Essential Oils: Why I Am A Believer

I feel like essential oils are a highly debated topic right now. You either believe in their "power" or think they are hogwash. Or, you're somewhere in the middle, like I was. For a while, I thought maybe they work, maybe they don't. I wasn't firmly a believer, but I didn't write them off either.

Now, I am DEFINITELY a believer. Let me share my journey to this point.

Last year for Christmas, my mom got all of my siblings and me an InnooCare Essential Oil Diffuser and a 6-pack of essential oils after learning about the different uses they have. I was sick a lot last winter during my pregnancy with Eloise (not puke-y sick, more like bronchitis, flu, etc), so we had the diffuser going in our room a lot with a few different oils. I DO think it helped alleviate some of my symptoms then, but since I already had a weakened immune system from being pregnant, I can't say for sure. I was starting to jump on the EO bandwagon back then, but wasn't a TRUE believer yet at that point.

Enter night after night after night of a baby who didn't sleep well. If you've been keeping up with the blog, you know that last week and the week before were tough on this mama. I know it could have been worse, but I am not someone who functions well on little sleep. I essentially turned into this (or at least this is how I felt internally):

Let me tell you, that is a hard monster to keep in check! We tried what I thought was EVERYTHING. Oatmeal in Eloise's bottle at night to keep her from spitting up and waking herself up. NO oatmeal in case it was irritating her. Sound machine all night long. Put her to bed earlier so she wasn't overstimulated. Put her to bed later so she would be super tired. Cry it out (this worked maybe twice - the rest of the times she just escalated in frustration). I prayed every night when I went to bed to please let this be the night that she started sleeping better. Not only for us, but for herself. She was waking several times a night, and a lot of those times she would be up for an hour, sometimes an hour and a half. Her poor night sleeping lead to being so over tired that she didn't nap well at daycare either. This cycle lasted for a few weeks and it was brutal.

And then somehow, in my half-zombie and sleep deprived state last Thursday, I remembered that I still had some lavender essential oil and our diffuser. I had used it in her room a few months back and why I stopped, who knows. I got that baby back out, rinsed it, and loaded it up with as much essential oil as was safe to diffuse in a baby's room. And prayed, like usual, to please let this be the night that she turns a corner and starts to sleep better. At this point I was even praying for her to only wake up 3 times, as long as she went right back down.

My prayers were answered.

The very first night that I had the lavender going in Eloise's room all night, she woke up only once. ONCE, people. Remember, I was praying for a night of 2-3 times of waking. And she only woke once. Not only that, but every night since then, she's only woken once as well, and has gone right back down after being fed. The first few nights, she was still waking around 5.30am, but that was fine with me as long as I was getting some decent sleep throughout the night. Even with the time change, she's improving, which utterly shocked both Dan and me. She's still only waking once (with the exception of last night, but I think she had a night terror the second time she woke, because she got some snuggles from Mama and went back to sleep in 10 minutes), and has even been sleeping until 6am, sometimes later. To continue with The Little Mermaid analogy, I suddenly started feeling less like Ursula and more like this:

THIS experience has been what has fully converted me to a believer in essential oils. Now, I know that it was probably a combination of different things that helped Eloise turn the corner on sleeping better, so I don't want to say that the essential oil was the ONLY thing. But I honestly feel it made the biggest difference. I know it's not for everyone, and I know some people that haven't had as much luck with EOs as we did. But I am sold on their effectiveness. And not that cheap-o version of oils that you can pick up for $5 at the grocery store. No, I've learned that it has to be the good stuff. I just placed an order for the big 15ml bottle of Lavender, and while it cost more, it's something that Dan and I both agreed was worth it.

Lavender is my favorite EO for obvious reasons. I've used it not only diffused in Eloise's (or our) room to help with sleep, but it's great in a bath as well. I actually used a TON of it as I grew more and more pregnant. It really helped me relax and feel calm. Lavender isn't the only oil out there though! There are SO many, and I'm just now starting to really learn about all the different types and benefits. (And no, I'm not a distributor for any company that sells them, I'm really just a consumer learning about them.) Another super popular oil is lemon, as it's pretty versatile. I've heard of people adding just a drop of it to a metal or glass water bottle to add some flavor to their water. I've also been putting a teeny tiny bit in Eloise's diffuser along with the lavender, because it's a natural cleanser as well.

Some of the oils I used a lot last year and plan on doing so again as cold/flu season approaches are tea tree and eucalyptus. Oh how I love the smell of eucalyptus! Every time I diffuse it or take a bath with it, I feel like I've been momentarily been transported to a spa. Since I don't really have the luxury of going to the spa often (or ever, actually), this brings me all those feel good vibes without having to leave the house, or spend hundreds of dollars for one day at the spa. Tea tree oil smells pretty awesome, too - it's more of a warm and spicy smell, perfect as we move into the winter months. But I digress. Back to my point: Both Eucalyptus and Tea Tree oils, especially when diffused, are great for cleansing the air and help keep germs from spreading. I haven't tried Thieves oil yet, but I've heard from others that it's a great oil to help support the immune system. And as we know in the cold of Michigan winters, when we are all cooped up and passing germs back and forth, any help we can get in the immune system support arena is great (especially with 2 kids in daycare)!

Last but not least, let's talk about Fennel oil. This is not one that I have used, and I'll explain why in a second, but a lot of people that HAVE used it swear by it. It's an oil that is known to help breast milk production! Since this is a parenting blog, I feel I would be remiss for not including it in this post, even if I didn't use it. With both of my girls, I never really had an issue with low milk supply. If anything, I had to deal with OVER supply. When I decided I was done breastfeeding/pumping, it was a decision made by me, not one that nature made for me. Meaning I never had any issues with needing to increase my supply. Now, I can't speak for those mamas who, for various reasons, cannot produce enough breast milk for their babes from the beginning. But for mothers who have what would be considered a relatively "normal" milk output, it's quite common to see a dip in supply at some point for a variety of reasons. Some are stress, some are hormonal, some are diet - there are tons of different reasons. So for those people who are at that point and wanting to increase their milk supply, from what I understand, Fennel oil, either applied topically or even in a recipe (think lactation cookies, yum!) has helped lots of mamas out there re-establish their supply.

With all of the benefits I had heard about essential oils, I decided to give them a try and am SO glad I did. Like I said, I'm a novice when it comes to understanding the various benefits of each oil, and I know there are TONS of different oils and oil blends out there. I hope to expand my understanding of the different qualities of each oil and what they can be used for. I'm not a super natural person by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like exploring different options that ARE natural and easily worked into my life. At the end of the day, even if I never become an expert in EOs, I do know one thing: I am a believer.

Especially in that lavender oil. How could I not be when it helps my baby sleep so sweetly?

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