The article on lavender for getting to REM sleep reminded me of the benefits of lavender during a stressful time in my life. Some days I could barely breathe under the stress of it all, but then one day while cleaning out a cupboard I found my lavender essential oil. It also helped my prenatal nausea.
Lavender is really good at getting small children to sleep too.
Instead of using it on their skin, you can rub just a bit on their clothing and it really clams them down. I will be growing a number of types of lavender this year in the gardens. Right now the plants are small but I was surprised how the leaves smell so much like the essential oil form. Used under License.