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We must first remember that essential oils are powerful compounds and that although they are natural extracts from various botanical material, they are highly concentrated, and should never be left where children can get hold of them.
Although we believe that essential oils can be beneficial to the general health of adults as well as children, it must be kept in mind that essential oils should never be taken orally, unless so advised by your licensed medical practitioner, and that even small amounts of essential oils that are ingested can cause severe medical problems.
When buying essential oils make sure that the bottles are screwed securely closed and that a dropper dispenser is fitted into the neck of the bottle. Keep your essential oils in a safe place - not only will it keep them out of the reach of small hands, but a cool dark place will also help to retard oxidation of the oils. Never use essential oils undiluted on the skin, and when preparing a blend for a child, remember that you would halve the strength - where you would normally include a 2 % dilution of essential oil to the carrier oil, you would prepare a 1 % dilution for use on a child. You use a weaker dilution on children because their bodies are smaller and their skins are also more sensitive - in adults you would use 10 drops of essential oil to 20 ml carrier oil, while on children you would only use 5 drops to 20 ml of carrier oil. Should you use essential oils in steam inhalation, never leave the child alone or unsupervised, and keep the inhalation to 1 minute.
Essential oils that are suitable for children 
(To make it easy remember - T L C)
The above oils can be used for bathing, massage, room freshening and compresses and are most useful oils.
Essential oils not to use (or with extreme care) on children
We compiled the above list from oils that we think are too strong for children, or which may cause irritation to a sensitive skin, but any oil not included in the above list does not guarantee that the oil is suitable for use on children. Kindly also look at the profiles of the above essential oils by following the hyperlink, or have a look at our essential oil index.
Please also look at our list of toxic essential oils that may never be used by adults or children at any time.
Other pages of interest
| Underneath, please find a list and hyperlinks to essential oils, carrier base oils as well as specialized blends manufactured by us. | | Essential oils | Specialized blends | Carrier / base oils | Information on essential oils not sold by us | | Information on carrier oils not sold by us |
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