Calm Baby, Calm: An Essential Oil Synergy Recipe for Focus, Concentration, and Anxious Feelings That's Safe for Kids
NOTE: This article is a short guide to essential oils that are helpful in supporting focus, concentration, and soothing anxious feelings in children and also adults. I’ve included a very nice synergy blend for you to use in a personal inhaler or roller bottle too. Enjoy!
The other day, a frantic mom called me. Her daughter is feeling very stressed and down because she’s just not doing well in school. You see, like many children in these pandemic times, with online school, disrupted school, and the urgency to succeed even with less than optimal learning environments, she’s suffering.
Her mom asked me if I could please make her daughter an essential oil blend to help her focus and alleviate her stress somewhat.
I created this blend for her, and it’s just wonderful, if I say so myself. As a certified professional level aromatherapist (working on clinical studies in aromatherapy), I love to use both herbs and essential oils for their therapeutic actions in wellness and health on both the mind and body. Essential oils are perfect for working with the mind and helping the body cope with stressors of all kinds.
Here’s information about the essential oils I chose and why I chose them for soothing her stress, and the recipe just below. I’m also sharing some dilution tips, so you can easily adjust this recipe for the specific age of your child (or adult).
It’s my hope that this will help you and your family in these difficult and worrisome times!
**If you’d like to watch the YouTube video about this blend, you can see it here: Calm, Baby Calm Blend for Kids (and Adults)
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I love working with chamomile both herbally and aromatherapically (essential oils).
About the Essential Oils in this Calm & Focus Blend: Why They Work
Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) essential oil
Roman chamomile is rich in chemicals that help calm and soothe a frazzled mind, anger issues, and those who are frustrated in any way. For children, it’s one of my favorite essential oils to work on hyperactivity issues and any kind of stress or anxiety. The aroma is rather fruity and honey-like with overtones of apple.
Melissa (Melissa officianalis) essential oil
This is the lemon balm plant, a well known nervine herb. Nervine herbs affect the nervous system in some manner, and in the case of lemon balm, it’s deeply soothing and calming, while providing overall support to the entire nervous system. It’s one of my favorite herbs to work with for children, as well as adults. The essential oil is quite precious (expensive) and strong. A little bit truly goes a long way. It has a strong lemon scent that’s heavier than lemon essential oil.
Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) essential oil
Lavender is one of the safest essential oils out there. In addition, it has incredible broad-reaching benefits for the body, mind, and soul. Particularly when it comes to supporting a relaxed mind, lavender is so very helpful. It’s one of the first essential oils many moms turn to for their children because it’s simply so very safe. I love that it has a strong affinity for supporting a healthy, calm nervous system. Its scent is fresh, herbaceous, and a little sweet without being overpowering.
Here’s more information on lavender essential oil.
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) essential oil
The reason I added spearmint to this blend is for two reasons: 1) to round out the scent of the other essential oils, as it’s very harmonizing; and 2) because although I usually use peppermint for enhance and increase focus, peppermint is too strong for children under 10. I love spearmint as a good option for younger children, or for those who don’t care for peppermint.
NOTE: This recipe following is for topical or inhaled (diffuser) use only. I do NOT recommend ingesting essential oils unless you’ve been trained by a certified aromatherapist who has also had prior training (not all of us have). Although some people state it’s fine to ingest essential oils, there is just too much that can go wrong…and honestly, herbs are a better choice for ingestion.
And here’s a part 2 to the above article, as I received quite a few questions: How and Why You Should Use Herbs and Essential Oils Together
If you’re working with essential oils, you need this handy 35 page Reference Guide! I use mine constantly, and I wish I’d had this years ago….it would have made me not worry about making an accidental mistake! Click here to grab yours now!
Calm and Focus Blend Recipe
What’s a Stock Blend and Why Make One?
You might be wondering what on earth a stock blend is and why make one?
Well, a stock blend is a blend of essential oils that you make in a certain amount. Usually, this amount is greater than what you’ll need in your product. The reason you make a blend with some extra is that sometimes you can’t count out the drops in a small enough amount.
For example, if I only need two drops of a blend, I can’t do this with a blend that requires higher numbers of ingredients due to proportions used. The good news is there are several ways you can use this stock blend besides in your roller bottle! You’re basically making your very own fancy recipe blend instead of paying big bucks for one that someone else made.
Another great thing about making your own stock blends is that you can adjust the scent so it’s how you like it. For example, if you just love the scent of the spearmint in this blend, you could substitute an extra drop or two of the spearmint for the lavender, for example.
To make your blend, you’ll need an empty 5 ml or smaller essential oil bottle with a euro-dropper. Or, you could use a small amber glass bottle with a dropper, just as easily. Just fill it with however much of the blend you’d like. If you know you’re likely to use more of it for diffusing, etc., then you can double, triple, or quadruple the recipe.
For reference, a 5 ml. essential oil bottle holds around 100 drops of essential oil.
Ingredients for your Stock Blend:
5 drops spearmint
7 drops Roman chamomile
3 drops melissa
10 drops lavender
This makes a small stock blend of 25 drops. If you’d like enough to fill a 5 ml bottle, simply quadruple the recipe. Then you’ll have this available for diffusing as well, or for making more roller bottles….or even adding a few drops to lotion or cream!
NOTE: Melissa is very cost-prohibitive for many people. In fact, I didn’t purchase Melissa until this year, despite work with clients. There are some good substitutes though, and you can try these if you like, and see how they go for you.
Substitutions for melissa: Mandarin (especially for children), neroli, cedar wood, and/or patchouli. These won’t have exactly the same therapeutic action as melissa, however, you’ll still have a helpful and wonderful blend.
Lavender is one of the BEST essential oils to keep in your home. You can purchase your essential oils from Starwest Botanicals, and be assured of quality and a good price.
Using This Blend Safely for Children
This is where dilution rates come in. Whenever you’re choosing essential oils for someone, you need to take many things into consideration. Some of these factors include age, if they’re on medications or not, their overall health, and other things.
You can find out more about creating your own safe, effective blends with appropriate dilution rates in my Ultimate Guide to Safe, Effective Essential Oil Use. There are charts for all populations, and even pets!
But let’s delve into dilution rates just a bit, since if you’re making this for children, you need to know how to make that blend safe for your child.
Here are some very general guidelines that are applicable for a 10 ml (1/3 ounce, roughly) roller bottle:
1% dilution in a 10 ml roller: 2 drops (children ages 2-5)
2% dilution in a 10 ml roller: 4-5 drops (children ages 6-10)
3% dilution in a 10 ml roller: 6-7 drops (children over 10)
**For a 5% dilution, you can try 10 drops if a lower dilution isn’t strong enough. This would be for an adult or an older teen.
NOTE: These dilution rates are rather general, but I’ve made them specific for this particular recipe. If I were using different essential oils, I may reduce or increase the dilution rate depending on those specific oils.
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Can I Use This Blend in Other Ways?
YES!
This is one of the best things about those tiny bottles of essential oils on your shelves. You can use them in many ways. Nobody likes to waste their essential oils, or just have them languishing on a shelf—-amiright?
So, for this recipe blend, here are some other ways you can use this synergy of EO’s:
1) Diffusion
Place a few drops (5-20) depending on the size of your diffuser in the receptacle, and allow the calming and focus to begin!
2) Topical (besides a roller bottle)
Always dilute your essential oils. You can certainly add the appropriate number of drops to massage oil, to lotion, and other topical carriers. To find out how many drops to use, take a look at my Ultimate Essential Oil Safety Guide.
3) In the Bath
As long as you’re diluting your oils in bath salts or some type of carrier oil, you can use your essential oils in the tub. NEVER put undiluted essential oils in bath water, as essential oils are NOT soluble in water and can cause skin irritations.
And now….How to Use Your Roller Bottle:
If your child is old enough to keep this out of his/her mouth, they can be in charge of this blend, as it’s very safe. Show them how to roll it onto their wrists, shoulders, and behind their ears. Teach them to keep it away from their mouth and eyes.
Also—-be sure to explain to your child that he/she should NEVER share their special roll-ons with others. This is because everyone reacts differently and has different needs. This is a good lesson to teach up front, even though this blend is safe.
And….just below is the recipe on my YouTube channel so you can see it in action… Please do subscribe!
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Final Thoughts on Calm Baby, Calm Synergy Blend
This blend has received some very positive feedback, and that’s why I’m sharing it with you here. If you try it, please do let me know what you think!
Here are some other articles on my website you might enjoy:
Use Essential Oils to Get in a Good Mood FAST!
Soothing, Healing Lavender Salve
Frankincense Essential Oil: A Complete Guide
How Essential Oils Can Support Your Heart Health
Foraged Juniper Berry and Rosemary Salt Scrub
And there are over 500 more on the website! So please do go explore!
Hugs, Health, and Self-Reliance,
Heidi
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P.P.S. And be sure to take a look at my Ultimate Essential Oil Reference Guide! Anyone who works with essential oils needs this in their home.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. However, I am a Level 2 certified aromatherapist and herbalist with both NAHA and AIA. Please do not confuse any statement here with any kind of diagnosis, cure, prevention, or treatment of disease. These statements are for informational purposes only and not evaluated by the FDA.