Parents urged to learn fully about essential oils before using them on their children

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some local parents are using essential oils for their kids as alternatives to relieve pain, diaper rashes and insomnia, among other things. But experts say their oils could be putting kids in danger.

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“I use a mixture with his diapers, if he gets a diaper rash, there’s a mixture I use, with lavender, which is really soothing, and it helps to heal,” Diona Williams said.

Williams has not only been selling essential oils, but using them on her entire family, including her two-and-a-half year old son, for about a year.

“I looked into a lot of the companies, where they grow their plants, how it’s processed,” Williams said.

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While Williams said she did her research, and talked to her doctor before using the oils, other parents aren’t doing the same.

"The most detrimental exposure is usually from parental ignorance about them," said Mubarak Abdur-Rahman, pediatric emergency physician at Wolfson Children's Hospital at Baptist North Medical Campus.

Abdur-Rahman said many parents are improperly using the oils on their children, and they think, “If a little bit is good, then a lot is better and it gets a lot of kids in trouble.”

He said the most common side-effect is local irritation when ingested by children.

According to Florida's Poison Control Centers, the numbers of exposures is getting worse for Florida among children younger than 10.

In 2005, there were 38 exposures; in 2010, 99. In 2015, there were 532, and for this year, so far, there are 485.

Abdur-Rahman said there are a lot of potential unknowns. And it’s difficult to know what’s in them since they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

“It’s just not about a matter of going to a store and just buying a bottle of lavender. There’s different concentrations, there’s different companies that produce them, it’s not a one-size fits all. So the best thing before you treat your child with any of these oils is speak to someone who knows about them first,” Abdur-Rahman says.

“A little bit goes a long way, and especially with kids they are so much smaller than us anyway, you’ve got to really look at how much you’re putting on them,” Williams said.

Parents are reminded to keep essential oils and anything a child might accidentally ingest out of the reach of small children.

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