Aromatherapy for Children
The aromatherapy recipes and guidelines that you see on AromaWeb and elsewhere are intended for use on average-sized, healthy adults who have consulted with a medical professional.
Most over-the-counter and prescription drugs list different dosages based on the size of a child or warn not to use the medicine with children. Essential oils used with children must be respected in the same way. Recipes for use on children should have significantly lower dosages of oils than if the same recipe is used by an adult. Additionally, many oils should not be used at all with children. When in doubt, don¡¯t use it on your child.
Oils that are generally reported to be safe to use on children, in extremely low dilutions, for external uses and for short periods of time include Lavender, Neroli, Roman Chamomile, Rose (Rose Otto ¨C steam distilled rose oil), Sweet Orange, and Tea Tree.
I would love to include many recipes and suggestions for aromatherapy use with children, but children range greatly in their weight, health and needs. As such, it is quite unsafe to supply such ¡°blanket¡± recommendations or recipes, and it goes way beyond my comfort level to do so.
