Using Humidifiers to Treat Your Child’s Cold

According to the Mayo Clinic website, “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that parents avoid using cough and cold medicines to treat children younger than age 2.” Potential drawbacks to using these medicines include possible side effects such as rapid heart rate and convulsions, and the fact that cold medicines mask present symptoms. Also, cold medicines don’t treat the underlying symptoms, so giving them to your child won’t make their cold go away any sooner.

All this begs the question: what can you do for a child’s cold? The old standbys seem to work the best: plenty of rest and fluids, cough drops to soothe a sore throat, and moistening nasal passages. One method for moistening these passages is running a cool mist humidifier. Filters Fast offers a wide variety of cool mist humidifiers to help comfort your child when they’re sick.

Here are some tips for operating cool mist humidifiers from Crane:

• Use clean, cool water
• Place your humidifier on waterproof surface approximately 3 feet off the ground
• Keep your humidifier out of corners and away from walls
• Adjust your humidifier so that it sprays up into the air, not down to the ground
• Use a few capfuls of white vinegar and a half tub of warm water to clean

Your cool mist humidifier can be run year round to keep your family healthy and happy. Optimum humidity level in the home is 40-50% relative humidity.

Crane also states on their website that you could be eligible for a tax deduction if you doctor recommends using a cool mist humidifier primarily for medical reasons.

It’s difficult to see children suffer when they have a cold, but using these “comfort” measures, including the use of a cool mist humidifier, can make them more comfortable while they’re on the mend.