Can a room be TOO humid if your baby is sick?

angb77

My 6 month old baby has had a bad viral illness and in fact he was in the hospital for a few days.  We are home tonight and I would really like him to sleep as well as possible. He is still tending to get extremely congested in his nose and head with thick mucus if I don't attend to it.

 I have the cool mist humidifier running on full blast in his room and his room is not that big. I am also sick with the same illness that he has. I am sitting in here with him and it is making me feel like coughing and it is making my nose run, so I guess that it is working, right (?) because that is what I want - I want to make sure his congestion stays loose and doesn't clog up his little lungs (which is how we ended up in the hospital.) However, can a room be TOO humid? I don't want to make things worse.

I know on a normal, day to day basis, you shouldn't keep the room too humid obviously, but I am just talking about for tonight only. Has anyone ever talked to a doctor about this? Thanks! 

snoopy5512

When Ella was really congested, one night she was sleeping super well, so I went to check on her.  I was worried.  Her room was filled with so much mist it looked like smoke.  I am sure it isn't good for her or your house on a reg. basis, but she seemed to like it that night. 

The doc has also told me to sit in a really steamy bathroom for a while with the hot shower running.  I don't think it is bad.  (But full disclosure:  I never got confirmation it wasn't bad.)

RunningGal900

According to the manual of our humidifier, if the mist is sinking, then it is too humid. You want the mist to rise. Whether too much is bad for one night, I don't know...but I do find that his room gets cold if it is on too high.

Here is an article for Dr Sears' site (whether you agree with his parenting philosophies or not, I do think that he has good medical advice). It seems the concern with high humidity is mostly just the potential for mold growth over time, so I think if it is helping him, it would be fine.

https://www.askdrsears.com/content/correct-humidity-level

Hope LO feels better soon. 

snoopy5512

Definitely watch how often you do that... Like the PP commented, the issue is mold.  Bad for your house and LO

Bonnesetter27

This happened to us for a few nights. I must warn that if you have hardwoods it can be dangerous. I fell walking into his room because the floor was a so wet. But I don't think it harms lo.