Humidity from Tank and Sick Baby... any ties?

[fluidimagery]

We have a 10 month old baby that has lately been getting upper respiratory infections / congestion etc. He's been on and off a nebulizer for the past few months and I'm wondering if it could be related to a humidity issue from my fish tank.

I've heard from a few people to make sure to keep typical household humidifiers cleaned daily because mold can build up in them and cause infections in babies and I was putting 2 and 2 together, but it's just a thought.

He also goes to day care during the week and picks up colds etc. from there so it could very well just be from that. My wife is a teacher so usually durning her longer breaks his upper respiratory issues improve until he goes back to day care but it could just be my imagination.

We live in an 1800sqft condo that has an open floor plan, and the tank has about 140g of water that looses close to 2gal a day. Heating and Cooling of the house is forced air.

Wondering if anyone else has any thoughts on this. Should I pick up a dehumidifier?

 

[Domboski]

PM jetjon or regal and ask them. One is a Dr. in training and the other is a Dr. I believe.

 

[spacenyc]

imho

as the parent of a 3 year old, and i guess the parent of 25 tanks, kids will be sick constantly at that age. probably no connection and i was always told to keep my sons room humid from the doctors. the doctors i asked said the tanks probably helped keep the house humid which helps my son. again i am a parent and not a doctor.

 

[christosclowns]

I have a 225 in my 6 months old room and ill tell you what he sleeps like a baby and he rarely gets sick. When a baby is sick or congested a humidifier or a hot steam shower is your best friend id say no

 

[kris]

It's the Daycare. It's a giant petri dish! A lot of working parents drop off sick kids because they don't want to take off from work. How clean is your daycare? Do the sanitize the toys nightly? These things help. My kids are much older now. If anything the humdity will help with a forced air system.
It will get better!

 

[fluidimagery]

Thanks for the info. It's a corporate day care that is under regulation etc... so as far as day cares go it's clean but it is a giant petri dish. I was more leaning towards the tank creating mold... and the mold spores making the baby sick.

No noticable areas of mold and the house doesn't feel overly humid...

 

[jejton]

Disclaimer: I am only a 2nd year medical student and this should only be taken as slightly better than an anonymous website. Discuss this with your son's pediatrician, but to give you some info to consider when you do go in:
Humidity can often breed bacteria, fungi, etc. that can cause respiratory illness and thats why you are supposed to disinfect humdifiers regularly but the humidity from the tank is most likely not the culprit. That being said, is the room in which it is kept humidity proofed ( if its a large tank )? Do look around for signs of mold, especially in cabinets, under sinks, wallpaper, carpet etc.

Your son is at the age for getting these things. Especially now that he is in daycare its going to be pretty regularly happening. What Kris said is very true ( I can tell you all about our experience, as can other parents here ). There is not much you can do about that. However, if he is getting these respiratory infections more often than other kids in his daycare, you might want to talk to his pediatrician about asthma. That can predispose a child, or adult, to respiratory infections or having worse symptoms when he gets them. Also, do you or anyone who lives in the house smoke? Even if you don't smoke around the baby, they are sensetive enough, more so if they are asthmatic, to having problems from the residue of the smoke on the caretaker's hair, clothing, skin, etc. so that is definately something to address if its an issue. Hope this helps and again, please discuss this with his pediatrician regardless of what I or anyone here posts.

 

[kris]

Mold can come from water trapped under a carpet or behind a wall. If you're worried about it, get a test kit. They're not expensive. Make sure you have the ducts cleaned and use a high quality inline or free standing air filter. Also try using a saline spray for the baby.

 

[hijinks]

if you use carpets.. did you over have a small overflow?

 

[chazertis]

my vote is no

 

[boozeman]

My 55 is in the same room (a few feet away) as my two year old son. It is also of open top(rimless) design. I have not noticed any respiratory ailments that I would say were caused by this. He gets a cold every now and then just like any other child his age does. I'm sure your pediatrician would agree, children that are in day care get sick with more frequency than others. Also, when kids start school they get sick ofthen too.... It is unavoidable.
If you do use a humidifier, make sure you drop in one of those antimicrobial filters into the water tank to keep it clean.

btw, forced air heating filters are ofthen mold breeding grounds and should be replaced ofthen. you can also get vent filters for the floor covers.

 

[ellebelle]

I have nothing constructive to add to this thread, other than to say that I hope things get better. Good luck!

 

[ellebelle]

Also, psst:

He says hi.

 

[NYreefNoob]

even less likely this time of the year as most house's are a little on the dryer side from the heater's, as well i have a 4 yr old with no problems and have 2 tanks also, reguardless how clean they keep the day care they arent keeping every kid that walks in disease free, cough's colds ect,