One of the best decisions I ever made after having kids was to bring essential oils into our home. But when I first started, I thought having essential oils was enough. I quickly learned that when you first get started, it is assumed you have certain supplies to work with. In this post I share my 7 must have supplies for quick essential oil applications.
Consider when you look up a recipe online. It is assumed you have certain supplies on hand that are not listed on the recipe. The same thing applies when using essential oils at home, especially with kids. These are the must have supplies I keep on hand to guarantee we can use our essential oils:
Carrier Oil (s)
A carrier oil is a fatty oil that we add essential oils to before applying topically (to the skin). The carrier oil has a slower absorption rate than the essential oil.
Adding an essential oil to a carrier oil before applying topically has three benefits: 1. It dilutes the essential oil and reduces any sensations for sensitive skin. 2. It slows the absorption rate of the essential oil. That makes the effects of the essential oil last longer. and 3. It makes the essential oil go further. It requires fewer drops of essential oil than it does “neat” (without a carrier) to achieve the same results.
Some of our favorite carrier oils include Fractionated Coconut oil (this one comes with a pump top for convenience!) Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Vegetable Oil. Yes, the same oil you bake brownies with. Yum!
Baking Soda
I don’t know about your kids, but mine have always loved bath time! For some it calms them at night and for others it’s water playtime, but they all enjoy a good soak. I’ve found that I can make bath time even better with baking soda and essential oils. I learned the hard way that if you just add essential oils straight to the tub, the droplets bubble up and float on top. I know, basic science taught us that! But I had 5 kids in 6.5 years, I was more than a little sleep-deprived and mom-brain is REAL!
If you add your desired drops of essential oils to baking soda, stir it up and then add the baking soda mixture to the bath water, it disperses through the water. My kids love how silky smooth baking soda makes their bath water. And I like that the baking soda, along with serving as a vehicle for essential oils, also has numerous health benefits. Is it a wonder it’s one of my must have supplies?
Want to know which oils I use during bath time? Learn that and more in Best Essential Oils for Beginners!
Epsom Salt
Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate, is another great bath-time trick. It too serves as a dissolving and dispersing agent for essential oils. Epsom salt is also relaxing and can help relieve everyday soreness. Magnesium, a natural sleep aid, is best absorbed through the skin. So, taking a good soak in it is definitely the way to go. I will say I only use Epsom salt with my kids older than 1. I find it to be a little too rough for my baby’s ultra-sensitive skin.
Roll-on Bottles
A roll-on bottle is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a bottle with a roll-on top for quick and easy topical application. When I first started using E.O.s I would apply a few drops to the palm of my hand, add some carrier oil and then apply them to my desired area. While this worked, it was slow, messy, and it wasted precious drops. I had excess mixture I ended up washing off my hands.
Also, the kids could be hard to corral before the oils absorbed into my skin. I benefitted but they missed out. Putting together my favorite, most-used blends in roll-on bottles saved me time, money and my sanity! If I’m just making roll-ons for my family to use, I love to buy the roll-on top fitments from YL and I use empty YL bottles to mix them in. If you’re brand new to oils and you don’t have any empty bottles yet, or you want something a littler prettier, these blue glass roll-on bottles are my favorite.
Diffuser (s)
Inhaling E.O.s (aka breathing the oils in) is one of the fastest and most effective ways to experience the benefits of essential oils. You can open a bottle and just breathe it in, but that can waste oils and it’s very tricky for kids to inhale without wanting to touch the bottle. Its also hard for toddlers, they want to grab the bottle and walk away with it. Using a diffuser is a better way to get your kids to inhale oils without waste or worrying about grabby hands. Which is why a diffuser is honestly one of my favorite must have supplies.
If you use the diffuser in one of the main rooms of the house everybody benefits at once. With 10 people under my roof that’s a lot of bang for your buck! YL has a variety of great diffusers to choose from, you can check them all out here. One of my favorites for use with kids are the animal diffusers like this turtle diffuser. I have one in each of my kids’ bedrooms. Not only is it a diffuser, but it’s a nightlight with multiple light settings, and a sound machine with multiple sound settings scientifically proven to promote calmness and sleep…Awesome, right?
Shot Glasses
My family likes to collect souvenir shot glasses from different places we’ve been. We don’t do it because we drink a lot, we drink very little of what’s commonly consumed from these little glasses. They often look cute or pretty, and my kids just love the size for their little hands.
When we added essential oils to our routine, these little glasses became our favorite go-to for ingesting our oils. I’d put a little juice in the glass, then add a drop or two of the vitality oil they wanted to ingest, then I’d add a little more juice and they’d drink it down easily. Also, NingXia Red, or “Ninja Juice” as my kids call it is one of our favorite morning supplements. As with all things oily, a little goes a long way, an ounce or two is perfect, so the shot glass makes it easier for them to “measure” what they need so they don’t take too much.
This brings me to my last but not least of the must have supplies I like to keep on hand:
Veggie Capsules
I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to drink a lot of juice or to “hide” the flavor of some of the stronger tasting oils in juice. Enter fillable veggie capsules for the win. With empty veggie capsules, I can add the drops I need to the capsule, fill it with carrier oil and put the cap on and it’s ready to go. I’ll make a batch up of my favorite ingestible combos and freeze them in a glass jar and then they’re ready whenever I need them! I have a couple of older kiddos, ok Teenagers (how did that happen?) They are able to swallow veggie capsules, and they’ve joined me in putting their favorite vitality combos in capsules for quick and easy oil consumption. YL has veggie capsules you can order here or I like these capsules too.
We all want to keep our kids healthy, I’ve found that the best way for me to do that is to keep them oiled up. These are my 7 must have supplies to keep my kids using oils: carrier oils, baking soda, Epsom salt, roll-on bottles, diffusers, shot glasses and veggie capsules.