Are Essential Oils Safe for Babies, Infants, and Children?

Can kids use essential oils? Is diffusing essential oils around children safe? At what age?

Essential oils can offer benefits for children, such as promoting relaxation or supporting sleep. However, because they are highly concentrated plant extracts, it’s important to use them cautiously to reduce the risk of harmful side effects.

When we're talking about the dangers of using essential oils around kids, keep in mind all sources of essential oil, including candles, diffusers, lotions, and personal care products like soap and shampoo.

This post is meant to provide information. It is not intended to replace personalized advice from your medical care providers.

Are Essential Oils Safe for Newborns or Infants?

Expert sources advise that essential oils should not be used on or around babies from newborn to 3 months old except in rare, short-term situations under medical supervision, and at extremely low dilutions.

Infants' skin is highly sensitive, their immune and respiratory systems are still developing, and they are more prone to adverse reactions from the concentrated compounds in essential oils.

Note that the advice isn't just about using essential oils on infants. It's also about using them around infants. That includes diffusing these oils and using them on your skin.

🟢➜ See the Essential Oil Safety: How to Reduce Risk of Secondary Exposure post for tips on using essential oils while keeping babies safe.

At What Age Can Children Safely Use Essential Oils?

As I noted, essential oils are generally not recommended for infants. 

Aromatherapy safety experts also advise extreme caution with toddlers, particularly children under two years of age, due to ongoing respiratory and neurological development.

For older children, guidance becomes more specific and depends on the oil, the method of use, and the concentration.

What Essential Oils Are Dangerous for Young Children?

Certain essential oils are consistently mentioned as unsuitable for young children. Some of these can be diffused in low concentrations for short periods of time, but are cautioned against being applied to their skin, while the use of others is discouraged in any form around young children.  

Wintergreen is an example of an essential oil that appears on lists of those that should not be used topically on children under 6 years of age or via diffusion around them because of its chemical composition. 

The International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists (IFPA) provides guidance for practitioners that includes lists of essential oils not suitable for children under 2 years of age, and aged six and under.

NOTE of CAUTION re CHILDREN UNDER 2: As of this posting, the IFPA first lists a couple of oils to be avoided for children under 2 years of age, then later lists many more that are to be avoided for children under 6. Be sure you use both of these lists if you are dealing with the youngest age group. 

Avoid kids being exposed to these oils directly and secondarily. 

Be Mindful of Overexposure

While Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is on the IFPA list of essential oils suitable for young children, there is evidence that daily or heavy use may cause hormone-related effects in some children. 

Case-study research has raised concerns about the possibility that heavy use of lavender essential oil by and around young children could be associated with early breast development in girls and breast tissue development in boys. 

A population-based study did not support this finding, but the children in this study do not appear to have experienced the same intensity of exposure to lavender as the cases examined by the other researchers. 

Two things can be true: Limited use of lavender essential oil may be safe, and heavy use may have negative side effects. 

The research around lavender may be a cautionary tale about essential oil use in general: even natural substances can cause issues when overused. Be cautious about how much cumulative essential oil exposure a child is getting from all sources: shampoo, lotions, soap, and diffusion. 

🟢➜ I explain more in this post: Is Lavender Essential Oil Safe for Children? Sorting Out the Research

What Essential Oil Dilutions are Recommended for Use with Kids and Adolescents? 

In Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, aromatherapy safety expert Robert Tisserand and plant chemistry and pharmacology lecturer Rodney Young outline age-based dilution recommendations. The Tisserand Institute summarizes their guidelines:

For any topical essential oil application of age-appropriate essential oils with young children: 

• 3–24 months: 0.25% to 0.5%
• 2–6 years: 1.0% to 2.0%

And, for full-body applications on older children and adolescents:

• 6–15 years: 1.5% to 3.0%

For comparison, here are the institute's adult dilution recommendations: 

• 15+ years: 2.5% to 5.0%

Even within these ranges, frequency of use matters. Repeated or daily exposure can increase the risk of irritation or other unwanted effects.

Safety Tips for Diffusing Essential Oils Around Kids

Caution should also be used when diffusing oils around children: 

• Avoid continuous vaporization — use an intermittent schedule of up to 30 minutes on, followed by at least 2 hours off

• Ensure good ventilation

• Don't use diffusers with a flame because of the oil's flammability and fire risk

Store Essential Oils Out of Children's Reach

Be extremely cautious about children's possible access to containers of any essential oil. 

Most essential oil poisonings are of children who ingested it from bottles they found, and they did what kids do, which is to explore the world by putting things in their mouths. 

Store essential oils like medicine: out of sight, out of reach, and in locked cabinets.

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