A Guide to Using Essential Oils for Breastfeeding

Lots of breastfeeding mums look at essential oils as a natural way to ease sore nipples, boost low mood, or help with sleep. Some oils are genuinely useful when used sensibly. Others are best avoided altogether while you’re nursing. Always check with your GP, midwife, health visitor or a qualified aromatherapist before using any essential oil, especially if you have a newborn, a premature baby, or any health condition of your own.

Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts, and “natural” doesn’t automatically mean “safe”, particularly when there’s a baby feeding from you several times a day. A tiny amount of oil applied to your skin or breathed in can end up, in small traces, in your breastmilk or on your baby’s skin. This guide runs through what’s generally considered lower risk, what to steer clear of, and how to use oils properly if you decide to give them a go.

Why some breastfeeding mums use essential oils

Mums reach for essential oils for all sorts of reasons: to try to soothe cracked or sore nipples, to help with relaxation and sleep, to lift their mood, or simply because they enjoy having a nice scent around the house during a pretty exhausting stage of life. Some are marketed as galactagogues, meaning they’re claimed to boost milk supply, though it’s worth knowing the evidence behind most of these claims is thin. If you’re genuinely worried about your milk supply, a lactation consultant or your health visitor is a far more reliable first port of call than an oil bottle.

Quality matters a lot with essential oils. They aren’t regulated in the same way medicines are, so purity and concentration can vary hugely between brands. Look for suppliers who publish batch testing (GC/MS reports) and clearly list the Latin or botanical name of the plant, not just the common name, since two oils with similar names (like sage and clary sage) can behave very differently in the body.

Oils generally considered lower risk while breastfeeding

There’s a lot of understandably cautious advice out there about what not to do while nursing. Below are some oils that are more commonly used by breastfeeding mums, along with what they’re typically used for. This isn’t a guarantee of safety for everyone, and you should still patch test, dilute properly, and check with your doctor first, particularly if your baby is very young, premature, or has any health issues.

*Fennel oil in particular should only be used for short periods, no more than around 10 days in a row, and only after checking with your doctor first. Fennel contains compounds that can affect hormones, and it isn’t suitable for everyone, especially if you or your baby have a history of seizures.

You’ll notice basil and clary sage aren’t on this list, even though older articles sometimes group them with “supply boosting” oils. Clary sage in particular is more often associated with reducing milk supply in aromatherapy circles, which is the opposite of what you’d want, so it’s better avoided unless a qualified practitioner has advised it for a specific reason (such as helping with weaning).

Argan oil is worth a separate mention here too. It’s technically a carrier oil rather than an essential oil, and it’s a genuinely good, gentle option for soothing dry or cracked nipples between feeds because it’s well tolerated and doesn’t need to be diluted the way essential oils do.

Essential oils to avoid while breastfeeding

Some oils are best left alone while you’re nursing, either because they can genuinely reduce milk supply, because they contain compounds that are known to be risky for babies even in tiny amounts, or because there simply isn’t enough safety data to feel confident about them.

Methyl salicylate, found in wintergreen and in Olbas oil, is worth flagging on its own. It’s chemically related to aspirin, and it’s genuinely dangerous for infants in even small quantities. This is one of the clearest reasons to avoid certain oils altogether rather than “just being careful” with them.

If you’re ever unsure whether a specific oil is safe, it’s far better to leave it out and ask your health visitor, GP or a qualified clinical aromatherapist rather than guessing.

Where essential oils can genuinely help with the mental side of breastfeeding

Being a new mum and choosing to breastfeed can be exhausting, both physically and mentally. This is one area where essential oils, used sensibly, can be a genuinely nice bit of self care rather than a medical treatment.

A few drops of properly diluted lavender oil in a warm bath, or rubbed (diluted) onto the soles of your feet before bed, is a gentle way to wind down after a long day of night feeds. Wild orange or lemon oil in a diffuser during the day can help lift your mood and give you a bit more focus when you’re running on broken sleep. None of this replaces proper rest, support, or speaking to your GP if you think you might be dealing with the baby blues or postnatal depression, but it can be a small, pleasant part of your routine.

How to use essential oils safely

There are four main ways breastfeeding mums use essential oils. Each one carries slightly different considerations when you’ve got a baby around.

1. Diffuser

Diffusers work by dispersing tiny droplets of oil and water into the air, so you don’t dilute the oil with a carrier oil for this method, that step is really only relevant when you’re applying oil directly to skin. Add a few drops of your chosen oil (around three to five drops is usually plenty for a standard diffuser) to water and run it for short bursts of ten to fifteen minutes at a time, once or twice a day, rather than leaving it on constantly.

Keep the diffuser out of your baby’s room, especially away from the cot, and make sure the room is well ventilated. Remember that whatever you’re breathing in, your baby is too, and babies’ airways and skin are far more sensitive than adults’, so less is more.

2. Topical application

Applying oil directly to the skin is fine in some cases, but it always needs to be properly diluted in a carrier oil first, such as fractionated coconut oil, sweet almond oil, or olive oil. A common starting dilution for adults is around one drop of essential oil per teaspoon of carrier oil, roughly a 1% dilution, which is gentler than some of the stronger recipes you’ll see online. Rub your hands together to warm the mixture before applying it to your skin.

Avoid putting anything directly on the nipple or areola. If you want to apply oil somewhere near the breast area, such as your chest or upper body, do it right after a feed rather than before, so there’s plenty of time for it to absorb and for the scent to fade before your baby feeds again.

Babies can be surprisingly sensitive to smell and taste, and a strong or unfamiliar scent near the breast can sometimes put a baby off feeding, or make them fussier at the breast than usual. If you notice your baby seems reluctant to latch after you’ve used an oil, wash the area with warm water and skip that oil next time.

3. Bath

Adding essential oils to bathwater is a popular way to use them, though it’s worth knowing that oil and water don’t mix, so drops of pure essential oil can sit on the water’s surface and touch your skin undiluted unless you mix them into something like a carrier oil, unscented bath oil, or even a cup of full fat milk first. Four to six drops total is usually enough for a full bath. Lavender is a good place to start for relaxation, or a mix of lavender and wild orange if you want something calming that still leaves you a bit more alert afterwards.

4. Internal use

Taking essential oils by mouth, in food, drinks or capsules, is not something to do while pregnant or breastfeeding unless you’re being directly supervised by a qualified healthcare professional who is aware you’re nursing. This isn’t just an overcautious rule. Ingested oils are absorbed differently and in much larger amounts than oils used on skin or in a diffuser, and what you consume can pass into your breastmilk.

Whatever you take in, your baby gets a version of too. When in doubt, leave it out.

There’s no single “right” way to use every oil, and different oils suit different methods. Use good judgement, start with the gentlest option, and check with your GP, health visitor or pharmacist if you’re not sure.

General safety precautions

The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA) publishes useful guidance on using essential oils safely, and it’s worth reading their pregnancy and breastfeeding section directly rather than relying on second hand advice. A few basics worth sticking to:

• Keep essential oils well out of reach of children and pets, ideally in a locked box or high cupboard. Concentrated oils can be genuinely dangerous if swallowed by a toddler.
• Always dilute properly before applying to skin, and follow the specific guidance for each individual oil rather than assuming they all behave the same way.
• Avoid using the same oil continuously for weeks on end. Give your body a break between periods of use.
• Never use an oil you don’t recognise or can’t identify by its full botanical name.
• Do a patch test on a small area of skin before wider use, and wait 24 hours to check for any reaction.
• Check the specific safety profile of each oil, especially around pregnancy, breastfeeding and use with young children.
• Keep oils away from your eyes and away from your baby’s eyes, mouth and hands.
• Many essential oils are flammable, so keep them away from open flames and candles.
• Use diffusers in a well ventilated room rather than a small closed space.
• Don’t take any oil internally unless a qualified professional has specifically advised it for you.

You can find more detail on the NAHA safety page, which is a genuinely useful reference if you want to go deeper into this topic.