Cool Mist or Warm Mist Humidifier

Future Mrs. Hogan

We bought the cool mist one when DD had croup because that's what the dr told us to buy and we haven't had any problems with it. I want to get my friend one for her shower so I've been reading reviews on a few different ones and I can't make a decision as to which kind to get... Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of cool mist vs warm mist? Thanks!

Heidisean

I recommend getting a Crane Humidifier (they put out the most moisture) and are the most reasonable (about 35.00).  We spend 85.00 on one from Sears and it was horrible and needed to buy filters for it.  We didn't see a difference in the moisture of the room.  Then we bought a Vicks one and again we don't see a difference. We have 2 Crane ones (elephant and frog) and they are surpurb! The room is like a rainforest after a short amount of time with it on high. You can get them at Target, amazon.com, etc. My pedi says to use cool mist but as long as the room gets moist that is the most important.

mysticriver

Probably cool mist - it seems to be what doctors recommend for just about everything, so any advice she encounters will probably mention cool mist.

 IME warm mist works well for really, really bad congestion, but in those cases it's been bad enough that we've needed more than a humidifier, we've needed to sit in the bathroom with a hot shower running.  Also, warm mist tends to drench everything in the room, I think doctors recommend cool mist vs warm due to concerns about mold or possibly safety (if junior touches the humidifier).

They have some humidifiers that do both warm & cool mist - we have one - but they're about $150+, which might be more than you want to spend for a shower.

But whatever you choose, what a great gift!

Hooray2005

We, too, have the Crane cool mist humidifier (frog) and love it!   DS loves it, too and gets excited at night to "turn frog on."  After doing lots of reading/research and trying a few other models, this one is the best we've found - it's nearly silent (which is great in a child's room).  Only downside is it doesn't have an auto-humidity sensor to keep the humidity consistent; but that has not been a big deal (it's been easy to simply adjust it to a good setting and then leave it!)

Our pedi said to only use cool mist in DS's room b/c of safety issues - the warm mist ones generate boiling water that would be tragic if DC were to pull the unit onto themselves accidentally    While they often work better, the safety risk isn't worth it. at all.