According to those who use them, essential oils can do a LOT to improve overall health. From getting rid of headaches to speeding healing to promoting relaxation, essential oils provide a ton of health benefits.
But what about sleep? Specifically, what about baby sleep? There are a number of oils that allegedly calm, relax, and promote better sleep…but can you use these oils to help your baby sleep? And, most importantly, even if you DO use them, will they actually work?
Amy Pond, one of our dedicated readers, offered to weigh in on this for us. As a big fan of essential oils herself, Amy is a mom who uses them with her whole family. Amy was happy to share her own tips and suggestions for how to use essential oils to help lengthen and improve your baby’s sleep.
Read on for details!
Can Essential Oils REALLY Help Your Baby Sleep?
In a word – probably! While there’s no specific evidence that essential oils are directly responsible for improving sleep, there are studies indicating that lavender can help. Lavender seems to relax and soothe babies, and lead to better, deeper, longer sleep. That’s not surprising, since lavender is the most well known oil for sleep problems. It is incredibly calming and has great sedative properties.
Roman chamomile is another great oil known for its calming, soothing, and relaxing properties. It has a light, floral scent and is wonderful for creating a peaceful environment.
Choosing and Using Essential Oils With Your Baby
First off, it is very important to make sure that your aromatherapy essential oils are pure therapeutic grade. Some store bought essential oils can have unwanted ingredients like fillers, pesticides, chemicals, fragrance and other synthetic additives. These fillers don’t have the same healing benefits as pure oil. It’s also important to remember that less is more! Often, 1 or 2 drops is all you need.
Remember to always, always use a carrier oil when using essential oils on babies and children. Carrier oils need to be used for a few reasons. They help dilute the very concentrated essential oils. They help aid in distributing the oils evenly. And, they prevent the essential oils from evaporating too quickly.
Good carrier oils include olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, and jojoba oil. Dilution ratios are approximately 1-2 drops per 2 tablespoons of carrier oil for a baby, and 1-2 drops per 1/2-1 teaspoon for a toddler or preschooler.
Now, when it comes to choosing oils, it’s important to note that how oils affect the nervous system will vary from person to person – so you may need to try other oils around bedtime to help your baby relax. Oils that work for your friends’ children may not work for yours. In fact, certain oils can actually have opposite effects on different people. For instance, wild orange is generally used as an energizing, pick-me-up oil for adults, but it can have the opposite effect on children, and be wonderfully calming before bed.
7 Ways Essential Oils Can Help Your Baby Sleep
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Try a bedtime massage
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Diffuse the oils in your baby’s bedroom at bedtime
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Use oils at bathtime
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Use essential oils to alleviate teething pain
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Use essential oils to lessen discomfort from earaches
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Try essential oils to help with colic / tummy pain
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Essential oils can help alleviate coughing
Just before bed, and maybe right after bath, give your baby a nice massage with oil. Mix 1- 2 drops of lavender & roman chamomile with 2 tablespoons of carrier oil and rub all along the arms, legs, back, tummy, feet, and ears. The massage itself is relaxing, and the fragrance of the oils will set the tone for a calm and peaceful night.
Just breathing and smelling the oils can work wonders for all of us – parents and children alike! You can put a drop of lavender on your child’s mattress, pillow, or lovey. Diffusing essential oils can actually help clean and purify the air in your child’s room. It can also be used to help with respiratory problems. Just a side note – I suggest using a cold air ultrasonic diffuser. Heating the oils can lessen their beneficial properties.
Bathtime can become a relaxing time! Put a few drops of lavender or roman chamomile in the bathwater. A liquid soap or Epsom salt will help it disperse throughout the water.
Stick with me here – teething does impact sleep, since it’s one of the many reasons why sleep can derail! If your baby is struggling with teething pain, try 1 drop of clove oil diluted in one tablespoon of carrier oil – then, dip your finger in mixture and place directly on gums. You can rub diluted lavender oil along the jawline as well to help with teething pain. White fir and roman chamomile oil can also help alleviate teething pain, when applied directly to the gums.
If ear pain is keeping your baby up, try lavender oil to help with the pain. Rub diluted oil in front of and behind the outside of the ear. Melaleuca (tea tree) and basil oil are also great and can help with infection – put a drop of each oil on a cotton ball and place inside the ear and/ or rub all around the ear. You can reapply as needed for pain. (Quick disclaimer regarding earaches – if your baby’s ears hurt, it’s best to see a healthcare provider for further evaluation. While essential oils can help alleviate pain, most healthcare providers will want to evaluate and treat an infection themselves.)
Stomach discomfort is obviously a big problem when you’re trying to get your little one to sleep! Fortunately, essential oils can help. Ginger, fennel, lavender, wild orange, marjoram, or roman chamomile are all great oils for easing stomach trouble gently and naturally. Dilute a couple of drops with a tablespoon of carrier oil, and rub clock wise on tummy a few times. (Again – if you believe your child’s tummy trouble may be due to a more serious health problem, see a healthcare provider.)
Blend peppermint, eucalyptus, or melalueca with a carrier oil, rub on the bottoms of your child’s feet, and then put socks on your child. Finally, rub the diluted oil on your child’s chest. This can work wonders at reducing and eliminating a persistent cough (although once again, if you suspect your child is ill, you’ll want to see a healthcare provider for evaluation – the oils are meant to alleviate the symptoms of illness, not to treat the illness itself). You can also use the diluted oil in a diffuser, so that your child gets the benefit of breathing in the aroma.
Essential Oils: Baby Sleep In A Bottle?
Now, all this said – essential oils won’t make your baby sleep, if your baby has sleep problems and sleep associations. Just like magnesium and iron supplements, and melatonin supplements, won’t solve your baby sleep problems, essential oils won’t make your child sleep. Rather, think of essential oils like white noise – it can help promote better sleep, but it won’t fix your child’s sleep issues.
Don’t despair, though – you CAN solve your child’s sleep issues, through the process of sleep coaching, or sleep training. When you sleep train, you gently wean your child away from any sleep associations she may have, and gradually teach her to fall asleep independently, without help from you. THIS is the key to eventually sleeping through the night; when your child can fall asleep independently at bedtime, she will eventually be able to fall back to sleep at night, when she wakes between sleep cycles, without help from you.
Once your child is able to sleep independently, you can use tools like white noise, blackout shades, and essential oils to help encourage better, deeper sleep. Those tools are like the icing on the sleep cake, so to speak. 😉
Sleep Training Help That Works!
Now, sleep training can be tough for some families. But again – don’t despair! If that process is proving daunting or difficult for you, remember – we can help! Our team of expert consultants is ready to offer you compassionate, caring support that is 100% personalized to your unique situation. We will craft a Personalized Sleep Plan® specifically for your family, that walks you through every step of sleep training in a way that matches your goal and parenting style.
Browse our list of consultation package options here.
Want more information about how personalized help works? Check out our FAQ page here, and get answers.
Your turn! Have you tried essential oils as part of your child’s bedtime routine? Have they worked for you? Chime in with your comments!
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For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3 Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night.
If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
For those persistent toddler sleep struggles, check out The 5 Step System to Help Your Toddler Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your toddler sleep through the night and enjoy a better daytime schedule.
Amy Pond is an entrepreneur and essential mama of 4 children. She has a passion for health and natural wellness, and loves to educate and empower parents with natural solutions for themselves and their families. Amy also enjoys spending time with friends and family, travel, reading, fitness and a new love of hot yoga. Read more about Amy, and about her passion for wellness, at https://reachingforbalance.wordpress.com.
I found this worked wonders – Dream Little One Sleep Oil
100% natural pure essential oils and smells divine helps me nod off too!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Little-One-Sleep-Oil/dp/B07M5PMNB7/
I have a 19th month child and he does not sleep through the night sleeps for an hour and then wakes and during the day he does not sleep well and I was just wandering is there oils to help him I have tried everything but to no avail please help
Hi @Bianca Sofia, thanks for writing to us. I am so sorry to hear your son does not sleep well, but am happy to help. While essential oils can be a great tool, they may not help your son’s sleep if there are other sleep issues going on that need to be resolved. You may want to check out our free guide with tips to help your baby sleep through the night so you can see if there are any tweaks to your schedule and routine that need to be made: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-through-night-free-ebook/
You may also find working one-on-one with a sleep consultant is extremely beneficial! We have an amazing team that can walk you through this and talk a full look at your son’s sleep history and create a plan that works with your family and you feel confident about implementing. To view the different options to work with a consultant you can read more here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/ or feel free to contact us directly at [email protected] and we can help recommend the best package for your situation. Hang in there!
I knew lavender essential oil was good for sleep, I used it myself to get some better rest. Although this like it is amazing advice for anyone with an infant! I especially like the bath idea, I might just try that for myself too!
@Carrie – Thank you so much for stopping by our sleepy little village and for your comment. Please keep reading and let us know how it works for you! 🙂
I’m pretty sure eucalyptus and peppermint are not safe for babies:children. (Think Vick’s vapor rub issue). It causes them great harm. I’d look that up before using g those oils on my child.
Hi. I am new to oils but I wanted to try some to help my 11 month old baby sleep with her bad cold.
I wanted to try lavender oil and eucalyptus oil together (I was told I can put the oils onto a used Calpol plug in pad to get it in the air to help her breathe). Do i need to use a carrier oil for that or can I just use the oils themselves if it is not touching her skin?
Thanks
@Laura – Thank you for reading our post! In my personal experience with oils, you would want to use a carrier oil if applying directly to the skin or if you’re using it to spread in the air like with an air diffuser to help preserve and conserve the oils. If you’re dripping a drop or two onto a pad for plugging in, then you would likely not need a carrier oil for this. Again, this is from my personal experience with using pure essential oils with my own children so you may want to run that by your daughter’s healthcare provider as well for their suggestions. I hope this is helpful, Laura, and I thank you for visiting our sleepy little village. Please come back soon!
Did you dilute the oils? If so, what was your ratio?
@ Sylvia – Yes, I believe you dilute one or two drops (depending on child’s age) in 1-2 Tablespoons of carrier oil. You can always try a greater dilution ration (maybe 1 drop to 2 Tbs oil) and then tweak it depending on how your child responds).
Thanks for your question, and best of luck to you and to your family!
I absolutely believe that essential oils work. I made a sleep salve for my son and it really helped him to relax and get to sleep faster. I just rubbed some on his feet. It worked so well I gave some to my friend who has a very difficult time sleeping and she was able to stop taking sleep meds because of it. The power of nature is an amazing thing.
@ Suzanne – awesome, thanks so much for telling us about your experience!
How did you make your sleep salve?