My 5 mo scratches his head often and I haven't been able to figure out a way to stop him. He had cradle cap at birth and we're currently treating it, but we're not sure what else we can do. He does this when he's upset or excited. Any suggestions?
My 4 month old does the same thing! I just went to the doctor and he told me to get head and shoulders shampoo and coat his head and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then put Hyrdacortizone on it after his bath. I have done that the past 2 nights and there have been no new scratches so maybe it's working!
Hey K.,
My youngest child did the same thing- in fact when he was 4 months old, my husband and I went to Brazil, and left all three of our kids w/ his parents, well, when we came home my baby looked like he had been on chemo! He had scratched his head so much he had bald patches... needless to say he wore a cap a lot in the following weeks. I just kept his nails really short, kept a little cap on him and to help clear up the cradle cap I used all natural tea tree shampoo (be care full it can sting the eyes) that I bought at Whole Foods. Eventually he out grew his head scratching and has a full head of beautiful red curls.
My 7 month old has done it from birth. He had cradle cap and ezcema, but it is getting better. I have been told that he does it because it calms him down. Not sure about that, but I think it does.
It sounds like a trait he has gotten from someone in the family.
My daughter has eczema and she did have cradle cap also and does the same thing as far as the scratching goes. She is now 16 months old and when she was that age we would put her in a sleep sack with the fold over hand mittens at night which seemed to be the time she would scratch the most. I know you know this, but keeping her nails trimmed as short as possible also helped some. We use Cetaphyl lotion and soap and that really helps with the itchiness. We also use the All free and clean laundry detergent(no dyes or perfumes). She still scratches when she is upset sometimes though, and the doctor said it is probably behavioral. If I see her scratching without an obvious cause, I usually gently tell her no scratching and gently move her hand away from where she is itching. With repetition this has helped with most of the scratching except the nighttime scratching which she still does a little bit but not as much. The Cetaphyl soap and medicing for the spots with eczema have really helped the most though.
As an RN, it's difficult to see anything but a medical solution. But have you tried the simple solutions to cradle cap? Olive oil on the scalp is very gentle as the cradle cap gets loosened up to be removed by a light shampoo. And please, go to a health food store and buy a shampoo with natural ingredients! It may be your shampoo that your baby is reacting to.
I have 2 sons and when they were infants they would scratch their faces so I had to keep hand mittens on them. My youngest has eczema and was sensitive to lotions so I used Aveeno they have great lotions and shampoos for skin conditions.
Have you tried putting socks on his hands? Maybe with the socks he won't like to do it anymore.
