Severe Cradle Cap

When my 2 year old was a little baby my ped told me to take shampoo and put it into his hair dry and scrub it out and it did work for me. I tried the cradle cap stuff and it didn't do anything. Try that and see if it works. Good luck.

T.

Any chance that it could actually be psoriasis? Ask her doctor if it would be okay to try a coal tar based ointment or Neutrogena T-Gel shampoo.

Both of my kids had it up till early kindergarten. What I ended up doing is using a dandruff shampoo and baby oil, every evening when he took a bath. Place the baby oil on the cradle cap and let it sit for about 5 minutes, get a comb and try to losen up what you can then wash it with the shampoo. You have to do this consistently or it grows back in. It took a few weeks when I kept on top of the situation.

Good luck!
S. K.

Have you taken her to a dermatologist?

I would recommend seeing a dermatologist before trying anything else.

It could be eczema. I did use Gentle Naturals (Walgreens, walmart, cvs, target, etc) eczema wash and moisturizer for my baby.

Hi C.,

Yes! I have a product that will get rid of it and it is natural so you don't have to worry about putting chemicals on your baby's head/skin, which is not good!

I have a baby wash, lotion and oil. I've been using them for over 2 years and have helped many friend's babies clearing up cradle cap, baby eczema and acne. The products get excellent results!

Let me know if you want to try them.
Thanks,
K.

Mix baking soda and water in a cup/bowl and comb it through her scalp. And - not sure how much hair she has - but comb her hair for a while and use the baking soda mixture whenever you start to notice it. It works for my little one. My son had it once but my daughter (just 1 year) gets it from time to time. I think it is the water that dries them out - we can smell the chlorine in the water especially when we give them a bath.

Nixoral...if you can find it anywhere. My daughter had it and it took less than a week. A tiny amount each night at bath time is all it takes.

Neutrogena T-Gel Shampoo works perfect...I used it on my babies, and my daughter in-law used it on my granddaughters (2 & 5), and it works!! you only need a dime size, and after 2 or 3 applications you will see a difference. My granddaughters pediatrician told her to use it once a week to prevent it. she hasn't had the problem for a couple of months - and she had it pretty bad, and it did keep coming back. check it out.
Do some research before jumping to conclusions about your baby's nutrition, our pediatricians say this is often NOT the case.....and if you do some research you will see that nutrition deficiency is only a theory. No particular baby is more at risk than any other. Cradle cap is a very common condition.

Take her to see a Dr. She could have ring worm or some other fungal infection. If it is, they have to treat a fungal infection on the scalp with oral medication.

Wishing you all the best.

C.,
are you sure it is cradle cap? My little girl had some cradle cap when she was a baby and i thought it was gone until she finally start going some hair. Then i noticed her hair was thinning out and did the samething tried the dandruff shampoo and even called my hairstyliest to ask her, after nothing was working and she was bald almost again, i took her to her dr. And come to find out she had a fungus in her little head and had to be on meds for over a month. I have no clue how she got it or anything(her twin sister didn't get it). You may want to take her back to the dr. And see just in case. I hope i haven't scared you and that you are able to get her little head better. Best of luck!

L.

Try baby oil gel and baking soda. Make a thick paste and apply to the affected areas. Leave on as long as you can then brush out any loose pieces with a soft toothbrush. You can also massage her scalp with the toothbrush. This is safe enough to use everyday. This has worked for everyone I have recommended it to.

Try olive oil. Rub it into her scalp and let it sit for at least five minutes before her bath. Then, gently rub/brush her scalp in the bath. Do this every day until it i gone. (My son's doctor taught me this years ago.)

Also, is she getting Omega 3 and 6 oils? You might want to give her some quality fish oil - from a health food store. They make one flavored orange and it doesn't smell or taste fishy at all. The oil should help with dry skin.

Good luck!

Go to the health food store and get some wheat germ oil. Ask in the store if they have other ecommendations. Wheat germ oil is good for diaper rash also. J. Gordon

You can rub olive oil on her scalp and GENTLY comb through it with a fine tooth comb. Her head may become very sore if you scrub hard or comb through her hair very hard. The hair will be oily after using the oil so you'll need to shampoo a time or two. Continue to use the olive oil ever other day or so and you should see results. Also I've found that if I massage my child's head with a soft hairbrush while the shampoo is on their hair it helps to keep cradle cap to a minimum. Good luck!

Hi C.,
I am so sorry to hear about your worries about cradle cap. I can imagine how you felt after trying so many different things and and still not being able to get rid of it. At your daughter's age you have to really be careful of what you use because some things may seem to work on the cradle cap but may be harmful to her in other ways. as the owner of a shaklee business I come into contact and hear from different people about products that they have found helpful for different things. One of the testimonies I have heard about for stubborn cradle cap/exzema is "Small Wonder Creamy Baby Oil" One mother had tried all the baby products, along with the prescription medications and only got relief when someone recommended "Small Wonder" and she decided to give it a try. I would give that a try along with the "small Wonder BabyBath/shampoo. You can view these products at my website.
www.shaklee.net/healthsmiths and feel free to send me an email or give me a call for more information. I would love to hear if you gave it a a try and whether or not it worked for your little girl.

Hi C.,

I don't know if this will work, but after my second child was born I developed a skin condition in the same family as cradle cap. It is on my eyes, behind my ears and on the side of my nose. By accident, I found a product that got rid of it. It is a Mary Kay product called Firming Eye Cream. I use it every night and have no sign of the skin condition any more. It may be worth a try.
Good luck,
MA

Personally i think it sounds like psoriasis. I would take her to the dr and have her checked for that, my mom has it and thats how she describes it. Babies have cradle cap bcuz there skin is adjusting to being out of all that water in the womb. So I feel that it is something else causing her scalp to be the way it is.

Hi C.,

Arbonne has a great shampoo with tea tree oil, a super-potent oil and natural anti-fungal. I am an Independent Consultant and you can order direct from my website, or contact me and I will give you 30% off. It has worked for others and it will work for your daughter. All of our botanically-based products are safe, pure, and beneficial to your overall health. Contact me at www.pattyd.myarbonne.com

Warmly,

P.

What I did with both of my kids, and my son had it worse, was to take olive oil and blot it on the scalp with a cotton ball or a wash cloth really good. Just thick enough so you can see it on their head but not running off either. Let it sit for about 15 mins and then take a baby comb (or a very fine toothed comb) and lightly rake it across the head. You should see some 'chunks' coming loose into the hair. Afterwards, wash the hair with regular baby shampoo and scrub the top really good. After the bath, take the comb again to the top of the head to comb out any flakes. Do this again a few days later and you should start to see an improvment not too long after the second time. When it looks like it's almost gone or for when it looks like it might be coming back, just use the comb after the bath.

Good luck!!
~S.

C.,
My kids had this. I took a high quality lotion (no artificial stuff in it) and rubbed lots of it in well and left it on for several hours. Then, I washed it out with a gentle shampoo. This made a huge difference. With one child, I had to repeat it twice, with another just once.

D. S, mom to 5

hi mom,

i was just researching the same issue for myself and my 5 y/o daughter. we wound up going to the doctor to discuss sebhorreac (sp?) dermatitis and eczema. this is just doctor talk for all kinds of rashes and acne. we are in the process of trying medicated shampoo. however, cetaphil skin products and aveeno products have been helpful. you might want to talk to your pediatrician as well. good luck.

Hello,
Have you tried Listerine? Keep it in for a few minutes while massaging it into the head. If this does not work and considering that you have tried several other things. It probably is not what you think it is. I have to say I am not a doctor but here is what I would do. I would think it was a reaction to something if it is was more noticeable at certain times. Like if it acted up when she ate a lot chocolate I would think it was an allergic reaction to the chocolate. If she was around a certain fabric or laundry detergent and the reaction worsened I would think it was the detergent. These are outside conditions that can be altered but I would be careful to notice such things because with these things the reaction does not happen right away. It takes careful and a managed or controled atmosphere to notice such things. Time is of the essence here.
The next logical advice would be to work from the inside out. I would do some research on allergic reactions and what to do internally to alter such things. Bee Pollen, and other such things are good for allergies. Acidophilus and Garlic help the immune system.Add one thing at a time for about a week. This advice is not coming from a doctor but this is what I would do.
Hope this helps,
A.

The advice Mimi gave is correct. You need to start her on a multivitamin. My 3 year old takes the gummy vitamins daily. Also seeing a dermatologist won't hurt. I myself and my son have Keratosis Pilaris which is the bumps on the back of your arms and for him legs, face, neck at times. We use a lotion from Sephora.com called KP duty. Also for immediate results try Johnson and Johnson shampoo with soft bristle toothbrush. That worked for me and the shampoo was gentle enough that it did not irritate my son's skin or burn his eyes. Best of luck.

Hi Crissy,

Cradle cap is systemic, an outward sign of an inward problem. The first line of defense is a good, absorbable multivitamin. (The Flintstones and such are no good.)

There is a lack of nutrition getting into her blood stream in order to nourish the skin. Once you have taken care of that, there are some lotions if there is still a remnant of it. I use Renew lotion that has been tested against Eucerin and has far exceeded their results every time. Baby oil just clogs the pours and dandruff shampoos just touch the surface. Both can exacerbate the problem.

If you'd like more info, please feel free to contact me. I'd love to help.

Regards,

M.

If you are sure that it is cradle cap, you can carefully and gently pull it off with your fingernails. This might sound strange, but my cousin advised me of this when one of my sons got it as a baby. I then washed his hair as usual and never saw it again.

My son had the worst cradle cap anyone I knew had ever seen, including the pediatrician... we tried all the things you tried, also to no avail. My husband's grandmother is from Puerto Rico, and she told me "back on the island we'd put salt in the shampoo and it would clear it right up." Sure enough, regular table salt (less than an 1/8 tsp - just a touch really)in baby shampoo cleared it up completely within a few days! Used it on all 3 of my kids, and worked like a charm.