Essential oils are a great way to help keep kids healthy. This list of essential oils for kids is a great place to start.
With cold and flu season in full swing, consistent use of essential oils is so important to keep the whole family healthy. Especially the little ones. Their immune systems aren’t as strong as ours and they get exposed to more germs than most adults. Especially if your kids are in school; kids are germ filled little buggers and when parents send sick kids to school your child is being exposed to any number of contagious illnesses.
Not only are essential oils great for boosting immunity, but they can help keep our little ones healthy in many different areas.
Some of my favorite essential oils for kids are:
Gentle Baby: This gentle oil is a blend of Geranium, Rosewood, Coriander, Palmarosa, Lavender, Ylang ylang, Roman chamomile, lemon, Jasmine and Rose oils. This is my favorite oil for helping to calm little ones down when they are emotionally overstimulated. It also helps keep mom’s emotions calm during pregnancy and after baby comes, and is great for soothing delicate baby skin.
Vetiver: Vetiver is great for sleep and focus! It is one of the oils in our kids’ focus roll on we make them. It’s also a favorite to put in a sleepy time roll on to apply on the bottoms of the feet before bed.
Peace & Calming: A blend which includes Tangerine, Orange, Ylang ylang, Patchouli and Blue tansy. This oil is great for emotional support and creates a relaxing environment for kids and adults. I apply it topically to Little A and diffuse it bedroom and throughout the house when we’ve had busy days and need to unwind.
Thieves: A blend of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon bark, Eucalyptus and Rosemary, this is probably my favorite oil out there. Thieves is one of the most amazing immunity boosting essential oils available. I’ve shared my love of this oil before because it has helped keep our family healthy during the winter months. For kids, I put 6 drops of Thieves in a roller bottle and fill the rest with Grapeseed oil, then apply it to the bottoms of their feet and spine daily. It has helped keep Little A’s immune system happy when kids have brought gunk and ickies to school.
Frankincense: Frankincense is a calming oil that is great for skin support as well as supports healthy sleep. I add it to moisturizer for my kids dry skin, and diffuse it in my son’s room at bedtime. It has a mild aroma. It’s also great for use during meditation, so it would be a great oil to use if you do prayer time with your kids.
Lavender: One of the most gentle single essential oils out there, lavender can help kids unwind at the end of the day, support healthy skin (I use it on Little A to smooth bumps on her arms) and help them fall asleep at bed time. I diffuse it in her room at bed time and combine it with distilled water for a room spray. It’s just a nice relaxing oil that’s also great for use in the bath (combined with bath salt) to help kids unwind and relieve stress. Other uses include helping cuts and scrapes, bruises, as well as allergy relief when combined with other oils.
Valor: One of my favorite blends, Valor is great for creating a positive start to your child’s day by supporting their emotional health (helps balance emotions). It’s also great for helping kids focus, reducing stress and creating courage in your kiddo. If your little one is prone to nightmares, Valor can provide the emotional support they need to overcome them. You can use it in massage on your little one after strenuous activity like sports (combine with massage oil and massage onto back).
Lemon: Lemon essential oil is great for a number of things. It helps with tummy trouble in little ones, congestion and provides respiratory support. It’s also a great fever reducer and helps with focus and concentration. Lemon oil can be applied topically when diluted with a carrier oil, or diffused. *Citrus oils make skin photosensitive. If going out in the sun within 24 hours of application apply sunscreen.
Melrose: Melrose is a very gentle oil that can help with an array of skin issues. I apply it topically, combined with lavender, on my daughter’s arms and legs to support healthy skin. It can also promote healthy ear canals. It can be used on sensitive bum skin of babies (make it into a cream using Rose ointment) as well. Probably my favorite oil to support healthy skin.
How to use essential oils on kids
When using essential oils topically on children, you should always start with a high dilution ratio to test how they respond to the oil. I use coconut or grapeseed oil, but you can also use Jojoba or even olive oil. When in doubt I use a 1:30 ratio; 1 drop essential oil to 30 drops carrier oil. You can reduce the amount of carrier oil you use as your child grows, or as you see they don’t have any sensitivities to the essential oil. Plus diluting the oil a bit helps spread it around, making a little go a long way.
Our whole family loves using essential oils, including both our kids. They have their own immunity roll on, lavender roll on, one for helping with focus and many more. They use them daily and now I don’t even have to remind them to use them when needed! I love that I’m starting our kids on a healthy path from a young age. I’m sure soon enough they will be educating other kids on how to use essential oils as well.
If you use essential oils, what are your favorite essential oils to use on your kiddos? If not, did you know you could use essential oils on kids?
If you like this post you’ll enjoy
Our Family’s Favorite Uses for Essential Oils
Essential Oil Immune Boosting Roll On
*I am not a medical professional and cannot treat, diagnose or cure. This information is for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Always consult a doctor and do your research first.
This is such a helpful and informative post. Peace & Calming sounds so nice. I love that Little A has her own roll on oils!
I use lavender for myself when I want to really calm the room down and have a restful night!!! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
Thanks for sharing. I have been researching some oils for Kate and this helps! I love learning from others.
I use lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus around here. I diffuse the lavender at night for my daughter every day. I really want to do more research on how all of the oils can help kids and adults too! Added bonus is how great they all smell 🙂
This is a great resource for mommas! I wonder if my sisters use oils… I should ask. She’s totally into this kind of thing. She’s got a bunch of “chillens” so she’d definitely benefit from the information.
Paige recently got me into some starter oils. So far, so good.
I’ve been trying to order peace and calming and gentle baby for months now – is it back in stock?! Please say yes. Otto loves to be awake all night and I’m half insane already. I’m diffusing a mix of lavender and chamomile in the room but that’s not working enough for us! My ER order is due next week so please please tell me those oils are back in stock!
I’m a big fan of lavender. I rub on my feet every evening before bed. You helped me in uses for my other oils here. Thanks for hosting another year. Hope you are feeling good.
Lavender is such a great one for relaxation in adults and kids. Glad you like it too Michelle!
Great resource! I have always been intrigued by Thieves. I have wanted to get more into essential oils, but never know where to start with what is safe for kiddos.
I’m pinning for future reference. And stumbling. 🙂
It is a lot to learn at first, but once you start using them often it becomes second nature. If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out Emily!
I’ve just started using essential oils and I absolutely love them. I’m really surprised at how well they work for my mood issues :). Thanks for this information for use with kids. I’m starting them with my son very slowly. He’s really sensitive to new things.
Great suggestions, Tiffany! I want to smell Gentle Baby – I’ve heard it has a nice smell. I love that Little A has her own little rollons. You know Peace & Calming and Valor are two of my favorite! I look forward to using my oils when we get kiddos 🙂
Some of these I’m not familiar with but I use thieves and lavendar often with my kids!
Peace and calming sounds like something I need… especially lately.
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo