Scouting Report: This humidifier helps keep my snotty kids from feeling worse. It's lightweight and incredibly easy to use.

My family is prone to snot. We all have seasonal allergies which sometimes turn into sinus infections. My kids are little and go to two different schools with two different germ profiles, so we get colds frequently. Even lately, with kids in masks, we’ve managed three or four summer and early fall colds.

My kids also have restrictive airways, a pre-asthma diagnosis that means that, when they get a cold, they get respiratory symptoms like wheezing which can really impact their sleep. We’ve had a few scary nights and even one hospitalization for my son when his cold turned out to be RSV, so I take my kids’ respiratory health really seriously.

We registered for this humidifier when we had our daughter and got a second one for our son’s bedroom when he came along. When I have a cold, likely ones passed to me from the darling, germ-infested children, the humidifier travels from their rooms to next to my bed. On nights I’ve used the humidifier, I have noticed a marked difference in my sleep, even while snotty. It’s super quiet and doesn’t upset my sleep like a white noise machine would and runs all night without running out of water.

Crane Drop Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier

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It’s easy enough to put together, fill with water, and set up in a bedroom. It plugs in but has a long enough cord that it’s easy to move it close to the head of the bed. You can adjust how much or little cool mist comes out of the top. In a small, kid-sized bedroom, I usually set it fairly low with good results -- too high and you can end up with dew on your surfaces in the morning.

It’s also easy to clean between uses and I haven’t worried about spraying mildew or moldy water into my precious babies’ faces since the white design makes it easy to see if gunk is building up. We got the basic design but the same brand also has cutesy animal ones like a hippo and elephant if you’re doing that whole themed-nursery thing.

Apparently, house plants also appreciate a cool mist once in a while, so, since we’re all currently healthy, I may set it up next to my prolific monstera and pothos pots and see if a bit of a spritz makes them happier.

It’s a scary time to be a parent of kids with respiratory problems. I’m doing what I can to minimize their exposure to illness but, when they inevitably do get a little snuffly, I know I can help them feel better with a cool mist humidifier.

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