Wellness: Everyday Aromatherapy for Kids, by Victoria Anisman-Reiner

Aromatherapy is more than just soothing scents. It’s an ancient medical tradition with real modern applications. Essential oils can be used to soothe headaches and stomachaches, relieve pain, lessen stress, and combat illness—all without the kind of side effects we’ve come to expect from pharmaceutical drugs.

Essential oils are one of the earliest forms of health care, used by our ancestors around the world to treat every kind of ailment. The ancient Chinese, Mayans, Greeks and Egyptians considered essential oils such as sandalwood and frankincense to be worth more than their weight in gold, and used them in preventive and emergency medical care. Today, these same plant essences are a little-known healing tool with all kinds of practical uses for adults and children.

Everyday Essential Oils for Kids

Most kids love to experiment with scents and flavors, and therapeutic essential oils can be a lot of fun for them. Children are usually very intuitive in their use of essential oils, so you may want to let them learn and experiment as they choose.

In case you’re looking for more structure than your kids, though, here are a few of the ways you and your children may find aromatherapy useful in your daily lives:

As a Sleep Aid: Rub a few drops of lavender, orange, or chamomile oil onto your little one’s pillow or the soles of her feet just before bed.

For Digestive Support: Peppermint, anise, fennel, and ginger can be rubbed on the stomach to soothe stomachache, nausea, and other digestive upset.

As Natural Insect Repellent: Essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, citronella, and lemongrass repel insects. Whether you’re planning a camping trip or trying to get rid of ants, lice, fleas, ticks, spiders, aphids, or mosquitoes at home… safe, non-toxic essential oils will do the trick.

As an Immune Booster [Ed. note: Ideal for preventing the “back to school cold”]: Oregano is famous for its ability to strengthen the immune system and ward off flu, or try Thieves blend from Young Living—a powerful recipe of cinnamon, clove, lemon, rosemary and eucalyptus that’s been proven to kill 99.98% of certain infectious bacteria.

For Disinfecting Cuts and Scrapes: Melaleuca, lavender, and rosemary can be used to clean cuts, bumps and bruises to prevent infection and help speed healing.

Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer who specializes in copywriting for holistic health professionals. With a background in natural health that began in early childhood, she has trained in Energy Medicine, EFT, dowsing, and is a certified clinical aromatherapist and a certified practitioner of EDxTM energy psychology. Today, Victoria helps therapists and wellness practitioners communicate the heart and soul of their work and promote their services. Her website is TheNaturalWriter.com.