The Secret to Ending Sleepless Nights with a Baby

Any parent will tell you that one of the hardest adjustments you’ll go through with a newborn is enduring months of sleepless nights. So if someone told you there’s a machine that may help your baby get better sleep, you’d definitely want to know about it, right? So what is this magic machine?! A humidifier! There are so many amazing benefits of a humidifier for baby (and the whole family), too!

The Benefits of a Humidifier for Baby

A humidifier can be one of your biggest weapons when it comes to trying to get your baby to sleep through the night. Newborns often wake easily and then have difficulty falling back to sleep. So it is important to eliminate any possible sources of constant awakenings.

How Does a Humidifier Help Your Baby Sleep More Soundly?

You invest a lot of money in creating the perfect sleep environment for your baby, but have you thought about exactly WHAT causes your baby to wake throughout the night?

Unfortunately, the most common newborn ailments are also common reasons why babies wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time going back to sleep. Investing in products to help eliminate these key problems is a no-brainer!

So what can a humidifier do for your newborn?

1. Eliminates Nasal Congestion

As a pediatrician, I recommend using a humidifier for baby congestion during the dry months of cold and flu season. A humidifier helps moisturize and soothe irritated nasal passages. But all year round, this extra humidity can help your newborn get better sleep, too! The added moisture serves as a natural nasal lubricant and decongestant, helping clear your baby’s nasal passages.

Babies sleep more soundly and wake less often! Win, win!

Newborns breathe primarily through their noses. So when they suffer from nasal congestion, it can be pretty miserable for them and anyone else trying to get some rest!

Nighttime is also particularly hard because congestion is worse while lying down. That last bedtime bottle can also be a culprit of nighttime stuffiness due to reflux and spit up causing inflammation.

Humidifiers for babies provide a natural method to help alleviate congestion, so everyone can get a good night’s sleep. 

2. Prevents Dry Skin

There are many advantages to having a cool mist humidifier in your nursery as your little one sleeps, and healthy skin is one of the best!

Parents often underestimate how much dry skin can disrupt a newborn’s sleep patterns. Newborns and infants may wake up uncomfortable and then have a hard time soothing themselves back to sleep. This cycle disrupts your baby’s sleep patterns and may also cause unnecessary feedings to calm and soothe your baby back to sleep. 

Especially in the colder months, winter skin problems can cause nighttime waking. Humidifiers create humidity that moisturizes the air, helping prevent skin dryness. If you have a baby with eczema, a humidifier is just one more step that can help ease discomfort caused by a flare.

I highly recommend a cool mist humidifier for dry skin. The humidifier can safely run all night, putting much needed moisture back into your child’s room. Your baby will sleep much better with a little extra relief in the air, and you’ll get better sleep, too!

3. Creates the Ultimate Soothing Environment

Setting the stage for successful sleeping habits starts with creating a perfect sleep environment and making a commitment to night routines. A humidifier for babies achieves this goal in two ways: 

1. First, the steady hum of background noise from a humidifier creates a white noise effect that will help drown out common household noises.
2. And second, the humidifier can serve as a cue to your baby that it is time for sleep.

Babies are creatures of habit. So establishing the same routine each night is imperative to getting your infant on a proper schedule and on track to sleep through the night. 

Final Thoughts on Getting the Best Sleep with a Baby

There are many great humidifiers on the market, but my personal favorite is the brand Crane. It is important when choosing a humidifier that you make sure it is a cool mist humidifier. There are hot water vaporizers and cool mist humidifiers. The hot mist humidifiers are a safety risk, as steam can burn you or your baby. 

As a pediatrician, I always recommend a humidifier not only in your nursery but to remain a staple as your child grows. It’s imperative for cold and flu season but is also helpful throughout the year to promote healthy skin and a healthy respiratory tract.

A humidifier is a newborn registry must have. But the benefits of a humidifier for baby and you will last well beyond the newborn and infancy stage!

~Dr. Katie