Supporting Restful Sleep in Kids

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Recently I was asked about essential oils to help support sleep in Children. Without restful or enough sleep we do not function at our best. With Children, lack of sleep can manifest by an increase in tantrums, reduced concentration.  I have trouble winding down and getting to sleep and I am sure that some children are the same. There are a number of things we can do to help our bodies sleep well. Here are some things I do to help get a good nights sleep for my kids and myself

  1. Reducing screen time before bed. Artificial Blue light can be damaging to our natural circadian rhythm
  2. Go to bed at a similar time each night. Children(6-13) on average need 9-11hrs. It can be different for everyone so listen to sleep ques.
  3. Relax in a Magnesium bath. I add 1-2 tablespoons af Magnesium salts with 1-2 drops Lavender Essential Oil to my kids bath. The essentail oils can be mixed with a tsp of jojoba or coconut oil which will leave skin feeling moisturised. There are numerous benefits of Magnesium and sleep is just one of them. Magnesium is also best absorbed through the skin. Lavender Essential Oil has a calming scent and is also excellent for calming nervous tension and anxiety
  4. Foot massage. My kids love a foot massage and find it extremely relaxing. While sometimes it is a love hate relationship with giving the foot massage, I have extremely fond memories of one of friends mum’s doing this for me as a teenager and remembering how relaxing it was. Have a think about how long you are on your feet for each day? Young childrenen  may find that massage helps them to relax and encourages a restful sleep. I will often massage a drop of Lavender Essential oil with a tsp of vegetable oil into their feet at bed time. Read more about and how to massage your kids feet here Applying essential oils to the feet is an excellent option as our skin on the soles is the least sensitive. Always follow instructions on the bottle and test patch first.
  5. Diffusing Essential Oils. Using a ultrasonic diffuser with a few (2-3) drops of essential oil can encourage a restful sleep. I use a small number of drops as I find that is all you need in a bedroom. Lavender is extremely relaxing. Orange Essential oil encourages feelings of happiness. Peace and Calming  encourages deep relaxation and Gentle baby promotes a calm atmosphere for Mother and baby and in my experience everyone! Gentle baby would have one fo my all time favourites to create a calm environment.

For FAQ’s about dilution and safety of essential oils read here

To down load a chart by Robert Tisserand outlinging appropiate dilutions please click here

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Topical dilution guidlines are as follows
0.5% for 2-6yrs old
1% for 6-12
2% 12 +
3% occasional use such as perfume
I don’t use concentrations higher than this as I don’t find it necessary at all.
For topical application for a 8yr old you could add 3 drops of Lavender to a 10ml roller bottle and top up with a carrier oil. All ready to roll on the feet for a night time massage!
Enjoy and have a  restful sleep
Belinda x
If you would like to purchase essential oils, please click here and read about Young Living’s premium Starter pack that I started with. Lavender is in the pack!

Removing Blue light from your Screens

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Have you ever sat at the computer until late at night and then found it difficult to sleep? I know I have. Did you know about the affects of Blue light? Researches have shown that that exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin which helps the body to sleep. Disruption of the production of melatonin can have negative affects on your body’s ability to sleep, disrupting your circadian rhythm.

I have known about this but have not known what to do about it and sometimes night time is the best time for getting some work done once the kids are in bed. Yesterday I came across f.lux software that will change the brightness on your computer screen to block out the blue light. Genius!! Wish I had found this sooner. Then today I was at work and mentioned it and one of the students (love when they teach me things, as they are way more tech savvy than me) also showed me how to alter the screen of my iphone! So I have thought that there are probably lots of other people out there who do not know about this function.  When you swipe up on your phone you will get the screen shown below. Tap on the brightness icon to adjust your settings and then you can set your phone to remove blue light from 7pm-7am.  if you don’t have an iphone your phone may have a similar setting just find your brightness settings and find out if this function is available

↑  brightness setting
Changing your settings will hopefully help with a better nights sleep for everyone. Don’t forget my previous post on magnesium salts that can also help your body to wind down.

Belinda

 

 

 

 

http://www.bluelightexposed.com/#what-are-the-effects-of-blue-light-exposure-on-our-health

https://justgetflux.com