Massage oil for baby

**Willow** · January 22nd, 2008, 07:49 AM

DS has a massage every night after his bath (I don't really know what I'm doing, but he seems to like it!!)

At the moment I am just using the Johnson & Johnson bedtime massage oil (the lavender one).

I'd like to use something else but not sure what - would almond oil with a bit of lavender oil in it work??

If so, where do I buy it and what are the ratios for almond oil/lavender oil??

I have tried some of those 'organic/natural' products on DS (Gaia and another one I can't remember the name of) and it totally freaked his skin out - went all red and irritated and he was unsettled ALL night. I think the smell was way too strong for him (and for me & DH too!)

paradise lost · January 22nd, 2008, 08:00 AM

I used plain sweet almond oil (my usual massage carrier) on DD. To be honest i found ANY amount of essential oil (even 1:50) irritated her skin, so i used to put the oil burner on with lavender in it in her room while she was in the bath then brought her out of the bath, into her room, massaged her with the plain oil and then blew out and removed the oil burner. I find when they're little just the smell can be plenty powerful and it hung around for a few hours after i put it out so she got a good long sleep 8-midnight.

I never used the Johnsons baby oil as it is made of petroleum which is addictive (if you use it the skin stops making its own lubrication and then when yous top the skin goes crazy dry and inflamed and you think "crap" and start using it again, vicious circle), but a friend who used it for a bit used extra extra virgin olive oil for the few days after she stopped the Johnsons stuff and that seemed to sooth the very dry skin. Within about 4 days she'd moved to sweet almond and has never looked back.

Bx

ETA - duh! didn't answer half your question! You can usually get sweet almond oil in healthfood stores and it isn't very expensive. I don't know what "gaia" is like but it's usually safest to stay away from all of the complex "made" oils. The essential oils and the carriers like sweet almond are just pressed out of the ingedient and that's it, no processing or additions, kwim? THat said, my sweet almond oil has vitamin E added which is great for her skin too.

**Kitt3n** · January 22nd, 2008, 08:02 AM

Kosmea is really good if you want to buy it pre made!!

**Alan** · January 22nd, 2008, 08:07 AM

I suggest that you just use olive oil

**Pretty Butterfly** · January 22nd, 2008, 08:21 AM

Yep Alan, good old olive oil is the best!!

**suse** · January 22nd, 2008, 08:26 AM

Hi Willow,

That's fantastic that Logan likes being massaged - Euan is not particularly fussed on it.

I agree with Hoobley about using sweet almond oil for massage, without any blended essential oils. Olive oil is also good. If you don't have a burner, a drop of lavender and/or chamomile in a bowl of warm-hot water and placed under the cot will gently defuse the oil and help sleep. Lavender oil (always considered a 'safe' oil for babies) has some oestrogenic properties and although the effects of very small amounts are unknown (and TBH probably fine), there are some aromatherapists who now do not recommend using lavender in skin preparations for boy babies.

**Willow** · January 22nd, 2008, 08:30 AM

Cool - olive oil it is then!! Always got plenty of that.

I just thought maybe the lavender in the J&J helped him sleep, but it's probably just a gimmick right?! LOL.

Suse - thanks for the tip about the lavender oil. Is it just if its used directly on baby boys' skin?

**suse** · January 22nd, 2008, 11:10 AM

Suse - thanks for the tip about the lavender oil. Is it just if its used directly on baby boys' skin?

As far as I am aware, Willow, yes, it's only thought to potentially be an issue if directly absorbed by the skin. Oil burners/diffusers should be fine. I wish that I had a copy of the material that I read so that I could reference it properly, (it was a reference text on the chemical structure of essential oils), but from memory it noted that lavender is oestrogenic but that no specific research could be found to indicate how much would need to be absorbed in order to have an effect on hormone levels (and possibly on testicular development) in infant boys. TBH it's probably unlikely to be an issue because only very small and highly diluted quantities can be used on a baby's skin without causing irritation (and the concentrations in most commercial preparations are tiny!), but I believe that some aromatherapists are advising caution until further research is done. However, lavender has been used in baby care products for quite a long time, which does suggest that it is unlikely to cause any ill effect on boys!

paradise lost · January 22nd, 2008, 09:03 AM

Lavender DOES help us all sleep, and is used for relaxation in aromatherapy, but the lavender in the J&J is probably outweighed by all the other weird chemicals in there. See if the massage itself with olive oil or sweet almond is enough to help him dream and if it isn't you can get lavender essential oil relatively cheaply at wholefood shops (one bottle lasts AGES). If you want some baby massage techniques i could do a new thread? I have a couple of books on it.

Bx

**Kitt3n** · January 22nd, 2008, 09:09 AM

olive oil and almond oil are also great hair moisturisers!! its all i put in my hair, and for DD

**christy** · January 22nd, 2008, 09:14 AM

I've used the gaia products & like you found the massage oil to be quite strong so I've always diluted it with olive oil or just used olive oil as it is. Interesting about almond oil... both my girls are allergic to almonds, I wonder if they would react if I put it on their skin, hmmm better stick with the olive oil LOL

**Willow** · January 22nd, 2008, 09:17 AM

Christy - sounds like a good idea to me! We have nut allergies in my family too, didn't even think of that.

Hoobley - Would love you to do that thread!!

paradise lost · January 22nd, 2008, 09:21 AM

Sure thing. It's 20 past midnight here, so i'll put something together tomorrow (that's this evening to you hun). I found reading the books helpful not because i stuck to their routines too rigidly but because it gave me clearer ideas iykwim.

Bx

**Liz** · January 22nd, 2008, 09:24 AM

Yep - I was going to say that about allergies. Steer clear of nut oils if there's allergies (altho macadamia nut oil is apparently the one non allergenic nut oil). Same goes for wheat allergies - steer clear of wheatgerm oil.

Olive oil is probably the easiest and cheapest

**Willow** · January 22nd, 2008, 06:33 PM

OK cool, thanks Suse!

Hoobley - no hurry hun, but it would be great to start a thread when you have time.

**Beach Mama** · January 22nd, 2008, 07:07 PM

Just letting you know that Jurlique do a nice baby one too with a little bit of lavendar and chamomile in it, and so do Aromababy.

**meow** · January 22nd, 2008, 07:27 PM

You can do a search and find some articles on the internet about the boys and lavender thing. If we have a son I will restrict how much lavender products we use on his skin just in case.