How to Dilute Essential Oils Used for Children Kids Activities Blog

Are you thinking about using essential oils on your child? Although essential oils can offer a number of benefits for kids, it’s important to keep in mind that using them on children vastly differs from using them on adults. Here are some tips on how to dilute essential oils used for children and essential oil safety. This blog post contains affiliate links.

How to Dilute Essential Oils Used for Children

We love all the benefits and properties of the essential oils in our daily lives, however, we need to understand the proper use of essential oil before we use a new essential oil. Since essential oils, also known as volatile oils, have a high concentration of complex aromatic compounds, diluting them with a carrier oil is the most important safe practice. Some examples of carrier oils are jojoba oil, olive oil, avocado oil, argan oil, and my favorite carrier oil, coconut oil. The undiluted use of essential oils may result in adverse reactions such as skin irritation or allergic reactions. If you have health concerns, it’s best to seek professional medical advice before using them. Undiluted essential oils should never be applied directly for topical use. The essential oil dilution rates depend on the type of oil and solution you need. However, a good rule of thumb for safe use is using only a few drops of essential oil at a time. Safety First It’s important to keep in mind that babies and children under two years old are particularly susceptible to undesirable or even dangerous effects when exposed to essential oils. Some essential oils are dangerous to use, even when diluted, on children. Before you use any essential oil on your child, it’s important to do your research ahead of time. If your child is under two years old, you should always talk to your pediatrician beforehand. It’s also ideal to seek medical approval in older children as well.

Diluting Essential Oils for Kids Several factors will determine the amount of essential oil you will use for your child. For starters, the essential oil itself will need to be taken into consideration. Some essential oils have more harmful side effects than others. This is why it’s important to do your research ahead of time. Find out how much is generally recommended in children. Another factor that will determine how much essential oil you will use in your solutions is your child’s age. Although all children will require more diluted amounts of essential oils than adults, the age of the child will also determine the amount. Always avoid direct contact of undiluted essential oils. The following recommendations are often used as a general rule of thumb for dilution ratios:

For children under six, a .25% dilution is usually advised. To achieve this, you will combine one drop of essential oil to every four tsp of carrier oil.
For children six years and older, a 1% dilution is often recommended. This will mean adding one drop of essential oil to every teaspoon of carrier oil.

Keep in mind that both of these are recommendations for topical solutions, such as creating a massage oil. Kids have sensitive skin so it’s advised that you perform a patch test on an area of their skin to ensure that your child doesn’t have an undesirable skin reaction. In babies and children up to two years of age, you will want to talk to your pediatrician before creating essential oil blends for your child to inhale. Some essential oils should not be inhaled by children or may require additional dilution. Some essential oils are also not recommended for pregnant women. Babies and young children should also not consume essential oils. Some essential oils can cause seizures or other harmful side effects when consumed by children. This is important to keep in mind if you plan to incorporate essential oils in your cooking.

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These are just some things to keep in mind about how to dilute essential oils used for children! Do you have other tips for using essential oils for children?