Worried about dry air making newborn sick

[HoneyBunnii]

Hello everyone, just looking for some advice..
I am due to give birth in december and have noticed that the air in my house has been really dry causing a horrible dry nose and throat for me and my 2 year old and we really struggle to sleep through the night without waking up coughing.. i am worried about how this will affect my newborn and was wondering if there is anything i can do to prevent the air from being so dry..

I was originally struggling with damp in the home and bought a dehumidifier to prevent mold etc. from forming, which it has done incredibly well, but i guess this is what has caused the extreme dry air in the home so i dont know what to do, if i turn off the dehumidifier to allow moisture to develop in the air i will eventually end up with mold and damp 😣

Is there anything you guys have used to help add moisture into the air at night?
I bought the vicks warm mist machine and used it overnight but when i woke up in the morning the walls were absolutely dripping 😭 please help as i dont want to end up having to drive back and forth with a seriously sick newborn with the way the waiting times are like at the doctors and A&E's at the moment..

Is there any humidifier that actually works and doesnt drench the walls? Or is there any other way? My 2 year old was born in the summer so this is my first winter baby and i am so nervous 😔

I wonder if you need to work out if it’s dry or damp. Maybe get a thing like this, google what house humidity in winter should be and then work out if you need to make it dryer or more moist.

https://amzn.to/46uNzBx

Hmm I think you’re doing the right thing with the dehumidifier. Dry air is definitely better than damp air. I haven’t heard of dry air causing sickness before.

This doesn’t sound quite right. If I run a dehumidifier in my not damp house, it doesn’t dry the air so much that it affects us. And if I use a mister, it doesn’t cause condensation. Are you sure your damp is sorted? Could it actually be damp/mould that’s causing your symptoms?

@TryAgainWithFeeling it was definitly the mist, i have the meaco dehumidifer and once it reaches 60% humidity it turns off automatically as thats what i have set it to and we have not had any damp problems etc. But then once i put this mist machine on the walls were dripping the next day! I had to put the dehumidifer in that room for it to fix it and bring it back down to 60%

@Ruffpuff The dry air isnt making me sick but it is causing me to have a dry throat and a dry nose etc. And idk how a newborn would deal with that which is worrying me..

Im thinking of putting the mist machine on the low setting and placing it closer to me rather than on the dressing table and seeing how that goes because it was the highest setting that caused the dripping walls.. i havent had this problem before and i have been in this house for 3 years, only thing that i can think of that could have changed anything is the usage of the dehumidifer which i bought 2 months ago

@Cheeesus i will turn the setting of humidity to 50% on my dehumidifer and see how it goes... could just also be the cold air itself causing the symptoms and i might just get an oil filled heater to use overnight to warm things up and see how that goes

60% isn't dry air, that is pretty standard.

Don't run the mist thing, just turn off the dehumidifier if you think it is not needed.

How long have you had the dehumidifier and what are your readings?

Is it possible you still have a damp problem? Have you checked the whole house for dust and mould?

What is your overnight temperature?

Bowl of water in the room will help

@MidnightOnceMore its set to turn off at 60% so it does stay off as long as the air is at 60% which is most of the day. Only reason i bought the mist thing was to help with the dry throat and dry nose etc.

Yeah i have checked the whole house there isnt any mould, my husband cleaned it before the summer with some mould killer and it hasnt come back since then (not even the damp smell since we have been using the dehumidifier) so i am sure its not a damp problem.
I think it may just be the fact that the room is just cold 🤷🏻‍♀️ i heat the home for about 6 hours during the day but then after 8pm the heating stays off until the next day.. i should get a heater for the bedroom and see how that goes.. im not sure what the overnight temperature is and i cant guess because i am 9 month pregnant therefore feeling alot warmer than a non pregnant person would be feeling so it is hard to tell

@StBrides i think that only works if the heating is on though doesnt it? So that it evaporates

Is there actually air circulating at all? As in, do you have any windows open a crack?

Normal Winter humidity in a house in the U.K. would be 50% ish. So you don’t have dry air.

And if you are worried about it feeling too dry at 60%, then don’t turn it down to 50%.

Maybe you just have a cold? It’s not dry air at all. I think you need to look at air flow and temperature.

Windows open. Get the air circulating. Even in the winter.

@Maddy70 we do usually leave the bathroom window open a tiny bit to let that air flow in during the day so yeah there is some air comong in..

@Cheeesus i tried putting on the central heating around an hour before going to bed and it did help alittle actually so i think you are right it is probably not dry air at all. I am going to try splitting the heating time into two to cover the coldest part of the days and nights and will see how it goes 😊 thank you

Do you have trickle vents on the windows you can leave open?

@LIZS no unfortunately not but as i said i think its just the fact that im not using any heating at night when it gets really cold as i am trying to use it sparingly and i guess its unfair to be doing that with a toddler and a baby on the way so will probably get an oil heater to use in the room we sleep in to keep us warm for most of the night