humidifier

Kids' Products For Breast Cancer Awareness Month
kid gear

Think Pink! 5 Kids' Products in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

You don't need to wear rose-colored glasses to be seeing pink this month.
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You don't need to wear rose-colored glasses to be seeing pink this month. It's October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means it's annual shop for the boobies time! We've found a selection of child and baby products that give something to the cause with every purchase.

Clockwise from top left:

Practical Baby Registry Essentials
Editor's Pick

5 Practical Items to Add to Your Baby Registry (Even Though They Don't Sound Fun!)

Walking the aisles of a baby store, it's easy to get wrapped up in the plush towels, adorable mobiles, and the high-tech strollers.
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Practical Baby Registry Essentials

Walking the aisles of a baby store, it's easy to get wrapped up in the plush towels, adorable mobiles, and the high-tech strollers. While moms-to-be ohh and ahh over all of the options available to outfit their impending arrival, they tend to skip over some of the more practical items that line shelves, thinking they'll get to them in the future. Nail clippers, thermometers, and humidifiers may not be the cutest things on a baby registry, but they'll probably get used more than anything else! Check these and a few other practical items you may have overlooked when building your registry!

White Noise Sound Machine ($70) Light Dimmer ($20) Thermometer ($40) Humidifier ($45) Baby Grooming Kit ($19)
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5 Reasons Why It's Important to Own a Humidifier
healthy living

5 Reasons to Get Yourself a Humidifier — Stat!

Spring may be right around the corner, but don't let your guard down just yet — cold season is still in full effect!
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Spring may be right around the corner, but don't let your guard down just yet — cold season is still in full effect! The combination of dry Winter's air, a turned up thermostat, and closed windows can wreak havoc on your respiratory system.

The best way to combat dry air and reduce your susceptibility to infection is to invest in a humidifier. Aside from babies and my parents, I didn't know why someone like me would benefit from using one. But, after a few too many colds throughout the past few months, I knew it was time to see what this said "miracle gizmo" was about. Here's what's great about humidifiers:

  • Yummy moist air: Thanks to the nice hydrated air a humidifier creates, the insides of your nose and lungs will stay moist, allowing the tiny hairs inside to block the dust and bacteria.
  • Aids in the healing process: Whether it be a cold, asthma, or allergies, a humidifier keeps your lungs more elastic and your nasal passages lubricated — both necessary in speeding up the healing process. For allergy sufferers, there are humidifiers that are specially designed to purify the air as well.

Here are more reasons why I love humidifiers.

Difference Between Warm and Cool Mist Humidifier
healthy living

Choosing a Humidifier: Warm or Cool Mist?

Jack Frost is nipping at many of us with his chilly temps, and we're fighting back by turning up the heat.
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Jack Frost is nipping at many of us with his chilly temps, and we're fighting back by turning up the heat. It keeps us warm, but completely dries out the air we breathe, so we end up with dry skin, chapped lips, a sore throat, dry cough, or congested sinuses. You can get relief by running a humidifier, which will add moisture back into the air. Many people use them while they sleep — the gentle whirring sound can be so relaxing.

When buying a humidifier, you'll be presented with two different types — warm mist and cool mist. To choose which one would be best for you, decide what type of air is easier for you to breathe. If you inhale well in a sauna, then a warm mist might be best. If you have allergies or asthma, opt for a cool mist humidifier instead.

How they work and are maintained may also be a factor, so to learn more about the difference between the two, keep reading.

Humidifiers for Kids
Health and Fitness

Pimp Your Crib: Decorative Humidifiers

Mamas want their youngsters to breathe easy, but there's no reason why humidifiers have to be an eye sore in the nursery.
by babysugar
Humidifiers for Kids

Mamas want their youngsters to breathe easy, but there's no reason why humidifiers have to be an eye sore in the nursery. Mums can choose a cheeky pet Crane humidifier to keep her wee one well while adding some flair to the room. Hello Kitty and SpongeBob SquarePants enthusiasts will flip when seeing the colorful characters blow steam before they snooze. Check out our other fun finds!

Cow Red Dragon Elephant Football Frog Hello Kitty The Precious Panda
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How to Choose a Humidifier
vaporizers

Don't Suffer the Dryness: How to Choose a Humidifier

Now that it's getting chilly outside, many of us are cranking up the heat to stay cozy.
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Now that it's getting chilly outside, many of us are cranking up the heat to stay cozy. While it's pleasantly warm, all that heat can be drying, and you may to wake up with a sore throat, stuffy nose, and congested sinuses. A humidifier can help alleviate those symptoms by putting moisture back into the air, and running one can also help you breathe easier if you have a cold.

So how do you choose one? It all depends on what kind of moisture you want in the air: cool or warm. Want to see how these two kinds of humidifiers compare? Then read more

Baby Wellness: Humidifiers
Health and Fitness

Baby Wellness: Humidifiers

If you're ever at Babies R Us roaming the aisles, you will come across a whole section of humidifiers.
by babysugar

If you're ever at Babies R Us roaming the aisles, you will come across a whole section of humidifiers. I never thought of purchasing one until my daughter came down with her first case of the sniffles and my pediatrician told me to invest in a humidifier. I bought a warm-mist humidifier and wow, did it make a difference. I don't know if I can credit it with curing my daughter overnight, but she was back to her old self the next day. A bonus for us is that it keeps her room a couple degrees warmer, which in the winter, is very comforting.

You can buy either warm- or cool-mist humidifiers. The warm-mist humidifiers are great because the heat from the machine will sterilize the water and mist. Just be careful not to put it in a place where the baby can tip it over or reach it since the steam or hot water could burn them. If you buy the cool mist, make sure you clean it often as instructed because you don't want bacteria and mold to infest the humidifier.

The bonus, we found, was that the machine makes a little white noise, too. Healthy and happy restful nights.

Humidifier - That's Wee NOT Wii
Dry Skin

Humidifier - That's Wee NOT Wii

I love using a humidifier in the winter to combat dry, itchy skin.
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I love using a humidifier in the winter to combat dry, itchy skin. It also helps with my allergies and asthma.

But I absolutely hate cleaning it out. Have you looked inside yours lately? There is some nasty brown gunky stuff that collects in it, and there's no way to clean the container that the water goes in because the opening is so darn small.

I found a solution. The Wee Humidifier. It uses a fresh new bottle of spring water every time, so no need to worry about cleaning it out - just replace it when you're done.

Plus it's compact, so you don't need to take up a ton of space in your bedroom. And it's cheap too - less than $20, well at least if you live in Japan.

Want to see more pictures of the Wee? Then read more

Cool Vaporizers Are Not Hot, But They Are Cool
Safety

Cool Vaporizers Are Not Hot, But They Are Cool

Unfortunately, we are right in the middle of cold season and at this point, we're desperately looking for anything that will help ease a nasty cold.
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Unfortunately, we are right in the middle of cold season and at this point, we're desperately looking for anything that will help ease a nasty cold.

Increasing the air moisture is a common way to help you (or your child) feel better when congested -- The added moisture in the air can relieve symptoms such as sore throat and congestion. A cool mist vaporizer or humidifier is preferred over a warm mist one because of the risk of your child (or someone else's child) getting accidentally burned by the outflow of hot steam.

The problem is that a cool mist vaporizer or humidifier gets dirty faster because the heat (in a hot vaporizer) kills mold and germs gathering in the vaporizer. To avoid this, clean your cool mist vaporizer frequently (at least once a week) to deter growth of bacteria and other pathogens.

Fit's Tip: I like Vicks Natural Mist Humidifier ($32.84) because it is quiet and has a wicking filter with built-in bactericide, which helps ward off germs. Buy one on Walmart.com.