Lavender oil for itching pox?

[Tissy]

Dd (2) has chicken pox, and our cleaner has told dh that lavender oil is good to stop itching. We have a large bottle of the stuff, which usually goes to sweeten the nappy bucket, but I'm a little hesitant about putting it neat onto her sore skin. Has anyone heard of this remedy?

never heard of this, but it doesn't mean it's not a valid remedy. when dd had it last year, i used to put loads of calamine lotion on her spots and gave her an anthystemine syrup (chemist would be good at advising you what is appropiate for your dd's age, i think we used Pirython- no idea how to spell this, sorry). Also, a lukewarm bath with some bicarbonate of soda dissolved in the water should help - i haven't done that but read about it in a childcare book and heard other mums reccomending this method.

we're doing the bicarb in the bath and the Piriton, already, but only give her that at bedtime, as it seems to make her drunk! About half an hour after getting the stuff she's singing manically, with hand actions, then fairly suddenly falls asleep! Toying with the idea of giving her a bit more to see if the sleeping will last all night- we had a 4 am wake-up call this morning (bad mummy!).

it sounds to me you're doing all you should be doing. the itching stage should only last for about 3 days so there is an end in sight... i know she's all covered in spots now but just take her out and about all day and she'll forget the scratching. i laughed when reading what she does when going to sleep! get her on camera, it sounds so sweet! could you give her a second dose whilst she's sleeping (just wake her up slightly and use a syringe) at about 12am-2am? pray she won't suddenly wake up and doing gymnastics in her cot at 2am.

tissy, lavender is great but you CAN'T put it on neat. Either add 4 drops to bath, or mix with pure Aloe Vera gel (this is really cooling on the skin and also can help with itching).
Also make sure the lavender oil is 100% pure esential oil.

I used calamine and bathed in a cool bath. But the most effective I found for the itching during the day was rubbing an ice cube over the spots. It numbs the skin and cools it so you can't feel it itching. My DD aged 6 months caught chicken pox from me! DD didn't like the calamine, so I didn't try the ice cube. Bath was better. i also used socks over my DD hands to minimise any scratching.

Gloworm - just curious, but I thought lavender oil was one of the few essential oils that you can use neat. Or is that only with adults?

willow, you can use lavender and tea tree neat on adults (maybe with care on older children), but only on very small areas, such as a few spots.

shouldn't really use it neat on small children, certainly not on loads of spots (as in c.pox)

although it works well with aloe vera gel you can mix a drop with any old lotion/cream/oil