JET?LAG

My three children arrived back from a two?week stay in Michigan absolutely exhausted. It was their first transatlantic flight since they were babies, so they were not at all 'seasoned travellers'. On arriving home at 10 in the morning after an 11?hour journey, they each had a bowl of cereal and went to bed. I wasn't sure whether to wake them up later in the day, or let them continue to sleep in the vain hope that they might sleep for 24 hours. Unfortunately they only managed 14 hours, which meant that by midnight they were wide awake and remained so until 6.30 the following morning. I did not want the strange sleeping pattern to continue for too long, so I woke them up at midday. To say that they were tired would be an understatement, so each had a bath with rosemary and germ oils, after which their vitality seemed to be increased.

Over the next few hours they all seemed to be in a depressive lethargic state, and so I decided to conduct an experiment. I one child off to bed for an hour's nap, as a 'control' One daughter had dilute rose oil rubbed onto her neck, hands and wrist. My third child (who had been the most grumpy) was given some oils to smell. I put drops of jasmine, lemon and bergamot oils onto a tissue and wafted this under his nose. Of course he protested, saying that it was horrible, but the reaction was remarkable. Within two minutes he smiled and said 'I feel better already'. Every so often he would shiver slightly, as if he were very cold, and described these sensations as being like ripples going through his muscles. It seemed to me that his body was letting go of the stress and tension encountered by most air travellers. His sleep patterns returned to normal much faster than that of his sisters, who needed a nightly massage to get them off to sleep.

I have my own way of coping with jet?lag; I don't allow myself to have it. When flying back from the west coast of America, I try to get a flight which arrives mid?morning UK?time. This means that I can drive home and be in bed by about I p.m., having set my alarm for 6 p.m. Sometimes it seems hard, but at 6 p.m. I force myself out of bed, and into a rosemary and geranium bath. Then I go to the supermarket to re?stock my groceries, followed by a Iight meal in a restaurant. Ten o'clock is when I allow myself to go to bed, and just to make sure that I have a deep sleep, I unplug the phones and put some marjoram oil onto a tissue or on the ceramic burner. Next morning at about 9 a.m., I get up, have another rosemary and lemongrass bath, and tell myself that it's just a normal day. Then I just go ahead and have a normal day (although I can't handle anything which requires mental dexterity). As long as I continue the morning rosemary baths, and make sure I am in bed by 10 p.m. then I find that my body rhythms very quickly become readjusted, and I can truthfully say that I do not suffer from jet?lag.


TRAVEL SICKNESS

When my children were younger travel sickness was something I tried hard to guard against, because vomit is one aroma which I am not partial to! My eldest daughter would often complain of feeling sick while travelling on motorways. If she had been eating I would give her peppermint oil to smell, as peppermint is renowned for its stomachic properties (calming the stomach). Nervous tension is also a cause of travel sickness, and in this case the aroma of lavender would be more beneficial, as it is soothing and calming. The easiest way to use these essences without fear of spillage is to put one drop of either peppermint or lavender onto a tissue, and breathe in the vapours. Only on one occasion have I needed to clean up the back seat of my car, and then it was my fault for allowing my daughter to eat a huge cream?cake in a motorway service station. If a child (or adult for that matter) is prone to feeling car sick, the choice of foods taken before and during travel should be given careful consideration.

Lavender and peppermint oil on a tissue is the easiest way of breathing in the soothing vapours. A tissue impregnated with these oils can be placed inside a small plastic bag (sandwich?bag?sized) and popped into the glove compartment. When needed, just tear open a small hole in the bag and inhale.