Why I wanted to review the Salin Air Purifier (Salt Therapy device)!
Salt therapy has been used for years in Eastern Europe and Russia where salt caverns are abundant. People use salt caves for the treatment and prevention of respiratory conditions which is known as ‘speleotherapy’. Modern salt caves and rooms are being built more frequently and a quick google search show that they are becoming more and more popular in Ireland. Halotherapy is the term used to describe the salt therapy in man made rooms. This type of therapy is not cheap at around 20 euro for 45-60 minutes!
I found lots of research about salt therapy but actually the evidence does not always confirm with standard or recommended medical research and as a result I do feel it is important to say that there is a lack of robust scientific research on the use of salt therapy. This is not necessary a reflection on its efficacy though, just more a note that further randomised controlled trials are needed before I could hand on heart say that this is evidence based medicine. At the moment I cannot so I just want to make that clear from the onset! However, the anecdotal evidence is outstanding and overwhelming and on both personal and professional levels I like to take a holistic approach to the treatment of illness. Salt therapy is not likely to do any harm ( however use caution in severe asthmatics as with any new treatment!) so I personally felt that I wanted to give it a try it! This is a product that does not contain drugs, it’s natural and it is also non-invasive. It should ALWAYS be used IN ADDITION to prescribed medication and no changes should be made to treatment plans without a discussion with your childs GP.
Salt Therapy
Salt therapy is thought to work through its mucolytic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also a negatively charged ion. The negatively charged ions make contact with the respiratory airways and stimulate ciliary mobility and the ability for mucous to flow through the membranes. In addition to this the salt sits on the membranes and draws the mucous out by osmosis. Now this is cool because a persistent chesty cough is often caused by mucus plugs. In theory, this allows for clearer airways, improved removal of mucus from the chest and easier more free breathing. There are many respiratory conditions which cause a mucus build up where this type of therapy may be beneficial such as asthma, bronchitis, infections, allergies, sinusitis, laryngitis and so on.
It’s no secret that I’m a little obsessed with the Vicks Warm Steam Vapouriser and I suppose the key reason for this is that it is so absolutely effective at loosening mucus and conditioning the airways. This reduces inflammation and allows chesty coughs to be broken down allowing for easier breathing through the sinuses and lungs. People always ask me if they should use it all of the time as a preventative measure and it’s so important to stress that no, the Vick Vapouriser product is only meant for use when your child actually has a cough or cold. There’s a few reasons for this but on a practical level it just is not good for your walls to have 365 days of steam exposure! It doesn’t cause any problems when plugged in over night for a few nights when a child has a cold but even then I always recommend you to keep the bedroom door a foot open and make sure to open the windows wide for half an hour once everyone is dressed and up for the day! Following these guidelines I have never once had a problem with damp with over five years of sporadic use for three children! Yes the walls are steamy in the morning – they are meant to be! But once the room is well aired afterwards there should be no issue. I must say I absolutely love the Vicks Warm steam Vapouriser for cough or cold – and no I have not been paid to say that!!! It’s a quick fix providing almost instant relief for an irritating or chesty cough and has saved my sanity on several occasions over the last few years with the kids!
In any case I still had a problem, I wanted to find a product that is suitable for every day use. I wanted to find a product that would help my own children and other WonderBabas to fight back against the common occurrence of coughs, colds and respiratory illnesses.
The product I discovered is the Salin Plus Air Purifier which is a Salt Therapy machine. This takes all of the benefits of treatment in a salt room and pops it into a convenient little device which can be used in your own home! The benefits of visiting a salt therapy room or cave are relatively short term (and expensive!!) as you need constant exposure for constant relief which is why I love the convenience of this product. It is suitable for children of all ages – and adults too of course!
How does it work?
This device works by providing all of the benefits of salt therapy by having air pushed through a filter by a little fan so the micro-crystalline salts create a fine constant spray in the surrounding area. As a mum I always want to know the practical points and I can say that this machine is great in terms of sound – it’s very quiet and can be turned up or down using a simple dial on the back so that you can decide what level of sound your child will put up with! On a low setting you really can’t hear it at all, so you could start it low as your little one is going to sleep but then ramp it up when they are asleep to benefit from the increased levels of salt in the room. I was able to start it on a medium to high level before my two year old got curious!!
How you should use it?
When first starting off with this product it’s a good idea to have about a month of intensive use – basically have the machine plugged in at night and also in the rooms you are using during the day. Obviously this is only possible when you’re at home so all you can do is your best! Ideally it should be used for a minimum of eight hours per day so overnight seems like the easiest and most convenient time but because you can easily carry it around (I’m a weakling and seriously this thing is really light!) you can have it on in the living room during the day as well if you like. It is suitable for use as an every day product and will do no damage to your walls. One device will treat a max area of 55 sq meters. I’m not great on spacial awareness but some people do place the product in the hall if the bedrooms are close by and have the doors open. On another practical note it’s supposed to help with snoring so it is no harm to let everyone get the benefits….eh hem…yes i’m talking about you Mr WonderBaba….!!
How did my review go?
I tried this product out over almost four weeks. I have no asthmatics in the house so can’t comment on that front personally – but there’s a kazillion positive asthma stories online! I do have a little lady with constant tonsillitis who struggles with breathing at night and as a result snores a lot etc. This definitely reduced her snoring and so I think it is a fair assumption that it improved the quality of her sleep. My son has had a lingering cough and I tried the device in his room one night but to be honest the kids rooms are a shape where I couldn’t place the device between the rooms as the effect would have been lost so I chose to give it to my daughter who as I explained has more lingering breathing problems at night (not for long – good bye tonsils!!). For my son I went back to my old reliable Vick warm steam vapouriser which I feel I will still whip out at any sign of the sniffles or cough as i feel it is more of an ‘instant fix’. However from my personal experience with the improvement of my little ladies breathing I would be optimistic that the frequency of respiratory issues would be significantly reduced through the regular use of the Salin Plus Salt Therapy device. I would hope that many coughs and colds would not have a chance to settle on their chests due to the improved respiratory function and thinner mucus. It might seem like a leap of faith though but due to the astounding amount of anecdotal evidence it’s one that I have definitely been happy to make! I don’t stock products I don’t believe in but I will stock the Salin Plus Salt Therapy Device. Be warned though the machine is not cheap!! It retails at €160 and the replacement filters (need to be changed every 4-6 months) cost €50. I think that if it improves absenteeism from creche or school (and thus a parent from work) that it’s probably quite a good investment. Many people report a significant decrease in the number of antibiotics their child needed etc so that too is worth factoring in. For me potentially non-invasive and natural prevention is a clear choice!
Available to Purchase Here!
The Salin Plus Air Purifier is available on OFFER here over on my shop website!
You can Also buy the refills by clicking here!
I hope you found this information helpful and as always don’t hesitate to contact me on the WonderBaba Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wonderbabacare) with any questions or for one to one advice for your little one! You can also consult with me in person at Milltown totalhealth Pharmacy in Dublin 6 or over the phone on 012600262.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8266663?dopt=Abstract
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10439712?dopt=Abstract
https://lungfoundation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Salt-Therapy.pdf
What do we know?
Place your baby on their back when putting them down for sleep. If they roll onto their tummy with physical ability and by choice it’s ok but don’t place them to sleep on their tummy. Their feet should be touching the foot of the cot.
Eradicate all exposure of tobacco smoke to your baby – quit smoking if your can or if not ensure you smoke outside (another room in the house or out the window will not completely get rid of the smoke – you may not be able to smell or see it but it can linger for a couple of hours in a room.) Don’t handle the baby or let another smoker soon after a cigarette. For support to quit smoking check out this great website – 
Whilst it’s important to be aware of the risk factors and reduce them where you can I think as parents we would find it hard to cope if you thought this was a common occurrence which was a big risk to your baby every day. So using the most recent figure I could see of 34 Cot Deaths per year in 2004 and also looking at the stats for 2016 – it would mean that to the 34 babies who died there were 63,863 who did not. We can’t always fear what might happen, if we are taking reasonable precautions to reduce risk factors and act as responsible parents I think we have to just believe that everything will be fine and enjoy our beautiful WonderBabas as they grow and develop into amazingly unique and perfect individuals with more wonder to reveal each day.
I hope you found this information helpful and as always don’t hesitate to contact me on the WonderBaba Facebook page (
Vitamin D also known as The Sunshine Vitamin!
You should choose a product suitable for babies with just Vitamin D3 in it – if you feel your baby needs other multivitamins you should read my full multivitamin guide by clicking here as there are a few vitamins which you can take too much of, vitamin D is one of these, so you have to be careful. Vitamin D products differ in dosages in different formulations so always read the label on the product you buy to make sure you are giving a suitable dose. Abidec Vitamin D3 drops comes in a slightly aniseed flavour which babies don’t seem to mind at all and you just need to give one drop! I found it useful to give it whilst changing nappy as I was more likely to remember when I saw it beside the nappy things and it was easy to drop into their mouths as they lay back. BabyVit D3 pump also contains one daily dose per single pump and some mums prefer using this to drops – a personal choice!
Protecting your very precious cargo is your priority when pregnant, but does this mean you need to reduce or stop exercising like many people think? Absolutely not is the answer! In fact, so long as you are exercising caution and good common sense, as well as your body, you will actually increase your own health and that of your unborn baby too!
We always get advertising material into the Pharmacy from all of the different multivitamin brands making great claims about the benefits of their own products. Even Pharmacists and Pharmacy staff can find it overwhelming trying to decipher what the actual vitamin content is and determine the benefits and downfalls of one product in comparison to another. The vitamin market is a particularly busy one! There are so many different products and all have strengths and weaknesses so I have done my best to select the 14 most popular children’s multivitamins and I have literally laid them side by side so we can explore which product meets your individual child’s needs. 
The’right’ time for potty training is a topic of great debate! In America potty tends to happen before the age of two but in Ireland it’s much more likely to be over two or even approaching three! The right time is when your child is showing signs of readiness and most importantly you have the available necessary time to support your child through this large transition to avoid it becoming a negatively fuelled battle. There are certain pressures from society now which do encourage parents to take the task in hand a little earlier such as requirements by Montessori schools etc which now start earlier for many children with the introduction of a second free Pre ECCE year. This has changed the starting age for Montessori of many children to three rather than four. Many montessoris have a requirement for children to be fully toilet trained before starting which would mean you would need to make a start on it at about two and a half years of age.
There are many signs of readiness, these include: 
I have never read a blog that reflects the cruelty of the impact that this illness can have over a woman whilst she’s ‘glowing’ during her pregnancy. This blog is written by an old friend of mine and is well worth a read! 
I hope you found this information helpful and as always don’t hesitate to contact me on the WonderBaba Facebook page (
The first thing I have to say is that suppositories are not as scary as some people think, they are just cone-shaped boluses of medicine which can be easily given to your child to treat pain of fever when a liquid is not suitable. Suppositories available to treat fever and pain include ones based on paracetamol such as Paralink and Tipol, and ones based on ibuprofen such as nurofen. These are both suitable from three months of age – just make sure to read the packaging to get the correct dosing for your child.
Using suppositories is more invasive than using oral medicine so a correct approach and a respect for your child’s comfort is essential. I will explain in the next section how to use them but now I just want to emphasise that when used properly with a willing child they are so simple, easy and convenient to use. I personally feel that a child who is still in nappies is an ideal candidate for this method of giving medicine – they are used to you cleaning and touching their nappy area and so will not be distressed when you insert the suppository – in fact many children will not even notice!! I also think it is a different situation when a child is out of nappies and unless you have the child’s permission and general understanding of what is going to happen I think the oral route of medicine is best when possible. Another factor to consider is that suppositories have been proven effective for the treatment of pain or fever but they may actually take a little longer to take effect than oral medicine.
Some Useful Hints
Who should not use suppositories?
I hope you found this information helpful and as always don’t hesitate to contact me on the WonderBaba Facebook page (