I just remembered to refill the humidifier that I keep in my little one’s bedroom last week when she had a stuffy nose.
We all had stuffy noses, including my little baby, this past winter. After spending something like $7 on a bottle of Vicks Vaposteam to add to the humidifier, I looked at the active ingredients on the bottle of Vick’s Humidifier Additive and went ahead and purchased the essential oils to make my own. I’m pleased with the results, especially since we’ll be breathing this and I want to know what the quality of the essential oils is.
Homemade Additive for Humidifiers:
- 40 drops Camphor Essential Oil
- 40 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
- 10 drops Cedar Leaf Essential Oil (optional)
- 10 drops Nutmeg Essential Oil (optional)
Add all oils to the water of a warm mist humidifier. Keep all essential oils, especially camphor, away from children. Also watch the young ones around the warm mist humidifiers; they get very hot. Keep the living area of the house humid during illness season to keep mucus membranes moist. Also use in sleeping area to help prevent stuffy noses while sleeping.
(High quality essential oils at a good price are available at Mountain Rose Herbs)
Each bottle of essential oil was about $4 and after being used at least a dozen times I still have 3/4 of each bottle left, making it a worthwhile purchase.
I’m big on prevention, and when stuffy noses are going around I try to remember to use the humidifier at nap time to keep those mucous membranes moist so everyone’s less likely to catch the sickies.
More help for winter sickies:
My humidifier doesn't have one of those little "cups" to put the oils/vaposteam in, so would I add it directly to the water in the tank? I have a Honeywell warm-mist humidifier and I would love to keep using it instead of buying a new one!
I was wanting to add essential oils to the water of my warm mist humidifier but was worried about cleaning the unit?
That's what I do- I put it directly into the tank
Great advice and good common sense. You can learn something from anyone that you encounter – good, bad, or indifferent. Everyone brings something different to the table.
Just put some eucalyptus and camphor in daughter’s vaporizer – I really need to get a warm air version, am hoping the cool mist will at least help a bit. Thak you! :) Katie
Hope it works well! We’ve been running ours every other night or so to keep the air moist near the bedrooms. A few drops of the essential oils are good in the kids’ baths too!
Just want to share a word of caution to research your oils carefully before using with children. I had some supposedly child safe essential oils in a wall diffuser, plus just water in a warm mist humidifier in my one-year-old’s room for sleeping. It turned into an emergency room visit for severe allergic reaction to the oils. It took about 3 weeks for his little body to recover from the reaction, and we had to scour everything in the room to remove oil residue…walls, removed and washed all fabric items/toys, furniture, rugs, etc. We are now scent free in every way in our home. I’m a believer in EO therapy, but gave it all up for now in the best interest of my little one’s safety.