If you search online for what essential oils are safe to use on children, you will find a lot of contradictory information. The truth is that not enough research has been done with essential oils to determine a single universally agreed-on list for children. While some studies have been done, and you can find different iterations of such a list online, we will provide something slightly different.
Your children’s safety is a top priority and we want to make sure you are making the best choices for your children. Please do not be allured by stories of essential oils’ effectiveness on children. No two children are the same and the risk for negative reactions could do significant harm to your children.
See a Doctor
Here is our first piece of advice. Do not use essential oils on your kids until you ask a doctor. Do not use essential oils on your kids until you ask a doctor. Do not use essential oils on your kids until you ask a doctor.
We cannot emphasize this point enough. Your child’s safety is much too important to depend on the trust of any blog on the internet. Essential oils are not covered by the FDA unless they are part of another drug, and each one has different ingredients, each one can impact your child’s health in different ways.
Like allergens, essential oils can have unusual and specific effects you don’t see on other children. Just because your child may not have a peanut allergy doesn’t mean you can safely give peanuts to every child. The same kind of caution on exposing your kids to potential allergens should be used for exposure to essential oils.
And while essential oils are natural, we have one important point to remind you.
Just Because it’s Natural Doesn’t Mean It’s Always Safe
Poison Ivy is completely natural, but no one will tell you that’s a good enough reason to rub it on your skin! In fact there are a lot of harmful substances that are entirely natural. And while essential oils are safe for adults, children’s skin are not as developed, and their immune systems are not nearly strong enough. A child’s growth requires critical supervision and care in what you expose them to.
Diffuse Only
Some argue that diluting the oil to .25% and rubbing it on your child’s skin is safe, but unless you have an okay from your doctor (which you should have no matter what), we recommend staying safe and using only a diffuser. Risks of a reaction are greatly increased when the oil itself directly interacts with the skin, so we suggest diluting the oil and then diffusing it.
Store Carefully
Store your essential oil like it’s your medicine. Keep it locked away completely out of reach of your children. You want to avoid your child ingesting the essential oil at all costs. This means keeping it in a container, cleaning up any and all spills, and locking it away. If your child ingests the oil, call 911.
As your child gets older, and their skin and immune systems mature, more and more essential oils will be considered safe for them to use and can be wonderful with the proper medical supervision.
