4 Yr Old with Dandruff

Head and shoulders dry scalp shampoo and conditioner in one. My 3 year old had bad cradle cap, now it is gone. I wash his hair every other day with it. My pediatrician recommended it. It stings the eyes a little, but not bad. Don't wash his hair eveyday, it drys it out more. As far as I know, their is no child dandruff shampoo. I'm one of those everything has to be safe for my child moms, so if this shampoo + conditioner was not okay for my child I wouldn't wash his hair with it. Give it a try. Johnson shampoo is drying from what I have heard. Good luck

I had the same issue with both my children and I discovered that Johnsons Baby shampoo has a stronger astringent than most adult shampoos. Shampoo and conditioner with tea tree oil is the best. Another benefit...tea tree oil helps repel lice. Also, shampoo every other day during the winter months..daily can be too much for kids with dry skin.

Hi,
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Cynthia

I would actually wager that it's not proper dandruff, but dry scalp from the shampoo. my daughter's hairdresser encouraged me to use better products, and actually use a conditioner. For a couple of days I used my own tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner from Trader Joe's to help cleanse off the dry stuff, then switched to separate kids shampoo and conditioner. You can probably keep using the Johnson's as long as it's not a 2-in-1, then grab a conditioner (L'Oreal makes one).

I don't think they make a children's dandruff shampoo. Try a two-in-one children's conditioning shampoo before going to a dandruff shampoo. Also, try washing his hair every other day rather than every day unless necessary...washing too often strips the natural oils leaving a dry scalp. This is why a conditioning shampoo may be enough to help.

Good Luck!

Our pediatrician recommended Neutrogena T-Gel. It worked well for us.

I use tea tree oil shampoo. It works for the babies with cradle cap and my pre-teen with mild dandruff.

Use a conditioner on his hair, as it will also condition the scalp.

I have my daughter use my shampoo and conditioner and her hair is silky and scalp no longer dry and flaky. Johnson's baby shampoo is very drying on the skin.

Stephanie

Read the label on your shampoo. In some varieties, J&J uses quaternium, which is a fancy name for formaldehyde! They disguise it by calling it q-15 or q-10, or poly-quaternium, but all these are just other names for a cheap preservative that I wouldn't want to use on any living family member. (They do use formaldehyde to preserve dead people and animals for biology classes).

I would switch to a gentler product without that ingredient in it. There are many available and if you want to check out my website, I'd be happy to help you find safe products for all your household needs and save money too! www.SwitchingStores.info

Good luck,
J.

I wash both my boys' hair with Cetaphil cleanser. Just make sure your rinse well or it will leave them a bit greasy. They had terrible cradle cap and eczema as infants and now their scalps and skin are good. It works fine from head to toe and they carry it at Costco in huge pump bottles.

Hi M.!

You know, my son had cradle cap at 4-6 yrs old. I thought it was dandruff, but the Dr said it was cradle cap. His hair was/is still so thick and he plays sooooo hard. Those in combination,he was/still is always sweaty. It was hard to get rid of it.

I had his hair cut shorter, then added in the conditioner. It was so important to rinse out the shampoo completely to avoid this problem.

~N. :O)

This may sound strange, but I'd try rubbing a little olive oil on his scalp. I also doubt he has actual dandruff, but would switch to a different shampoo. Get something in an organic type of shampoo rather than the normal stuff from the store counter. I'm not familiar with the line of products one lady mentioned, but it sounds like she has something of that type. Someone else mentioned a shampoo containing tea tree oil. I get one that has tea tree oil in it from the Melaleuca company. I order it online, and have found it to be mild for the kids. There are several companies that put out such shampoos and I'm sure whichever one you try will be better than what you are using.

If adding conditioner doesn't work I know you can use Head and Shoulders on babies cradle cap so it might help yor toddler also. Just once or twice a week to start.

Hi M.,
What your son has is dry scalp and Johnson's is the reason why, Johnson's is mild on the eyes but very drying to the skin and scalp. There are lots of tear free shampoos out there that will do the job and not dry his scalp. Circle of Friends and Paul Mitchel are two that come to mind. You may also want to use a tiny bit of leave in conditioner after each shampoo it will help. It is also important to not over wash his hair every other day or about three times a week is plenty. If you try all of this stuff and it still is a problem ask your pediatrician if eczema might be the cause of his flaky scalp in that case Neutrogena T-gel is a good choice for controlling eczema.
A little about me: I am a licensed cosmetologist, I Own Ej's little people which is a hair salon for children. We see this all of the time.
I hope these things work for him!
Take care
D.

I had the same issue with my daughter, doctor said to use Head & Shoulders Sensative - it works great. Plus it smells good as well! Good luck!

Use a dandruff shampoo then I'd reccomend a leave-in conditioner to prevent frizzies. I use Garnier Fructis (sp?) leave-in conditioner on my son - it smells like fruit - not flowers and comes in a lime green bottle so Hubby and Son weren't worried about it being girlie ;) And it's not expensive. I wash my son's hair 2-3 times a week - more than that and he complains about itchy scalp. My son has curly hair so the condtioner keeps it from turning into an afro with dreadlocks in the winter when he wears a hat to play outside. My son still puts food, stickers, paint, glue etc. in his hair - the conditioner makes it easier to pull/comb out the foreign items. Ah, boys!

Secondling the notion that this might not be dandruff so much as just dry and flaking scalp. Before I started in with anything medicinal or other "cures" I'd go for a gentler shampoo for a few weeks, and see if that helps. (I can't use Johnson's baby shampoo on myself!) You had some suggestions for milder brands, or even just try whatever you use on yourself.

I have tried many dandruff shampoos, but they only worked for a short time. Then I read that certain ingredients in shampoos irritate the scalp, so I switched to a shampoo without sodium lauryl sulfate, and my dandruff and itchiness disappeared.

Dandruff can be caused by a B12 deficiency.

If you supplement, just use a B complex pill, because b12 also needs B6 and Folic acid for uptake and a good B complex pill will have all that in it. Take twice a day, every day, as our body needs constant nutrition of b vits. You also need Vit E to convert B12 to it's active form, so supplement E as well.

Keep in mind that many things can deplete vitamin b, including sugar,antacids or low stomach acid, antibiotics, stress, truama, a lack of lactobaccilus in the gut (vit b eats lactobaccilus and b bifidium.) Also keeping adequate levels of lacctobaccilus and other probiotics keeps the immune system in good shape and kills pathogens , bacterias and viruses. So make sure to add some of these to his diet as well!

Good health to you,
Gail