42.99
I think of this one as the classic “new baby” product. It’s a small humidifier (0.5 gallons) that is well-suited to many baby nurseries because of its built in nightlight options. It also has a diffuser option, which I know a lot of parents like to use in their homes. It is also a little more classic in its design, which means that there are more nooks and crannies to get into. It’s a little more challenging from the cleaning aspect. This is one that you do have to use filtered/distilled water and clean it every week to prevent mold build up. It’s also a little more finicky if you get water in the holes in the back or where the air blows out. But I think for its price and other options, it could be a nice “not meant to last forever” humidifier.
Pure Enrichment MistAire Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier $39.99
This is a good basic, reasonably priced humidifier. It has almost 90,000 Amazon reviews (with an average grade of ~4.7). It’s fairly small, good for a nursery or child’s room. It holds about 0.4 gallons (about a night’s use). It does a nice job of delivering effective moisture. You do have to clean it every week, I needed to use vinegar to get off a thin film (we used filtered water with it) that can accumulate. And since it has a more classic design, you have to really clean well in small areas. It does tend to leak a little more than the others.
Quick Notes:
All of the humidifiers recommend distilled water, which I think can be really hard to do regularly (even though I know all instruction manuals recommend it). We used filtered from the fridge, and most did just fine.
In pediatrics, we recommend cool-mist humidifiers for safety (concerns for burns with warm-mist humidifiers/vaporizers).
Remember to keep all humidifiers a short distance away from your children (3 feet or so) just in case of any product malfunction, etc.
*Note: I have no affiliations with any of these brands or products - I don’t do paid partnerships. I am just sharing as a pediatrician and mom in case it helps you at all!
