OT cradle cap

[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