Natural remedies you can make at home can help restore emotional balance and wellbeing for pregnant women, infants and children.
Aromatherapy can be easily integrated into everyday life and has many practical applications for everyday healing, says Aromatherapist, author and Scentual NRG Director, David Webb.
“We can teach children the basics of preventative health and how to treat day-to-day ailments. For instance, using lavender essential oil to help with sleep, or a drop of tea tree oil on cuts and scratches under band aids,” said David.
"There is a remedy for every illness to be found in nature, according to the father of medicine, Hippocrates".
“Pure plant oils work subtly to affect how you feel. Treating emotional causes often benefits your state of mind and allows for natural healing of physical ailments. You can also find many practical uses for aromatherapy as a substitute for manufactured skincare, healing and cleaning products.”
Here are some recipes for natural remedies that are easy to make at home.
During Pregnancy
Aromatherapy is beneficial during all stages of pregnancy. It can help with the physical and emotional challenges a pregnant woman may experience. There are many easy recipes you can blend at home before and after childbirth from the book Essential Man, Essential Woman – A guide to using aromatherapy, co-authored by David Webb and Jennifer Jefferies, including (*recipes available by request):
- Morning sickness and mood swings oil burner blends
- Stretch mark massage oil
- Healing perineal bath and compress
- Post natal blues oils burner blend
- Post natal fatigue massage oil
- Compress to increase milk production or to dry up breast milk
- Breast toning oil and cracked nipples soothing oil
During pregnancy many aromatherapists recommend avoiding certain essential oils because of the belief they may harm the foetus or increase risk of miscarriage.
These may include aniseed, basil, bay laurel, cedarwood, cinnamon, citronella, clary sage, clove, fennel, hyssop, juniper berry, sweet marjoram, myrrh, nutmeg, parsley, peppermint, rose, rosemary, sage and thyme. However, the latest research suggests most of these oils are safe during pregnancy as long as they are not taken orally and the directions are followed, according to David. For more information feel free to email David with any questions or concerns you may have.
Infants and children
Essential oils can be diffused using a vaporiser inside rooms or vehicles. Electric oil vaporisers are safe and mess-free for children because they avoid water and naked flames.
They can be diluted in carrier oils, like vegetable oil, and applied to the skin during massage. Essential oils should not be applied to a newborn’s skin for the first 6 to 8 weeks as their liver is not fully functioning and is required to eliminate the oils. From 8 weeks to 2 years of age, blend a ratio of 1 drop essential oil to 10m of carrier oil. From 3 to 5 years, use 2 drops of essential oil in 10ml of carrier oil, and 6 to 10 years use 3 drops to 10ml. Adults can use 5 drops per 10ml.
This recipe for basic baby massage oil can help settle everything from skin irritations, nappy rash and cradle cap, to teething pains and stomach aches:
4 drops Lavender
3 drops Tangerine
3 drops German chamomile
40ml Apricot kernel oil
10ml Calendula oil base
Children can benefit from aromatherapy in bath oils, soaps, baby shampoos, and applied under band aids and dressings.
A simple baby bath oil could contain the same ratio of lavender, tangerine and German chamomile as the above recipe, combined with a dispersing bath oil base or powdered milk.
Basic aromatherapy baby soap is generally made of cold pressed vegetable oils like jojoba, evening primrose and apricot kernel, with infused calendula oil for its skin healing properties.
A gentle baby shampoo without detergents, synthetic chemicals, colours and preservatives is essential. Coconut-derived cleansing agents are available as aromatherapy shampoo bases for children. Essential oils like chamomile and lavender can be added to the coconut base to settle the scalp and cleanse hair.
Band aids and dressings with a drop of lavender or tea tree essential oil can help to heal and soothe emotions.
This relaxing body mist spray can calm distressed children at the shops:
8 drops Lavender
8 drops Lime
8 drops Cedarwood
1 drops Chamomile Roman
'Or you could just use 25 drops of our Bliss Energy Oil'
25 drops essential oil solubilizer
90ml Purified water
