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  1. #1
    CBB is offline Gold level (500+ posts)
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    Default Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    After giving DD a bath, I just noticed her scalp was covered with dry scales and pieces of white flakes started to come off when I combed her hair. It looks like dandruff -- I think it's called "cradle cap". She also developed "acne" over her forehead and cheeks for the last week. Both conditions are referred to as "seorrheic dermatitis". Does anyone have any good solutions? Ped said it would go away. Dr. Sear's Baby Book recommended using vegetable oil for cradle cap. I haven't tried it yet. I'm wondering if anyone knows other good remedy would speed the clearing up of "acne" and "cradle cap".

    Also what do you use to wash baby's hair, body and how often a week? I'm using J & J no more tear shampoo and body wash. The bathing class I went to used J & J body wash for both hair and body, and said that we don't need to rinse off completely since its really mild. I don't know if this made her scalp dry since we haven't been rinsing the shampoo and body wash off completely. How often do you wash baby's face and what do you use?

    Thanks,
    Li
    Baby Jasmine 3/18/04
    Baby Justin 9/18/07

  2. #2
    westchicagomom Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    We have used the Mustela Baby Shampoo since we started giving DD baths.

    http://store.babycenter.com/product/...hing/soap/3043

    The only cradle cap flakes we ever saw were on her eyebrows. For a few baths we used the shampoo on those and the flakes disappeared.

    We still only bath DD 2 to 3 times a week and she is almost 7 months old. We use all Mustela products for bathing purposes.

    My niece had a very bad case of cradle cap and her daycare used vegetable oil on her and it worked. I would try it and hopefully you can avoid other chemical treatments.

    I would definitely rinse off any kind of soap or whatever you use since your DD is so young. I am not a big fan of J & J either. You might want to try to find some more natural products that hopefully someone here can recommend (even Mustela has a few more chemicals then I would like). Overall in terms of bathing/washing, less is better when they are newborns. The only area that gets really dirty is the diaper area, so I would concentrate on keeping that clean and not worry so much about her face, etc.

    Regarding baby acne, DD finally got rid of most of it by 5 months. Don't do anything to it - it will go away on its own and if you aggravate it by washing, etc. it will probably make it worse.

    Sorry this is kind of rambling!

  3. #3
    amp Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    The baby facial acne is *very* common and will go away on it's own. You don't need to put anything on it.

    We didn't deal with cradle cap, although I know there are lots of home remedy solutions you can look up online (try www.askdrsears.com) or buy in a store.

    As far as bathing, everyone does things differently. We found that with DS's eczema, his skin responded the best when we only bathed him once or twice a week, and we wash his hair each time he gets a bath. He did have eczema on his scalp (which we thought was cradle cap at first) as well as his body, limbs, face, etc, so our ped prescribed Elidel, which has helped tremendously.

  4. #4
    DeborahM Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    Hi -

    My DS had cradle cap when he was an infant. We were told to use a little olive oil on the spots, rub it in good with the "hairbrush" thing we were given in the hospital to use when washing his hair, rinse it out, then use a baby shampoo to help get the olive oil out. It worked. I think the oil helps loosen the flakes. It's been awhile, but I think we only had to do this once or twice to clear it up.

    We have used J&J products since he was an infant. They have a mild baby wash that is good for both hair and body.

    Good Luck,
    Deborah
    Mom to Thomas (22 mths) and soon-to-be baby girl

  5. #5
    toomanystrollers Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    Hi Li,
    We use J&J body wash on all the kids. Neve gets a bath 2x a week. As for washing her face - just a small washcloth with a tiny bit of J&J - and don't worry, as posted earlier - the baby acne goes away all on its own. Yes, it's sad seeing a little red pimply puss - but it all goes away - promise :)

    As for cradle cap, I had excellent results with Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Treatment. It's in a mint green bottle at Target in the J&J products aisle.

    HTH

  6. #6
    hobey Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    As the PPs said, don't worry about the acne. It goes away on its own. DS had mild cradle cap and we dealt with it by reducing the number of times we wash his hair since we found the more we shampooed his hair, the worse it got. We give DS a bath every day since he's a heavy spitter but only wash his hair 2X/week. We use J&J Body Wash for everything but we make sure to rinse him well. We also don't use soap on is face, just a warm washcloth to wipe everything off.

    Raquel
    Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

  7. #7
    CBB is offline Gold level (500+ posts)
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    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    Thanks everyone. I bathed DD two days in a roll and washed her hair without rinsing shampoo out completely which is probably why she developed the "cradle cap". It looks better now already without any treatment. I ordered the mustela shampoo from babycenter and will give that a try. I'm kind of afraid to put oil on her head because her hair is extremely oily already. As for the "acne", I think it's because I haven't been washing her face everyday (didn't realize I have to before she developed the acne - her face was only getting washed during twice a week bath)-- I feel like such a bad mother. Hopefully her face will clear up soon.

    Thanks again,
    Li
    Baby Jasmine 3/18/04
    Baby Justin 9/18/07

  8. #8
    quikeye Guest

    Default RE: Bathing questions and Seborrheic dermatitis, any good treatment?

    Hi Li! Don't feel like a bad mom-- the acne is TOTALLY normal and will clear up! (DS had his breakout at 5-6 weeks, just in time for MIL's visit! Thankfully she was the one who convinced me it was normal-- I also thought I wasn't washing DS correctly-- and it did clear up on its own in about 2 weeks). You could just use some cotton balls dipped in warm water to wash off her face during the days you don't bathe her, just to get the excess baby buildup off :) Now he still gets the occasional pimplie, but not nearly as much as before! (I was mortified to see it in his hair!!! But it went away w/ the rest of it).

    We use burt's bees soaps (shampoo bar & the baby soap bar), which we really like (plus, no spilling!) Good luck w/ the mustela, I've heard good things about it as well (but fell in love w/ the natural scent of the burt's bees, so...) We also use burt's bees apricot oil on his scalp in order to soften up some of the cradle cap (which, again is totally normal!) and a soft baby brush (not comb, I'm kinda paranoid about the comb & pressing too hard-- I'm still a worrywart!) to brush it in after I give him a little head massage. I get a lot of the flakes off when I brush his hair, plus it's part of our "nighttime ritual" now... he doesn't really need it anymore, but his head smells soooo good and I like to brush his hair, the hair he has anyway! :) I don't rinse it off but by the morning it's all absorbed & his head smells good :) In my experience just w/ the apricot oil, he's not greasy when he wakes up in the morning.

    Also, after I wash ds' hair, I dry it with the bathtowel which seems to help pick up some of the flakes as well--

    Hope this helps, and for reals it's TOTALLY normal and not your fault at all about any of your concerns! (I also didn't think to wash ds' face right away either! Now I just rinse his face w/ water at his nighttime bath, and have loads of cotton balls I'm not using!) :)

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