OT cradle cap

[JBaxter]

My friends baby is getting a wicked case of cradle cap. What do you use for getting rid of it? My 3 never had it so Im at a loss on what to suggest. TIA for the suggestions.

[linsei]

I read in a parenting book to use vaseline or baby oil. I didn't have any baby oil, so I used vaseline. DO NOT USE VASELINE! ;) It did work, but made a nappy, greasy mess; which had to be removed with Dawn.

I would try baby oil and massage into the scalp using a soft baby brush.

Linda

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[babymama]

DS had bad cradle cap sometime around 18 months or so. On the advice of his teacher at school, I tried baby oil but that just made his hair look greasy and didn;t improve his condition at all.

I, then, picked up a product by Gerber called "cradle cap kit" at BRU. I treated him with it once and the cradle cap was gone. The box includes a shampoo and a lotion (conditioner?) and a comb and maybe something else. It did the trick for us.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, my 2 yr old monster
and new baby girl, Solana, born 12/26/05
I'll figure out how to update my avatar someday!

[TaChapm]

We tried everything on the market with Jackson's cradle cap. It is insaine the amount of money we spent on kits and shampoo. The only thing that worked was Mustella's Newborn Foam shampoo. We would put it on and leave it for 2-3 minutes and massage with a washcloth. It was gone in 2 days.
Jackson had it so bad he would bleed sometimes so I swear by the mustella.

Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler William 6-9-05
OMG!!! Baby #3 Due September 5, 2006!

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[jennifer_r]

I've actually had very good luck with baby oil - yet it makes a mess, but it's cheap (since I already had it) and it worked. You have to keep it on the scalp for an hour and then comb or brush off the "scales" - they should come off pretty easily at that point. I then wash her hair - 3 shampooings - to make sure there was no greasy feeling left behind. I nurse so I wear a beat up sweatshirt that can get oily (from her scalp resting on me).

I always time it so I do the treatment right before I give her a bath - it's just a little extra time in the tub. I do it as "needed" - maybe every couple of weeks or even less often than that.


Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

[Tondi G]

My ped said the baby oil just adds to the build up really and just makes for greasy hair. I found this out after I tried baby oil and it broke my sons face out BAD!

his suggestion... use good ole Johnsons Baby shampoo and take an OLD SOFT toothbrush and srcub it away! We tried it and it did the trick.... for both kiddos!

Hope this helps you!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason 7/8/01 and Aidan 5/4/05

[proggoddess]

Instead of a comb, we would sometimes use a soft, nylon-bristled brush. One came with our Safety 1st grooming kit, but you could also use an old toothbrush with a large head. We just softened the scales with water (like right after a bath).

Of course, the brush also pulled out DD's hair. They lose their hair naturally anyway, but it might be alarming to see your baby get balder and balder. :) Especially if their scalp already looks strange.

[heather_c]

This may sound strange, but our pediatrician recommended using an anti-dandruff shampoo, like Selsen Blue, to get rid of cradle cap. It worked within a few shampoos of using this with a small brush to massage the scalp. You need to be super careful not to get it into their eyes.

We tried other suggestions, but this is the only thing that worked for our stubborn case of cradle cap. The baby oil caused the scales to build up. This is just our experience, but I hope it helps.

Heather

Matthew - 9/7/05

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[s7714]

My DDs' ped recommended Head & Shoulders too. I can't stand the harsh smell of that stuff though, so I only tried it once.

I've just been using regular J&J shampoo and a very soft toothbrush. That gets rid of most of it. Not all, but most. My older DD had minor cradle cap too and it eventually went away on it's own, so I'm not to worried about forcing my younger DD's to disappear with products.

Jennifer
Mommy to
DD 3/03
DD 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
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[mommyoftwo]

My dd has some pretty nasty cradle cap herself. I got the gerber cradle cap kit, but it was so oily that it took five washings to get the oil out and even then it wasn't completely gone. It did work however. I didn't like the idea of using head & shoulders on my 3 mo (at the time) so I didn't try it although it works great with my two year old who STILL has cradle cap. I have found that what works best for us is the burts bees apricot oil. You do have to leave it on for at least an hour and I find that a comb isn't very good at getting the scales out. A soft brush or even gently using your fingernail works better. I agree with the previous poster about the hair coming out. I noticed that too. As far as getting the oil out, I recently tried the burts bees shampoo bar and was extremely impressed. I only have to wash her hair once or twice now. Using the apricot oil with other baby shampoo took a lot more washings. I found that after the first couple of big treatments, it's easier to stay on top of it and it doesn't get as bad. That's my experience anyway.

[kozachka]

We've used olive oil. I felt it was the most natural option and certainly one of the cheaper ones too. We'd brush the scales out with a soft toothbrush and shampoo afterwords. Next day DS' hair would look greasy but I could not care less. It was worth not making him scream through an extra wash or two that it would have taken to get his hair perfectly clean.

Our pediatrician recommended we do NOT use regular shampoo for DS since he already has dry/sensitive skin on his head. Instead we use Cetaphil.

[Corie]

Our pediatrician recommended Selsun Blue also.
Both of my kids had the most disgusting cradle cap that
you have ever seen. I should have taken pictures of
it for the scrapbook!

The Selsun Blue worked wonders!! And yes, be very
careful when using this shampoo that it doesn't get
in their eyes!

[nfowife]

My DD has cradle cap as well, she's had it since birth pretty much. It isn't a bad case, and it isn't noticeable, but it gets on my nerves! Anyhow my ped. and the ped. dermatologist I go to said to not scrub too hard or it can make it worse. He said to use a coal tar (anti-dandruff) shampoo. I'm using neutrogena T-gel and though it smells like mothballs it's doing the job. I use it every other day (because that's how often she gets a bath) and use a comb to rough up the scales a bit but not too hard. My DD has quite a bit of hair so it's hard to see and hard to get out, too. Mostly I just ignore it because it isn't harmful or painful and most kids grow out of it by about 5 years old. The derm actually said that unless it's bothering my DD (bleeding and such) to just leave it be, sometimes being to rough in removing it can cause more problems and infection if you use your fingernails to pull the scales- yick!

[erosenst]

Bad case here, too. Ped likes dandruff shampoo as well, and particularly likes Sebulex. I had never heard of it. My mother laughed - it was what she used on MY cradle cap 45 years ago! We also used a soft toothbrush to loosen what loosened easily.

Abby's cradle cap got pretty bad from 4-6 months, and it obviously bothered her as she was scratching it. In addition to the Sebulex, we used hydrocortisone cream on it (as well as her eczema). It was a greasy mess - but worked great.

She had a brief flare-up at about 20 months. Used the Sebulex 2 or 3 times, and it was gone.

[m448]

I can't remember where I read it but I think I saw that a paste of baking soda and water left in for a few minutes is supposed to be very good for cradle cap.

Marielle


Ian - born 10/03
&
Ryan - born 01/06

[EllasMum]

I strongly recommend the vaseline! My DD had a fairly bad case of cradle cap a while back. While I was giving her a bath, I rubbed the vaseline into the affected areas and then let her play for another 5-10 minutes or so, and then took a little baby comb (it's actually the comb from the Gerber comb and brush set - I got it at Wal-mart) and brushed *against* the direction of the scales' growth. It worked like a charm! You can actually see the flakes on the comb - you'll need to wipe the comb on a cloth or something after each pass. After I had cleaned out the scales I washed her hair with regular baby shampoo and now her head is so shiny you can practically see yourself in it! Worked great! Yes, the hair does feel a bit greasy afterward but it usually is back to normal after the 2nd or 3rd subsequent shampooing. I found the slight greasiness a fair trade for the scales!

Good luck to your friend!

[mamaturk]

My DD did not have cradle cap, but a friends son did. Her ped suggested rubbing mayo on the babies head and letting it sit there for a little while. I think she had to do it a few times but it did end up working.

[holliam]

DD had it and I used a simple paste of baking soda in the bath one day and used a comb to comb it all out. I then applied apricot oil overnight. Her hair was greasy for about a day or so, but it completely went away with that one treatment.

Holli

[starrynight]

Have her try nothing but water on the baby's scalp the next 1-2 times she washes up his/her head. Sometimes it's from soap/shampoo buildup and washing a few times in just water gets rid of it.

[PurpleDog]

This is what I recommend to patients, after having two of my own kids with what seemed like six inches of scaley nasty stuff all over their scalps (and I tried every single thing all my peds textbooks and discussion board recommended):

-Put baby in tub and wet head a little with washcloth.
-With a very soft baby hairbrush gently massage in olive oil or vegetable oil. (I think the water loosens up that top layer of dead epithelial cells and lets the oil penetrate a bit. The oil really loosens up the scales. Olive oil in particular has a bit of antimicrobial action.).
-Put warm wet washcloth on the baby's head for a few minutes while oil is on.
-Wash hair gently with T-Gel (or Selsun Blue).

I recommend doing this every night till the scales are mostly gone, but BE GENTLE, then one to three times a week for 2-3 weeks. I haven't had any treatment failures (at least that have reported back to me).

Vicki

[nov04]

This is what we did, worked fine.

[8isenough]

If she is not BF, then organic olive oil works well too.

Sterling

[mommyoftwo]

Did you apply BM the way you would baby oil, olive oil etc? I have a ton of breastmilk stocked up and think that sounds like an interesting solution to the cradle cap problem.

[octmom]

DS had a pretty mild case, but we used olive oil too. We just massaged some on his scalp and sat him in his high chair with a towel covering the cushion. Then I used the soft plastic brush from the hospital and gently brushed the scales. A couple of good shampoos and it was gone. The photos are pretty priceless. DS with a greasy head, an indignant look on his face, and a bottle of EVOO in front of him on his high chair tray. :P

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD is scheduled to arrive via c/s on March 21! :)

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[kransden]

Dd had a mild case of it and the Gerber product worked great on her.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02