another vote for the oil filled heaters. We have 2 delonghi brand ones, purchased for $39.99 at lowes (that was the regular price) last year and a year prior. They are great, and we use them around little ones no problem. They get hot to the touch, but not like burning hot. I really prefer them over the fan type ceramic heaters because those are so drying. Then you need to run both the heater and the humidifier. No digital controls on our model, but we have it plugged into an outlet timer to help regulate, and enough manual options to set it to an appropriate heating level. We had popping noises from oil settling initially (and again after a kid knocked one over), but no funny smells.
The little ceramic ones are good for heating my cube at work, and the bathroom. That's about it.