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Essential oils are a fairly safe means of managing the entire family’s health & wellness in a natural way. But too often I see incorrect usage being promoted by blogs and direct sales reps. I am not a Certified Aromatherapist (though I would love to have the opportunity to study to become one!) but have done a lot of research on safely using essential oils on babies. I also continue to study safe essential oil usage and am always looking to learn new things.
For infants there are only a few essential oils that are safe for use. You may have heard this person or that person used “X” essential oil and it helped with no problems. But it is important to remember that essential oils are natural compounds with powerful medicinal uses. They need to be respected and used safely.
Promoting safe essential oil usage is one of my top priorities! Especially regarding babies & children.
Essential Oils For Teething Babies
If your baby is popping their first teeth, you can use essential oils to help ease the pain. My 7 month old is cutting her teeth now and we use Lavender and Roman Chamomile to help her relax.
I mix 2 Tablespoons of Fractionated Coconut Oil with one drop each of Lavender and Roman Chamomile. When I am ready to use it I wash my hands and dip my finger tip in the bottle then gently massage the area ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CHEEK. Do not place the essential oils directly on the gum or on the lips. After applying the oil you’ll want to make sure that baby is not touching their face and getting any oil on their hands. You may also try diffusing either one of these oils as they both have a naturally calming effect when inhaled. Not to mention how great the room will smell!
Choose Your Oils Wisely
There are “natural” teething products sold that contains clove, peppermint and chamomile and are instructed to be placed directly on the gums. I admittedly purchased and used this with my daughter on her gums. Thankfully we had no adverse reactions but since then I have learned that 2 of those essential oils SHOULD NOT be used on infants. There is no such warning on the bottle of which ages are appropriate for use. The other problem with this is that although there is a nice mixture of carrier oil on the ingredients I have no idea how strong the dilution is. Since safety is my first priority with using ANY products on my baby I would much rather make my own blend and I recommend you make your own as well.
Important Safety Information Regarding Essential Oils For Teething Babies:
- Clove Essential Oil is for ages 2 and older
- Peppermint Essential Oil is for ages 6 and older
- At no point should essential oils be used “neat” (undiluted) on children of any age
- At no point should essential oils be ingested by children of any age
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This post is purely educational in nature and all health and treatment questions should be directed towards a healthcare professional.
Check out my other essential oil posts!
I’ve read something about a certain essential oil not being recommended for baby boys? I want to say it was lavender, but I’m not sure. Do you know anything about it this?
Hi Tara!
Great question, and one that I researched not only in the case of boys but because I had read somewhere the lavender was high in estrogen and could cause hormone imbalance in girls too. However, what I found from a very reputable essential oil researcher was that these reports were more likely linked to the endocrine disrupting chemicals like pthalates and parabens that are in many commercially produced body products. You can read his report here: http://roberttisserand.com/articles/TeaTreeAndLavenderNotLinkedToGynecomastia.pdf
Also a post from his Facebook page about how Lavender is not estrogenic since it was the concern of many: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=754773354553868&set=a.230965720267970.62331.166263113404898&type=1&fref=nf
I feel comfortable using both tea tree oil and lavender in moderation on my baby.
I’ve read that lavender is not safe for children but particularly boys as it has been shown to cause a rise in estrogen levels in lab rat studies, and that it cause breast enlargement in boys under 12. Is there an alternative to it or can the chamomile be used without lavender?
Hi Amy,
I refer to Robert Tisserand’s research for my essential oil safety and education. He has answered this specific question here: http://roberttisserand.com/2013/02/lavender-oil-is-not-estrogenic/ I feel very confident in his recommendations as he is one of the foremost researchers in essential oil science. Hope that helps!
Essential oils are potent medicine and I’m grateful you treat them as such. There can be negative consequences to using them incorrectly and posts like these are very important! =)
Hi There, I’m using a blend that I purchased from a local company that is for teething, it does contain clove oil and I had asked if I could use it on my then 6 month old and they said that was fine? It just gets applied to her jawline and earlobe as per their instructions…
Hi Kristi,
According to a Certified Aromatherapist (which I am not but consulted about this issue) and the National Institutes of Health clove oil is not to be ingested by children. The Aromatherapist said it should not be used topically anywhere on children under two because it is a “hot” oil and can be extremely irritating. If using on children aged 2 and older it needs to be heavily diluted.
I’m not a medical professional or a certified aromatherapist so I can’t recommend that you do or don’t use that product but I have found lavender and roman chamomile, which are both infant friendly, to be effective along with using an amber teething necklace.
hi, I was wondering if there is a specific time period you need to wait between oil applications for teething babies? I have kinda looked around and can’t seem to find any answers!
Hi Cassandra! I’m not a certified aromatherapist but I think what is most important is properly diluting your oils, especially on babies. If you google “essential oil dilution” you will find some great info on what is safe for babies. Since you would only be using the oils during a short time it would probably be ok to use them as needed. I personally would apply about every 2-4 hours depending on my daughter’s discomfort. I used a heavily diluted blend of lavender and roman chamomile mixed with fractionated coconut oil. I especially found using roman chamomile in my diffuser to be good at calming her. When in doubt consult an aromatherapist. Hope that helps!
Thank you for this blog. I’ve read many website and blogs and quite really i was confused by the end. This was clear and made perfect sense. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing good and well researched information. Juat to clarify, the oil goes on the side of the cheeks (not above lip) even if my baby’s front teeth are the ones coming out?
Hi Silvia,
I think you could safely put it above the lip so long as you made sure that baby wasn’t rubbing that area and then touching their eyes. The smell alone should help with calming so I’m more inclined to try diffusing first before topical on babies.I’m not an aromatherapist just a mom who wants to be able to use natural methods in a safe way, so I can only share what I might try 🙂
I do have a question about oils. Obviously you wont see immediate results with any of the oils. Is this because your body needs to be familiar with the oils by ingesting and diffusing them?
Some people do see immediate results with oils. I think with any form of natural medicine there is variation in how well it works for person to person and from oil to oil. Using more does not mean they will work better and could have the opposite affect by causing a sensitivity. I also would caution against ingestion unless under the guidance of a trained aromatherapist as oils are very potent and not all are safe.
My son has little attacks of obvious pain from teething…but during so he seems to put his hands in his mouth a lot…so keeping the oils from getting in his mouth might be difficult…would applying to the sole of his feet be effective?
I disagree. Look at: http://thelittleherbal.com/2014/02/05/bathe-your-kids-in-herbal-tea/
Best regards, Mercy
Herbs & Essential Oils are very different things. The article you linked to does not mention teething at all so I’m not sure what you disagree with?