In-fact many sensitive and sensory challenged kids have a hyper sense of smell. So strong scents can be overwhelming and unpleasant.
Many highly sensitive persons known as HSP’s also have health conditions which have to be carefully considered when choosing the right essentials oils.
How To Choose Essential Oils For Sensitive Kids
When choosing essential oils for sensitive kids It is important the scent is not too strong or unpleasant. If in any doubt start with very smaller doses. In-fact if you know the child has an extreme heightened sense of smell, start even lower doses than the recommended below. If your child has a specific condition it is vital to check the properties and contra-indications of essential oils.
Ensure all essential oils are 100% pure and of highest grade for best results. NYR Organics is just one company. I would recommend Always dilute essential oils with an appropriate carrier oil or water, do not apply directly to skin especially on children, babies or infants. Only use recommended dose for specific age and do not use oils not suitable for infants.
How To Use Essential Oils For Sensitive Kids As A Massage Blend
Massage Blend For Babies: A dilution of 0ne drop to 15 ml carrier oil is the approx recommended dose for infants. But if your baby is sensitive I would recommend one drop to 20 ml. Once diluted in a carrier oil, essential oils can be used to gently massage your baby.
Massage Blend For Infants And Children 1- 6 Years: A dilution of 0ne to three drops to 15 ml carrier oil. But if your child is sensitive I would recommend two drops to 20 ml.
Massage Blend For 7- 12 Years: A dilution of three to five drops to 15 ml carrier oil. But if your child is sensitive I would recommend two to three drops to 20 ml.
Massage Blend For Adults: A dilution of six to ten drops to 20ml carrier oil. For highly sensitive adults four to eight drops to 20ml carrier oil
How To Use Essential Oils For Sensitive Kids In The Bath
Essentials Oils For Bath: For babies and sensitive kids it is actually much safer to dilute the essential oils into a water soluble vegetable oil such as glycerin. But can be added directly simply make sure you run the water and disperse the essential oils into the water.
For Bath Use Babies 0 – 12 months: one drop evenly dispersed in the bath water
For Bath Use Infants 1- 6 years: one to three drops per bath
For Bath Children 6 -12 years: two drops to four drops per bath
For Bath Adult Or Teenager: four drops to eight drops per bath
Safest Essential Oils For Sensitive Kids And Babies
Lavender oil is extremely calming, useful for tantrums, exhaustion, overwhelm. Although sedating for most people some people find it more a clarifier. A great one for the family first aid kit as it is extremely versatile oil that can be used on sunburn, burns, bites, Also useful for anxiety, stress and depression. For kids it can be added to bath water, or used as a relaxing massage. For toddler tantrums or bumps a drop of essential oil added to water and then applied as a cool compress
Mandarin is another extremely calming and soothing essential oil, helpful for colic, digestive issues and as a general uplifting but relaxing essential oil for sensitive kids. Popular essential oil for sensitive kids as it has a much lighter scent than most essential oils.
Chamomile is extremely soothing and one of the very few pure essentials used on young children eg, infants where it is used in very very low percentages so dilute, dilute, dilute. Relaxing, helpful for sleep, helpful for soothing sore muscles. It does have a strange aroma but the benefits powerfully out way the scent, can be blended with Lavender or Mandarin.
Popular Essential Oils For Highly Sensitive Persons And Sensitive Teenagers
Other than the essential oils above there are various pure essential oils that can support HSP’s in different ways. Essentials have various therapeutic, physiological and psychological properties. The oils below are suited more to adults and children over 12 years.
is a slightly uplifting essential oil which can be helpful for anxiety, depression, negativity, shyness, stress. Should not be used for approx 3 hours before going out into the sun. Not suitable for babies infants, children, those with sensitive skin.
a deeply meditating and grounding essential oil for HSP’s can help reduce insecurity, panic attacks, paranoia and nerves. More a masculine type of scent.. Not suitable for babies or infants.
is an extremely supportive essential oil for grief, sadness, attachment challenges, fear of unknown origin, rumination. It also has great benefits for the skin. Not suitable for babies or infants
Sandalwood is another grounding essential oil, specifically useful for those emotionally sensitive, insecurity, listless, dread and worry. It is also used as a meditation aid. Not suitable for infants, babies or children. It has a woody masculine scent.
is an extremely relaxing essential oil that can can help reduce anger challenges, impatience, nightmares,rigidity, fear of people, guilt. Especially as many HSP’s are highly empathic and suffer from unfounded guilt, fear of others and people pleasing. Not suitable for babies, infants or children.
Common signs of a highly sensitive child? Want to learn if you have a HSP Child? Lets explore some of the challenges and traits of highly sensitive children.
So what are some of the more common signs of a highly sensitive child or HSP?
Thankfully research todays recognises the most common traits of the highly sensitive child or highly sensitive person.
The Highly Sensitive Child Is Intuitive
HSP’s are usually very intuitive and are good judge of character. But because of deep compassion and empathy will often let their heart rule their head. It is important they learn to trust and be guided by their inner guidance.
Highly Sensitive Children Are Easily Overstimulated
The easily over stimulated child is often a HSP. Thus they are more easily stimulated; noise, visuals, smells, touch, movement and taste. For some the sensitivity can be so extreme, it can seriously impact their life. For example they may not be able to tolerate touch or find specific or loud sounds extremely painful, certain clothes too itchy or uncomfortable.
Highly Sensitive Kids Need Time Out
They will usually need more time out and alone. Highly sensitive kids and teenagers need more time to unplug from technology and other’s, Even if they appear sociable and talkative. They burn out and get over stimulated very easily. This can appear as high energy or fun to be around, but can often be over stimulation or over excitement.
Highly Sensitive Child Struggles With Violence In Media, Stories
Dislike Violence, Horror Movies, many highly sensitive children will find even the slightest violence quite disturbing. They can appear very cautious or fearful in doing certain activities which may appear to have a risk such as climbing.
Highly Sensitive Children Over Identify With Other People’s Stuff
They are very sensitive to not just stimuli but are often sensitive and highly empathic to other people’s emotions, needs and pains. In-fact they will often over identify or take on other’s emotional pain, especially as they find it difficult to set healthy boundaries. Which can seriously affect their physical, mental and emotional well-being. They can suffer from Irrational or irrelevant guilt due to their highly empathic nature and difficulty identifying their own emotions with others.
HSP Children Are Often People Pleasers
They tend to be people pleasers, often to their own detriment. Many HSP’s will go out of their way to be kind, please others as they don’t want to hurt others or cause conflict.
Powerful Yet Simple Life Tools You Can Teach A Highly Sensitive Child
Highly sensitive children need calm and respite from the over stimulation and information over load of modern life. As a healer, therapist and stress expert I have witnessed for many years, the huge benefits highly sensitive children achieve from learning meditation. Especially the right meditation skills and the right relaxation techniques. The right type of meditation helps one access inner calm and peace no matter what is happening around them.
Highly sensitive children who struggle and don’t learn how to harness their gifts and traits tend to really struggle in adulthood. The more we can learn how to love, accept and honour ourselves as children, the more happier and healthier we become. But if we are misunderstood, not given the support we need, not taught the skills we need we end up carrying those wounds into adulthood. That is why Inner Child Therapy has became so popular, why so many highly sensitive and highly empathic adults are attracted to Inner Child work.
Tools For The Highly Sensitive Child
Healthy Boundaries
The highly sensitive child needs to learn about personal boundaries from a young age. Be able to learn how important it is to set and maintain healthy emotional and energetic boundaries between other people, parents, siblings, friends and family.
Highly Sensitive Kids Need To Learn To Switch Off And Relax
The HSP Child should learn how to become more resilient to anxiety, stress and any form of over-stimulation. It is important for them to be able to take time out,switch off and relax.
Traditional meditation techniques can help the sensitive child or sensitive teenager find their own inner calm, own inner peace. Guided meditations for sensitive children are extremely common as they can help encourage not just deep relaxation, but help them nurture a safe space within them self.
Highly Sensitive Children Need To Ground More
HSP’s and empaths
often struggle with being grounded and centred. So it is important that they do daily activities that will help them become more earthed and grounded. They can easily do that by spending time in nature, around plants, flowers, trees and animals. The use of essential oils and flower essences can also be very helpful.
Improve A Highly Sensitive Child’s Self Worth And Self Esteem
Parents of a highly sensitive child should work on helping the highly sensitive child know they are enough, the need to learn and develop self-love and self-worth. Not base their worth on being the rescuer, helper or healer to other people’s needs.
Inner Child Work For The Highly Sensitive Adult
Inner Child work when approached safely and effective way can be extremely helpful. But in many ways most inner child healing is about healing trauma so there is certain approaches that must be used. It is not something that can be approached lightly.
As someone who has studied a variety of therapeutic approaches for 30 years. Not just different healing and therapy modalities but counselling, psychology, psychotherapy, archetypes and inner child work. I use a variety of safe and effective tools and approaches in my work to ensure my sessions and courses are safe and soothing.
Eileen has worked with many highly empathic and highly sensitive children and highly sensitive adults, HS kids with Autism, Aspergers and other sensory processing issues. She offers 1-2-1 inner child support for highly sensitive and empathic adults LEARN MORE
So how do you calm the kids at Christmas? Christmas is certainly a crazy time of year and is often anything but calm.
The Christmas Season is a time when Kids not only get excited about Santa or about spending time with family; grandparents or cousins. But are often over excited and over stimulated by the whole hype of Christmas. It can feel an impossible task to find ways to calm the kids down during these hyper holidays.
Simple Strategies To Calm The Kids Down During The Festive Season
Well the most important thing about learning how to calm the kids down, is to recognise what actually over stimulates your child, children or teenagers.
What over excites them and even what causes them anxiety or fear? If you don’t know your kids triggers your going to find it difficult to calm the kids, help regulate their responses in a healthy way. A bit of excitement is good but if any of your kids have adhd, are sensitive or have sensory processing issues. Well too much excitement can be stressful for the sensitive or anxious child, because their nervous system is much more acute.
Over Anxious and Over Excited Adults
Many adults want to relive the Christmas magic through our children’s eyes. But most children are far more over stimulated, over stressed than we ever were as children. So it’s always worth considering how your child naturally responds to the Christmas season. Thing about how they react to new events, surprises, change, basically things outside their comfort zone. It’s much easier to calm the kids down when you can cushion them from the impact of stressful situations. You will naturally help calm the kids when you are more calm and relaxed and over stimulated.
Top Tips To Calm The Kids Down On Christmas Eve And Holiday Season
it can be more challenging at this time of year to calm the kids but do what you can to minimise stimulants. Sugar, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, even fats can seriously increase anxiety, stress symptoms. They are extremely stimulating and play havoc on the bodies sugar levels and digestive system.
Eliminate External Stimulants:
Encourage some seriously unplugging and time out to calm the kids and adults. Information overload and blu ray from TV, computers and mobile devices plays havoc with the brain. Especially the melatonin and the bodies natural circadian rythms which is vital for good quality sleep.
Be Organised, Prepare and Plan:
If your kids are going to be out for the day or away from there normal routine to help calm the kids. Get organised and prepare them and yourself for usual challenges. Especially if your child is extra anxious or sensitive, for example have a plan that includes some healthy cushioning from the impact of the situation. If your child is going to be exposed to a lot of noise, stimulation or lots of processed foods. Have some strategies in place to make it as less stimulating as possible. A contingency plan is key for young or sensitive kids or those with Asperger syndrome, Autism who struggle with noise, lights, smells…
E.g. take your child out for a short walk or to another room for a rest or for time out. Bring things like a book or colour-in book or a less stimulating game that can be a more healthy or balanced distraction. Bring things like healthy snacks, earphones or comforter or lovable toy for young children. These can help soothe anxiety levels and encourage a sense of security and familarity.
Clear Boundaries:
As an adult you have to be the one that has clear boundaries that you stick to. It maybe deciding before hand how long you will stay or have your party. Clear boundaries on when your child has had enough to eat, drink, run about or when it’s time for bed. This in the long run can minimise a heap of drama, exhaustion and tantrums. Don’t be tempted to give in just because of the time of year etc. Christmas day, new year, family parties all play their toll on a sensitive or more anxious or stressed out child’s nervous system. In this state kids are often so confused they can struggle to recognise what they really need. Clear boundaries can help nip stressful or anxious situations in the bud before they get out of hand.
No matter if your their carer, guardian or parent, if you aren’t calm, you can’t expect the child your caring for to be calm. Don’t let your child feed off your emotions. Become a more calmer parent or guardian.
Manage Your Own Stress
Learn how to manage your own stress, learn to meditate properly, learn to relax properly. A stressed adult or caregiver adds more stress to the situation and the child. As they are simply radiating fear.
Holistic Aids:
Holistic aids can be extremely useful for one off type of situations. Both lavender and chamomile essential oils can be soothing for some children. Simply add a few drops to their bath, check with children who are highly sensitive to smells. Here is an interesting article on the use of Chamomile Tea and Oil for ADHD. Lavender pure essential oil can also be added to a handkerchief and placed inside a child’s pillow slip, lavender oil is a great oil for the family first aid kit. Rescue remedy for kids is a powerfully soothing flower essence blend which can quickly reduce anxiety, stress and fear.
Teaching your child how to meditate is a powerful life skill that supports children deal with stressful situations more effectively. Kids need plenty Rest, Relaxation and Repair so ensure they get enough good quality sleep. My FREE Guided Meditation For Kids can help your child relax, switch-off and set healthier energetic and emotional boundaries.
Bring things like a book or colour-in book or a less stimulating game that can be a more healthy or balanced distraction. Bring things like healthy snacks, earphones or comforter or lovable toy for young children. These can help soothe anxiety levels and encourage a sense of security and familarity.
