Lavender Oil Aromatherapy on Infantile Colic and Maternal Mood: A Double Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Excessive crying is a self-limiting problem and disappears in a few weeks, however, it can be irritating for the parents, leading to maternal depression or exhaustion, and stress in the parents. The study evaluated the effect of lavender oil inhalation on duration of daily crying in the infants who suffered infantile colic. Methods: In this double blind randomized clinical trial, the main inclusion criteria were: healthy infants, no consumption of any drugs for infantile colic, healthy mothers, having one crying episode ≥ 2 hours per day (prolonged crying). The intervention group received inhalation of lavender oil and the control group received sweet almond oil for seven days. Duration of crying in the four parts of a day (morning, afternoon, evening, and night) was gathered by phone call. Also, maternal mood score was assessed at baseline and 7th day of intervention by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale. Results: At baseline, the two groups were not different in relation to infant’s crying duration. However, they were significantly different after intervention in all seven days of the study (p<0.001). Also, using repeated measures analysis, the difference between the two groups was significant (p<0.001). After intervention, there was fewer prolonged crying in the lavender group compared to the control group. In lavender group, maternal mood score was significantly lower than the control group on the 7th day of intervention (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that a 1% concentration of the lavender oil can alleviate the colic symptoms and results in maternal mood improvement.

Keywords: Infantile colic, Aromatherapy, Lavender oil, Excessive crying