Essential Oils for baby/toddler coughs

Our little girl is 21 months old, and its definitely been a nasty winter for daycare bugs for just about everyone we know. As a Naturopath and a conscious mama, I try to keep her immune system as healthy as possible with nourishing food and natural supplements such as vitamin C, cod liver oil, Echinacea and probiotics. Whilst this definitely helps with the duration and severity of colds and coughs, it doesn't mean that she doesn't ever get sick. At the moment she has a rattly chesty cough, and a couple of nights ago it was keeping her awake. She coughed so much that eventually she vomitted all over our bed sheets, which is never fun for anyone involved. I'd already given her some herbal cough syrup and rubbed cough balm on her feet and chest,  but this particular night it didn't seem to help much at all. This is where essential oils come in, and saved both our freshly clean bedsheets and our sleep. 

I popped my essential oil diffuser right next to the bed, and in it I put 4 drops of easy air (Breathe Easy blend) and 2 drops of Lavender essential oil. I kid you not, our little one stopped coughing straight away and slept for the entire night through.  This meant that we slept all night too, hallelujah! 

There are other beautiful oils that work wonderfully for respiratory distress too, including frankincense, On Guard, eucalyptus, peppermint, thyme, myrrh, lemon and ginger. I'm just sharing what worked for us this particular night (and the following night too). Like all natural medicines, it's trial an error to find exactly what works for each individual. 

Apart from using these oils in a diffuser, you can also apply them topically or take them in the form of throat drops etc. IT's very important to dilute the oils when applying topically, especially for babies and children. The correct dilution for babies is 1 drop of essential oil to 1 tbsp carrier oil, and for older toddlers and children you can use 2 drops of essential oil in 1 tbsp carrier oil. If you are putting the oils into a bath, always use a bath gel to disperse the oil in the water and just use 1 drop for babies, or 2 drops for older toddlers. 

So onto the specific oils that we used, and how they help with congestion and coughs:

Easy Air
This oil is a blend of Laurel Leaf, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemon, Ravensara and Cardamom essential oils. This blend of plants allows the oil to work on sinus congestion, throat blockage from mucous and congestion in the lungs, which is why its so potent and works so well. Some specific properties that the plants in this oil blend have include being antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal and expectorant (which means that it brings up mucous and relieves the congestion).  

Lavender
Whilst pure lavender oil is well known for its ability to relax and unwind the body and mind, it also has some surprising immune benefits. It is antibacterial, antiseptic and antispasmodic, aiding the relief of muscle spasms in the body. 

Using the oils in a diffuser allows them to be directly enhaled into the respiratory system, where the plants work their medicinal magic.  Honestly I can say they are pure magic too! 

For more information about the oils you can visit my doTerra site here: ​https://www.mydoterra.com/alysiachick/#/ or as always you can send me a message via my contacts tab. 

​Love Ally xx