YES! Essential Oils are Safe for Babies!
Keep on reading or watch the video above to learn how to confidently use them with your babes and ditch all the other junk that's on the market.
There has been so much fear mongering around using essential oils on babies, it simply breaks my heart because it's just ignorance. Using oils with my babies has given me such a sense of empowerment and I know it can for you too.
Let's start off at the source...
Where you get your oils matters. Did you know that there is more lavender oil produced each year than lavender plants on the planet available to make that oil? Shocking right?
How can this be possible. Well, many companies will cut their oils with fillers. Here's the thing, there are no regulations when it comes to essential oils (which don't get me wrong I'm not really opposed of because I think most things are over regulated) but when you have companies that don't truly care about your health this becomes a problem because they don't have to disclose what those fillers are.
This is why my loyalty lies with a brand that hold the same values as I do. One that care about the health of my family as much as I do, that cares for Mother Earth with mindful farming practices like using living soil, and loves to empower people with a different, more empowered way of living.
The only essential oils I use are Young Living (YL). This is of their Seed to Seal promise. All of the plants their essential oils are derived from either come from YL's owned farms or fully vetted partner farms with an open door policy so you can even visit and see the ins and outs of their farming practices first hand. I've been to 3 of the 20+ farms myself and they are truly magical!
YL also distills all of their oils in house and does vigorous testing to make sure that each oil batch will offer the most healing and support for you body.
Because Young Living offers such care and concern for the health and well-being of your family these are truly the safest oils on the market for you sweet little babe!
How to Use Essential Oils with Babies
Low and Slow, this is key!
Now you're probably asking, ok what does that mean?
Let's go over the 3 ways we use oils and what Low and Slow would look like for each.
1. Topically
Simple, always dilute your oils and use much less than you would for an adult or older child.
For example if you want to use some lavender on your babies back or feet for a calming baby massage just add a 1 drop of Lavender to a tsp spoon amount of carrier oil. And simply watch their response to that amount of oil then you can go from there.
The biggest thing to remember is that their noses are smaller and work much better than ours so a small amount of oil on that little body will be more than enough.
2. Aromatically
Allow them to enjoy the aroma of an oil by applying a drop to yourself so you turn into a human diffuser. This also works great if a toddler is having a melt down and doesn't want to apply oils to help emotionally regulate.
In a diffuser... start off with 2-3 drops and see how it goes. If baby seems fine you can add a couple more next time and find your family's sweet spot.
3. Internally
With a babe I would't be giving oils internally unless under very specific circumstances. For an older child or adult Young Living's oils are more an safe to ingest but for a tiny baby that may pack a little too much of a punch. Now if they do accidentally inject a drop or two I wouldn't stress just give them some mama milk or a bottle and they'll be just fine, they just may cry because it tastes awful!
What is a Carrier Oil?
Any fatty oil, such as:
- Coconut
- Olive
- Rosehip
- Grapeseed
- the list goes on.
When we use a carrier oil with an essential oil it helps to slow the rate the essential oil penetrates the body, which is perfect for your brand new baby!
What oils to be cautious of...
First any super "spicy" or "hot" oils. For example: Cinnamon, oregano, peppermint, etc...
Now I would not say stay completely away from them as sometimes those spicy oils are exactly what you need to kick a sniffle or something like that to the curb. If you need to put a more spicy oil on your baby like Thieves because you're trying to help their body to work through something, simply use more carrier oil if you're applying topically or put a couple less drops in the diffuser than you normally put. Again super simple!
My Favorite Oils for Babes
Young Living has an amazing line of oils that are prediluted and ready to rock and roll for your baby and they all come in the "Little Oilers Bundle" with the CUTEST Owl Diffuser!
Here are my go-to oils that are in this bundle...
TummyGize - unsettled, unhappy baby and you know it's because their tummy is bothering them, this will be your bestie! It's pre-dulited with coconut oil, but if your babe is less than 3 months I'd dilute a little more. Simply rub clockwise around the tummy!
SnifflEase - Sniffles are such a bummer, your little can't breath, snots going everywhere, its just hard on everyone. Help your little get those airways opened up when their sniffling away. This is a great one to apply to the chest or put in the diffuser!
Owie - The goal is too not have too many "owies" at the start of life, but things happen and older siblings happen. If your little babe gets a small scratch or bump just apply a small amount to the affected area. This is my go-to to help the skin heal up really quick and it keeps all those germs at bay. If the owie is on the hand (you know when you cut those teeny tiny nails a little too close 😬) definitely put one of the hand mitts on because this one will not taste the best when they go to inevitably chew on their hands.
SleepyIze - at this stage of life we could all use more sleep. The soft and sweet aroma will help everyone calm and settle into at least a few hours of sleep! My favorite is to apply a drop on the bottoms of each foot.
GeneYus - We all want our kiddos to be healthy but health is not just in the body but in the mind as well. Set your little up for good cognition with GeneYus. This oil is geared more towards the kiddos in school to help them focus, but if your baby is on the brink of hitting a milestone this can help them reach it with a little more ease and flow! You can apply a little behind each ear!
If you're not oiling yet, have littles at home, and want a simple place to start this bundle is perfect for you.
Snag it here: Little Oilers Bundle
Become a customer of mine and I'll help guide you into the wonderful world of Young Living, essential oils, and overall natural health. There is some much confidence and empowerment to have when we learn how we can take care of our bodies naturally.
Can't wait to welcome you to the Oily Love Team!
Have more questions? Drop them in the comments 👇
The other day I had to tackle cleaning up our laundry room. It’s been on my do-to list for WEEKS but it finally got moved up to top priority when my son and I were in there putting a load in that morning and ants started crawling all over our legs. (insert eww emoji!)
While I was spending my time cleaning out our laundry room and finding of the source of attraction for the ants (turns out it was the old half eaten granola bars in our beach bag, oops) I got to thinking I how many laundry products are on the market that mess with our bodies.
Watch the video below to learn more about how to ditch and switch your laundry products or keep reading!
Here’s the thing, unless you live in a nudist colony, laundry is a part of life. And even if you do live in a nudist colony you probably still have sheets and towels to wash! So, here's the thing, there’s a lot of junk in commercial laundry products. A lot of the “big name” brands have stuff that you will be shocked to learn is in their products. And this is why I always felt so important to buy from a company that you trust, a company with integrity, a company with your health and wellness in mind.
Here’s a BIG tell if what you’re using in your laundry is suspect to have a bunch of hidden junk in it… can you smell your laundry going outside? Does your laundry hold on to that “fresh laundry” smell for days after it has been washed… taking words from Jeff Foxworthy… then you might have toxic chemical laden laundry products.
Let's talk a little government stuff. Many of us would think that our government would not allow these companies to put harmful chemicals in our consumer products, but the fact is the U.S. government has no regulations over what what the companies are able to use in their products they also take it a step further, they don't even require them to disclose all of the ingredients in their products. Like WHAT???
Full discloser and transparency is important to me! That is why I only buy all of my laundry and cleaning products from one company because they tell me EVERYTHING that in their products. If you are scared to tell me everything that’s in your product, that’s a big red flag, in my mind.
Now you may be thinking, well the washer rinses all of those chemicals out anyhow right, so why be concerned? Well two reasons… 1. All of those yucky chemicals are being washed right into our eco system creating harm for ourselves and the planet and 2. The commercial laundry detergents have chemical binders that keep them locked onto the fabric of whatever it is you’re washing.
Alright, so let's talk about some of the chemicals.
- 1-4 Dioxin
dioxin is a known carcinogen. Remember I wrote earlier that the government doesn't require all these companies to disclose all the ingredients in their products. You probably won't see this on the ingredient list, but it's there. There was a study conducted by a woman at the University of Washington. If you Google, University of Washington toxics toxic laundry detergent, study, it'll pop right up. So go do your own research, don't just trust me. Do your own research. 1-4 dioxin is a known carcinogen. That means, it can lead to cancer. Yep, I said it… the “c word”
- Fragrance
Remember I wrote about how a lot of commercial laundry products have very strong smells? Those are all fragrances. Here’s the thnk about fragrance…. That is listed as a ‘trade secrete” so companies do not have to disclose what makes the fragrance. So basically, what they can do is shove all of the chemicals that don't want us to know about under this fragrance umbrella. Lesson here: if you pick up a product and it has “fragrance” listed under the ingredients, Please put it down, walk away, I don't care how good you think it smells. Not worth, your health is your health is worth caring about what's in your products and you know what it's really not hard, because you know, I have the answers for you. You know I have great suggestions and you know I'm going to save you tons of money, because that's what I love to do.
- Chlorine
Chlorine is found in many laundry products especially bleaching products. We want to stay far away from chlorine because it messes with our hormone function. If you want to get science-y with me, chlorine attaches to the binding sites on our thyroid and pituitary glands. So many of us suffer from hormone issues and making sure to cut out the chlorine is important!
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and need a little help with what chemicals to stay away from download my “Ditch the Chemical Dirty Dozen Guide” for a reference to keep on hand while shopping.
Please feel free to share this blog post because this is “need to know” information for all of us! I’m here to help educate; when we know more, we do better!
Also if you watched the video above I spoke about how I use Young Living’s Thieves products for all of my laundry and cleaning. Young Living is a company of integrity, transparency, and they care for my family’s health and wellbeing as much as I do. If you’d like more information and my guide to the Thieves line send me an email Mallory@MalloryRiess.com
When you join my team you get tons more oily education, resources, and a community of people on the same journey as you!
