When should I use a cool-mist humidifier versus a warm-mist humidifier for a child with a cold?

Answer From Julie Baughn, M.D.

For safety, always use cool-mist humidifiers for children. Hot water or steam from a warm-mist humidifier or steam vaporizer can burn a child if he or she gets too close. Hot water might also cause burns in the event of a spill.

Humidifiers add moisture to the air. Cool-mist humidifiers may help ease coughing and congestion due to a cold. But more research is needed. Some research has found that heated humidifiers don't help cold symptoms.

Warm-mist and cool-mist humidifiers are equally effective in humidifying the air. By the time the water vapor reaches your child's lower airways, it's the same temperature regardless of whether it started out warm or cool.

If you use a humidifier, be sure to keep it clean to prevent mineral buildup and the growth of bacteria and molds. Humidifiers that hold standing water, particularly cool-mist humidifiers, can disperse these materials into the air. Warm-mist humidifiers generally disperse less, if any, of these materials into the air.

Emptying the tank and drying all surfaces of the humidifier daily is one way to safely keep it clean. Also, consider refilling the tank with bottled water labeled "distilled" or "purified," which has a lower mineral content than most tap water.

With

Julie Baughn, M.D.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

May 11, 2023 See more Expert Answers

See also

  1. Antibiotics: Are you misusing them?
  2. Breastfeeding and medications
  3. Cold and flu viruses: How long can they live outside the body?
  4. Cold or allergy: Which is it?
  5. Cold remedies
  6. Cold symptoms: Does drinking milk increase phlegm?
  7. Common cold
  8. COVID-19: How can I protect myself?
  9. Cough
  10. Vitamin C and mood
  11. Exercise and illness
  12. Fatigue
  13. Hand-washing tips
  14. Headache
  15. Honey: An effective cough remedy?
  16. Humidifiers
  17. Nasal Cleaning
  18. Nasal congestion
  19. Neti pot: Can it clear my nose?
  20. Plugged ears: What is the remedy?
  21. Runny nose
  22. Symptom Checker
  23. Vicks VapoRub: An effective nasal decongestant?
  24. Watery eyes
  25. When to Take Your Child to the E.D.
  26. Do zinc supplements shorten colds?