Chasing the Monsters Away

Whether it's your little love’s active mind (which means the talking and questions will not quit long enough for the eyes to shut) or fear of a bad dream, try making a Sleepy Time Spray to help your little one sleep. You can make your own or work with a qualified aromatherapist to create a blend that is just right for your family.

When fear is behind the bedtime delays, relaxing and soothing your little one is key. Fear causes a rush of adrenaline, blood vessels contract, senses sharpen, muscles contract – ‘fight or flight’ is not conducive with ‘lay still and relax’.

Spraying your child as well as his or her pillows and sheets a few times before bed will help for a number of reasons:

-Essential oils have physiological effects on our bodies. Choosing oils that are soothing, relaxing, sedative and calming to the mind will counterbalance the physical response to the fear.

-Believing in something has a significant amount of power – if our brains believe we can do it, then mountains do in fact move.

-Routines provide stability, which can calm and soothe anxiety and fear.

Creating a Sleep Spray

Our first spray intended for bedtime was a bit of a fail. Instead of their spray, the boys liked Mommy’s spray much better. Mommy's spray was simply Sweet Grass Hydrosol with a handful of Sandalwood drops. A close runner up was the Attitude Adjuster Spray I created to discourage bad moods (especially while the entire family was confined in small spaces together).

My point, is that whatever you create will likely have multiple applications and uses in your household.

Start your blending process with your intentions. For us, it is to:

Relax

Soothe

Trigger happy memories of snuggly sleep routines

Provide closure and the end to the questions or story telling

There are so many oils that will have the above effect, so you have a lot of room for personal preferences. The last time we blended, all I did was suggest some oils, the amounts of drops and the boys did the rest. Ohh, and I was in charge of set up and clean up of course.

Here are some oils to consider*– Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Myrrh, Neroli, Orange, Roman Chamomile, Sandalwood, Spikenard, Vetiver and Ylang Ylang

Remember Creating a Smoother Bedtime post has good suggestions about routines and other essential oil blends to help with bedtime.

Making your blend

With or without your child’s supervision (aka their input and help), gather your supplies

For our recent blends, we used:

1oz spray bottle (1 per child can be a good idea)

1oz Sweet Grass hydrosol (water is a great substitute)

½ -1 tsp aloe vera  (this is needed if you want to spray on your body - oils should not be applied to the skin without a carrier oil)

2 drops of Lavender

2 drops of Ylang Ylang

1 drop of Neroli/Petigrain

1 drop of Myrrh

Shake it well before every use.

At bedtime, try one spray around the face area (ask your little one to close his/her eyes first), a spray for each pillow and sometimes a spray for the stuffed friends sharing the bed.

FYI – this works for adults too! When brains are whirling and refuse to shut down, spray your face and neck as well as your linens. Climb back into bed, take a deep breaths and let the relaxation take over.

Wishing everyone Sweet dreams!

*It is important to use high quality oils.

I highly recommend only buying oils from a distributor that provides the GC/MS. This is the scientific analysis/report that categorizes the chemical components in the oil – ensuring that it is natural, not synthetic as well as that your oils was not diluted or the crop wasn’t sprayed with any pesticides or fertilizers.