A nice addition to my toddler’s bedtime routine
I consulted with a pediatric psychologist to help my autistic 27 month old develop a healthy sleep schedule. She stressed a consistent bedtime ritual, which I know is very common advice for kids with sleep trouble, but when your kid requires such “heavy intervention” to fall asleep after two years, you tend to write off such suggestions, thinking there’s no way some lotion or a specific song at bedtime could possibly turn your wild child’s circadian rhythm around, but I had to try. I leaned into it hard, looking for unique activities, books, sounds, and even smells that I could introduce to my kiddo, with the hope that he would eventually come to associate them with bedtime and bedtime alone. With enough practice, introducing those stimuli would hopefully evoke an almost Pavlovian sleepiness and production of melatonin that would trigger my child’s brain and body to prepare for sleep. I decided to incorporate this oil into his bedtime routine. I use it as directed, adding 5-7 drops to his bath. With essential oils like these, I find that 5 drops is more than enough, and it smells up the whole bathroom plus the bedroom the en suite is attached to. I don’t know if aromatherapy really works or if this helps my toddler at all, for any other reason than that Pavlovian response, but even if it is placebo, I also just really love the way it smells. I’ll report back when my bottle is empty to let you all know how long the product lasts! Update: 1 bottle of this oil lasted me about 6 weeks. I’m at the bottom of my current bottle and drops aren’t easily coming out anymore, so I’m ordering another. I typically used only 5 drops rather than 7 per bath. When my husband uses it, he flicks the bottle like he’s a priest exorcising a demon with holy water rather than waiting for the drops to fall down individually, so I’m not sure exactly how many drops he is really using. We gave my son a bath nearly everyday, so it lasted approximately 42 baths. I do wish the product lasted longer for the cost, but I can justify it enough to buy another bottle, obviously. Read more
