Seeking Suggestions for Clearing up Cradle Cap and Eczema

Updated on April 21, 2007
S.C. asks from Hope Valley, RI
26 answers

My 3 month old girl has a bad case of cradle cap and I am having a hard time clearing it up. I have tried rubbing both baby oil and olive oil and scrubbing with a soft brush and a comb, but my baby has a full head of hair so it is hard to get it on her scalp and it makes a mess of her hair. I have tried letting the shampoo soak for a while at bathtime and then scrubbing and afterwards putting the oil on her head as my peditrician had suggested, but none of that seems to work.
She also has eczema on her face and ears. Some days it is just her cheecks but sometimes her whole face breaks out in blotches. I have tried baby oil, vaseline, Aveeno Baby and Aquaphor at every diaper change and we have been running a cool mist humidifier in the bedroom every night. I thought I had finally conquered it; last week her face looked great but them it flarred up again over the weekend and I am back to square one again. I am now wondering if it is an allegic reaction to something. I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions would be great.

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L.B.

answers from Boston on

put baby oil on the head let sit a while then take a tooth brush. For the eczema ask the doctor about a prescription for hydrocortisone works really well. and try to stay away for shampoo use a mild soap and shampoo. good luck hope it works.

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M.

answers from Boston on

Ask you pedetrician about sending her to an allergist. My daughter had bad eczema on her face and we found out she was allergic to foods. She has since grown out of the food allergies - except for peanuts. We actually brought her to a dermatologist first and got a great mild steroid cream by the name of Dermator. Worked wonders and cleared it right up. Getting into a dermatologist can be difficult. When we tried the local ones were telling us it would be 4-5 months for an appt. I called a dermatologist associated with Mass. General Hospital and I got her in within 2 days.

Good luck.

Good luck.

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J.K.

answers from Boston on

Hi S.,
My niece suffers horrible from eczema and had the cradle cap very badly in the early months (she's 14 mos. now). Her eczema was ultimately caused by food allergies - she is highly allergic to milk based foods and some other foods as well. So her diet is key to keeping her skin under control. If you are not seeing much improvement, you may want to consider requesting that the doctor have her allergy tested.
As for taking care of her skin, I highly recommend the Arbonne Baby Care. I became an Arbonne Independent Consultant BECAUSE of my niece. I was looking for something to relieve her eczema. It is the best thing you can do for her skin and head. There is a reason why the other stuff feels like grease...it IS grease!
Good luck!
J.

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K.P.

answers from Providence on

Our hair dresser recommended Sauve to us and it worked like a charm!

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A.S.

answers from Bangor on

My daughter had really bad baby acne, cradle cap and eczema also. I found it was related to my diet, she was breastfed. I had to eliminate sugar and dairy or watch her suffer, and these from her diet when she began eating solids until her eczema was under control. It does get better. I refused to use any prescription medicines so we just did trial and error to find products and bathing/moisturizing methods that work. She still has eczema at 2 yrs but like previously mentioned it is worse in the winter. I bathe her daily because her eczema used to get infected and I had read that bathing daily and soaking helped on the scaling and I put lotion on immediately after the tub and that is the only time. Some baby eczema lotions made hers worse, they were too oily and creamy for her. I think my husband used to use tar shampoo for cradle cap which helped a little too. But don't be afraid to consult her pediatrician and or allergist because it is so tough to see them suffer.

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M.T.

answers from Springfield on

My son also had pretty bad cradle "crap" and I used to put the baby oil on his head a couple of hours before a bath and took a toothbrush and brushed against the cradle cap and it would come off. I also would just pick it off before a bath and that would do a good job on getting it off. My son had it for awhile and they say they usually will outgrow it by a year. My son is now 7 and a half months old and he only gets it a little bit.

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A.C.

answers from Boston on

Hi S.,
So sorry to hear about your baby. I am a consultant for Arbonne International and have all botanical baby products that have been amazing for eczema. I would be happy to send you some samples and you can try for yourself. Pleas know I am not just trying to push my business. I got into this to share pure,safe products. It makes me crazy when doctors reccomend vaseline and baby oil!!! They are made from crude oil and so bad for your baby. If you want to send me your email i can send you some info and before and after pictures of babies with eczema who now use Arbonne.
Look forward to hearing from you.
A. Couto
www.angelacouto.myarbonne.com

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H.W.

answers from Providence on

Hi S.. My first born developed cradle cap when he was about 4 or 5 months old. My mom told me that it would go away using baby oil. We put it on his head for about (I'm guessing now) 6 weeks, which was about how long it took to clear up. You can always double-check with your daughter's pediatrician's office. I'm sure there must be more products out there to help w/cradle cap since 1987.
As for the eczema, my daughter had a slight case, back in 2002. I gave her baking-soda baths & finished w/Eucerin cream. For my daughter, it was the cold, dry air that was over-drying her skin. Luckily, it wasn't an allergic reaction to the clothes detergent. For eczema symptoms, you can always ask a nurse or your pediatrician about what steps to take. That's what I did and they even provided me some samples & coupons for the Eucerin (that stuff is expensive).

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R.B.

answers from New London on

My daughter also developed pretty bad cradle cap, and I used the Gentle Naturals cradle cap treatment (by Baby Orajel). It's not the best-smelling stuff, and it takes a few washes for the hair to smell good again, but the cradle cap really loosened up after 1 or 2 treatments! I used one of those thin, black fine-toothed combs to gently lift the scales up...the thick baby combs didn't really work for me at all.

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D.S.

answers from Lewiston on

Hi S.-

For both my daughter and son, I just took one of those fine toothed baby combs and scraped the cradle cap off of their heads right after their bath. I gave them baths every other day so I did this for 3 baths and I haven't seen any cradle cap after that. They are now 3.5yrs & 20mos. You don't need to put oil or lotion on her head, just scrape w/ the comb. It sounds like it hurts but it doesn't.

My son has Eczema and I use Aquaphor Baby body wash as well as Aquaphor Baby cream. Make sure it's not regular Aquaphor but that it's Aquaphor Baby! Big difference! I put the cream on with every diaper change and some days it's not even there. His Eczema usually appears in the summer but I keep up with the wash & cream in the winter, just in case.

Good luck!

-D.

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J.J.

answers from Lewiston on

Hi! have you tried the Reliv product? They work realy well to clear Eczema. I'v had eczema since I was a baby, was covered with it at 3-6 mo. and my parents tried everything on the market not to mention they made homemade creams out of carrot peels-wich worked for a while-but even as an adult I've been strugling with it still until I discovered this. Mow my eczema is 90% cleared and I've only recently started with Reliv in Nov.'06.
Good luck woth your baby!

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J.S.

answers from Bangor on

my sons doctor told me that to clear up cradle dap, you buy any brand of adult dandruff shampoo and massage your babys head with it. be careful not to get it in their eyes, and let it stay there for 5 to 7 minutes or so. it works by disolving the dead skin and it usually just washes away. if it doesnt work the first time try it again. good luck! : )

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L.L.

answers from Portland on

My baby also had a bad case of cradle cap. At his 2 month appointment, his doctor suggested that I wet his hair, then use baby oil, and softly scrub with a brush, then rinse, apply t-gel and let is set for a few minutes, rinse that out, and then follow up with his regular shampoo (I use Aveeno baby). I did that every other day for 2 weeks, and it cleared up quite well. It did come back, and I used the Nature's Gentle Cradle Cap before bath time, and I haven't seen any since. The doctor just told me to be careful with the t-gel, because it could burn badly if it got into his eyes, so you just have to make sure to tilt her head back when rinsing that out if you try it. Hope you find something that works!

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L.L.

answers from Boston on

Hi S.,
My 5 month old son also has cradle cap (a mild case, no eczema or breakouts on the face) and my Pediatrician recommended a dandruff shampoo such as Selsun Blue which I personally refrained from trying but that was his suggestion. I've heard Tee tree oil helps. I also tried the vaseline, baby oil route because it seems to be the less potent option. Speaking with numerous Mother's I am told cradle cap can stick around for up to a year and to just continue gently scrubbing the scalp with a soft baby toothbrush when washing the hair, eventually it clears up. I too thought this should clear up sooner.

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K.I.

answers from Lewiston on

Hello,
With the cradle cap, I would keep up with the washing and picking or scrubbing at it at every bath time. then apply the oil like you have been.. It eventually should do the trick.
With the rash on the face, My daughter now 8 has had the same problem (I think) since she was born. It only flares up in the cold weather. Spring and summer she is fine. What I found when she was a baby that I swear works the best is eucerine face cream not the thin watery stuff. The thick stuff. You can even get the big tub (which I never go with out). I use the wal mart equate brand It is called "equate Dry Skin Cream with added moisturizers. I buy the 16 oz tub or the small tube. Its relatively inexpensive and works wonders. Just apply when her cheeks or any part of her is red and apply every time she goes out in the cold.. even just to go to the car. It can be a little greasy. It really works. If you have trouble finding it or want to try some with out spending any money first email me. I can send you some in a baggie if you wish. K. ____@____.com

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A.B.

answers from Boston on

hi S., I was wondering if you have ruled out food allergies? my son had cradle cap and eczema and his eczema keep getting worse and going to his face and ears and whole body and I took him to an allergist and it turned out he was allergic to milk, so then we switched him to soy formula that seemed to help, but then his eczema flared up again and turned out he was allergic to soy aswell so then he was put on alimentum formula and his rash has cleared up so maybe you should get the baby tested maybe those might be the reason. Also after bath time make sure you use aquaphor oint all over the body to keep it moist that will help, plus the baby will enjoy the massage. good luck

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L.B.

answers from Boston on

The eczema may be an allergic reaction - the most likely culprit I have heard of is to dairy products. Is your daughter formula or breast fed? If formula, you probably want to try switching to a soy formula to see if it helps. If breastfed, try a dairy elimination diet (it can take two the three weeks to get out of your system and make a difference).

The cradle cap is normal and should clear up as time passes.

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W.B.

answers from Providence on

Dear S.,

I have an 8 month old son who has had a similar problem since he was a few weeks old. I think maybe you should try to avoid using shampoo. My pediatrician told me that any type of body wash or shampoo can irritate the skin further. You may want to try just usung Dove soap from head to toe instead of shampoo and other harsh soaps or washes. My doctor has me using a hydrocortisone type salve of his eczema and he still has a touch of cradle cap left but I'm just waiting until he grows out of it. By the way, the hydrocortisone was a prescription so ask your doc.

Hope this helps. :0)
Wendy

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C.B.

answers from Boston on

Hi S.,

My son had cradle cap up until almost two years old. I finally used and was told by my Pediatrician to try Neutrogena T-Gel. Just use a small amount and work it carefully into the scalp and rinse carefully. Because she has alot of hair you might want to use a comb and part it and do small sections at a time. It cleared it up immediately. Again becareful not to get into her eyes but being so small it might be easier right now to try.

Good Luck!
C.

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N.R.

answers from Providence on

My daughters had it when she was younger also. I used Hydrocortizone Cream I rubbed it on the spots 2x daily and it really seemed to work for me. For her head I bought this Excema shampoo at Walmart I can't remember the brand but it was in both the baby section and in with the kids shampoo. So do the cream 2x daily even on her head than when you wash her hair use the shampoo.

GOOD LUCK!!

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H.D.

answers from Boston on

We use (and I still do use it) Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream by Baby Orajel. It works awsome on my sons eczema and my very dry skin. It even has a nice baby like scent to it. I believe I got it at either Walgreens or Walmart.

My sons (he is 6) eczema is heind his knees, elbows, beind his ears and on his inner thighs at times. Only spots are left now are behind his ears. He scratches those alot.

For the cradle cap, I was always told to use baby oil and comb it out, but seeing how it is a oil build up that you are trying to get rid of, I never understood the adding more oil to it.

I would sit with my son (he had it as well) and comb out his hair after I washed it and he was playing in the tub. I made sure to loosen enough of it without hurting him. Then I would wash it again to get rid of what I loosened up.

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M.C.

answers from Springfield on

My 11 month old son had horrible cradle cap and still has eczema. His eczema does flare up mostly in response to some allergen, whether it's through him or me because I still nurse. The best thing to do, as previously said, is talk to your Doctor.
I found a brand called GENTLE NATURALS at CVS. It has a Cradle Cap Treatment and a Baby Eczema cream. It is a little expensive($10 per 4oz tube), but my son was breaking out from everything, even Aquaphor and the baby Aveeno just wasn't enough.

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L.C.

answers from Portland on

My sons are 5 and 2 and still have cradle cap . . . done everything to try and get rid of it. Best of luck.

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K.S.

answers from Boston on

My son has ezcema(dry skin as the doctor called it) on his legs and I have been rubbing eucerin cream on twice a day and it is getting better and it keeps him from scratching it which I was told scratching will spread it. Also my doctor told me to not bath him as much as it will make it worse. He is not going outside since it is too cold so that helps but during the summer I guess I will have to use it more often once he starts to go out because a bath every day will be needed.

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D.F.

answers from Providence on

Hi! My daughter is 4 yrs old and still has cradle cap. I myself have tried everything and nothing worked her's is pretty bad, she is always itching it which makes it worse. I was explaining this the other day to someone and they suggested t-tree oil which you can get at a store that sells herbal produts. I have yet to try it so if you do before I let me know.Good Luck!!!
D.

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R.R.

answers from Providence on

My daughter also had the same problem. She has lots of hair and she had cradle cap, I also tried everything, but then I found a product that worked great. You can find it at Wal-Mart in the baby department where they have all the baby wash and creams. I'm not sure of the exact name but it is in a light green bottle and it has Winnie the Pooh and friends on it and it says Cradle Cap. They also have a product for eczema from the same company. When I gave my daughter a bath I would rub it into her head good and I used a small comb and continued to pull it through her hair using a light scraping motion at the scalp to release the scales. It really worked great. Good luck.

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