Baby Massage
Are essential oils safe for children? Yes and no: some essential oils can be used on children, and a few are suitable for babies too, but you’ll need to take certain precautions and only use safe oils in safe amounts.
How Aromatherapy Can Help Children
Children and babies enjoy massage (even if you’re not a trained baby massage therapist) and a drop of Chamomile or Lavender essential oil blended into a base oil can make a soothing baby massage oil. A drop of essential oil, diluted, can also be added to a child’s bath. For older children, essential oils (especially Lavender) can be burned in an aromatherapy burner or vaporizer during colds and flu’s. Patricia Davis in Aromatherapy: an A-Z (Random House UK, 2004) gives excellent tips and safety advice for using essential oils on children and on babies.
The main thing to remember is that the oils must always be diluted, and that you should use a weaker dilution than for adults. Only some of the wide range of oils can be used (especially on young children and babies), and when adding essential oils to a child’s bath or massage oil, less is usually more.
Children & Essential Oils: Safety Tips
- Always dilute essential oils before applying them on children, whether it is in massage or in the bath. A 1% dilution is enough: this means 1 drop of essential oil in 5 ml of base oil such as sweet almond. (For adults, you would dilute 3%, or 3 drops in 5 ml base oil). If you’re using the oil in a bath, you can also dilute it into full fat milk. A single drop of oil is enough for a baby’s bath, and for a toddler, two or three drops for a full-size bath.
- Never, ever, NEVER give essential oils by mouth, and always make sure the oil does gets into a baby’s or child’s mouth during a bath or a massage. Undiluted oils can damage the inside of the mount and if swallowed can be dangerous and damage the stomach’s lining.
- If using essential oils in a child’s bath make sure the child does not touch his or her eyes. Essential oil can damage the cornea of the eye.
- It should be obvious without saying, but don’t try to treat serious illnesses or medical conditions with essential oils.
- Educate yourself about the properties of essential oils and essential oil safety. Never treat children with oils that are toxic or skin irritant; stick to the safest alternatives.
Essential Oils for Children and Babies
Chamomile is a gentle oil and is useful for many childhood problems. Of the several types of Chamomile available, Roman Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is the one that is usually used on children. It can be added to a child’s bath (always diluted, see above) to help sleep, and some mothers have used a drop of Chamomile oil (blended into base oil) in baby massage to ease the symptoms of colic and other childhood problems. Chamomile is also an ingredient in many natural creams for nappy rash. Remember that in these creams the oil is diluted to a very small amount.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is another oil that can be used in children’s bath in the evening to help sleep. During coughs, colds and the flu season, it can be helpful to add a drop or two of Lavender in a vaporizer in the room.
Mandarin (Citrus reticulata, the same oil is often called Tangerine in the US and Mandarin in Europe) is one of the safest oils around. It is gently relaxing and the pleasant citrus scent makes it another nice bath oil. Many citrus oils can irritate the skin but a drop of Mandarin, diluted in a base oil or full fat milk, can be a lovely addition to a toddler’s bath. Patricia Davis also writes that in France, Mandarin has been traditionally used, diluted in almond oil, to massage a child’s tummy to help with stomach upsets, hiccoughs and burping.
Kopfjäger (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
