It’s important to know that we should be very careful when using essential oils with infants and children. For children under 3 months, it’s important to keep the dilution to a maximum of 0.25% of essential oils, the safer essential oils to use could be just Sweet Orange and Lavender. It might be better to use floral waxes or hydrosols that are more subtle. For children from 3 months until 3 years the dilutions should preferably be kept within 0.5% of essential oils. There are certain essential oils that are not recommend to use for children, such as:
- Clove - for children under 4 years old
- Eucalyptus - for children under 1 years old
- Oregano - for children under 4 years old
- Peppermint - for children under 1 years old
- Cinnamon - for children under 4 years old
- Rosemary - for children under 6 years old
- Ginger - for children under 4 years old
For pets, we don’t recommend using them when they’re under 10 weeks old, and we advise only to use them when diffused (1% dilution max). Animals have much more developed senses of smell than humans so remember that if you can’t catch a whiff of the aroma, it’s likely that your pet has.
Some oils to better avoid with pets:
- Lemongrass
- Tea Tree
- Ylang Ylang
- Eucalyptus
- Clove
- Rosemary
- Lavender
- Peppermint
- Lemon
- Bergamot
- Caper Rose Geranium
- Grapefruit
- Lime
- Blood Orange
- Sweet Orange
- Lemon Myrtle
- Honey Myrtle
The best way to use essential oils around cats and dogs is to use them in products that can be applied directly on you i.e Natural Perfumes, Aromatherapy roll-ons, Body Oils, amongst others, rather than diffusing them at home where the animal is also situated. If you are in a room where your pet doesn't have access to or is not there in presence then a diffuser or oil burner can be used for a period of time.