Can't Get Rid of Cradle Cap

Hi C.,

I wouldn't worry... mine 2 year old just got rid of hers.
Sometimes it just doesn't go away... it wasn't until she was a year and a half i would wash her hair and then started using a very thin bristled comb to get it out. Took a while to get it all but finally!

Hope this helps. Remember, it's just cosmetic.

Hello Crhristy!
Here's 2 cents from an old schooled gramma;
Rub warm olive oil onto scalp in the morning. massage dy ten and bathe at twelve. brush before rinsing. rinse. dry. comb hair or brush again. apply oil let stay.
use beannie cap, so you may not have a mess all over.
this seems to be workking for my mo.& 3wks. old grandaughter. and has worked for all babies in my family. blessings!

I used a toothbrush and a little oil with my baby. I just kept brushing and brushing (not scrubbing) and it was gone after just a few days.

Hi C.. My oldest daughter had what I thougth was cradle cap that I couldn't get rid of when she was an infant. I finally learned that she was actually allergic to the protein in milk. Once I got her on soy formula (I was unable to breast feed), the cradle cap was all but gone within a few days. She also had a few other symptoms such as congestion if I recall correctly. I am not saying this is the case for your baby, but just something to think about. I hope you get it resolved! Good luck! N.

This is a suggestion my friend made to me and it worked really well for my daughter who had horrible cradle cap (she STILL has a bit of it every once in a while and she is now 2)...
Warm up a bit of olive oil and rub it into her scalp real good (make sure its not too hot first!). Then cover it with plastic wrap, then put a "tight" baby hat over it (to make sure the plastic wrap stays in place and doesn't cause a choking hazard - of course keep a close eye on her anyways while this is on her). This will keep her head nice and warm - which helps loosen the cradle cap even more. Leave it on for 5-10 minute, and then wash her hair with baby shampoo as you normally would, scrubbing as hard as you can without hurting baby. Do this once in a while, as needed (once a week, or once a month, whatever you think is necessary!) Sounds really silly, but it works! :)

my son had the same thing. i would put some mineral oil on his scalp 30 min before his bath. i would brush it softly before his bath then shampoo his hair with a hypoallergenic shampoo. i did this for about a month. then it went away eventually. i don't know if it was this routine that helped, or that he just outgrew it.

Before you use any remedies that are considered 'adult' products, please take your little one to see a dermatologist. Unless recommended by a physician those products should not be used on children.

I love Aveeno products for my son and those work well on his eczema, but again you might have better luck with talking to someone who knows skin!

Good Luck!

I second Sophie's advice. All my kids had cradle cap, the youngest had it the worst. I did what Sophie explained and it was much better after the first application.

Hi C.,
We had the same issue and the most important thing I can tell you is don't stress about it! It's not bothering her, it's not going to hurt her, and it will eventually go away. Just be sure you're brushing her head regularly. I started using a comb when I had my son's head suds-up in the bath. I would gently comb his hair which would remove some of the scales (once they were ready). Make sure you are very gentle with her little head and remember that it's really only bothering you.
CG

My son had a horrible case of cradle cap. My pediatrician suggested using a small amount of Head & Shoulders shampoo or Selsun Blue shampoo. It worked like a charm. He is 5 now and occassionally he still gets dry, scaly patches on his scalp. When that happens I switch to the Head & Shoulders for a week or so, and the problem clears right up. The only word of caution is to be extra sure you don't get shampoo in the child's eyes.

Hi Cristy,

California Baby, they sell the brand even in Target, worked wonderful, they have a shampoo and cream, I like the green cream better than the yellow one, and it's all natural

please try it, I was desperate myself and it really worked wonderful

D.

Hey C.-My daughter had cradle cap and her Dr. told us to get a toddler toothbrush and scrub it softly when she is in the bath. THat worked the best because we had tried it all, too. Good luck!

My daughter had Infanitle Seborrheic Dermatitis(aka cradle cap on face) when she was less than 2 months old. I applied breastmilk to it and it went away within a week. She developed cradle cap on her scalp when she was about 2 months old, I tried the same trick and the cradle cap seems to be recovering.

I will use a cotton ball and soak it with breastmilk and apply over the cradle cap. Leave the breastmilk on for at least an hour, then wash off with normal baby shampoo. For stubborn cradle cap, you need to do it more.

My daughter was licking her lips all the time when I did not wash off the breastmilk with shampoo the 1st time. She was totaly adorable. Hope it works for you :)

Hi C.! My daughter also had cradle cap. When I gave her a bath at night I would rub baby oil on her scalp and let it stay on for about 1-2 minutes. Then I would wash her scalp off with warm water. After I did this two times my daughter never had cradle cap again.

Good luck!

My oldest son battled with this for years! We tried EVERYTHING!! Even Vaseline (not recommended!). He probably had a half inch crust on his head for a couple of years! It was heartbreaking people made fun of him, it was hard to get a haircut and it itched. We could never seem to get rid of all of it.
Then a blessing: LICE. Yes I know that sounds crazy! Our oldest daughter contracted it and everyone in the house got it! I have four kids so it was a crazy process. The medicated lice stuff worked okay, but was drying out all of our scalps really bad and wasn't killing the lice on the first treatment! We couldn't seem to get rid of them on our oldest daughter (she had beautiful LONG hair) we thought we were going to have to shave her head!
I finally called my mom exhausted and crying to ask her what to do about the Lice. She told me to mayonnaise everyone's head and shower cap them and to sleep like that overnight. In the morning ad a little warm water to loosen mayonnaise back up and run nit comb through everyone's hair. Man did this WORK!!
When I did my sons all the cradle cap ALL of it came off..we could not believe it! for years we'd been battling this! I had not seen the skin of his scalp in that area in at least a year. We washed everyone with dawn dish soap to get out the oil of the mayonnaise and conditioned.
It isn't a permanent solution we would do it off and on on weekends to retreat the area when needed until he grew out of it. I hope this helps...

My doctor told us to use Head and Shoulders and it helped, but you need to make sure it doesn't get in the babies eyes. So use a small amount and comb it through then rinse. We used it for a week or so and it started to flake off. It ended up coming back later but not as bad, by the time he was about 7 months it was completely gone.

The little comb they sent me home with from the hospital worked wonders. I just put a little oil on her head, let it sit for a bit then combed the cradle CRAP as I like to call it - right off. ☺

Congrats on your new baby,
M.

Head and Shoulders--I think we used the stronger formula and it worked like a charm in just 1 or 2 washes. (I'll never try the oil & fine comb mess again!)

ONLY the following helped us with this problem.
Put some baby oil on the scalp 30 minutes before bathtime.....let it sit......get a very soft toothbrush and start brushing off/loosening the dead skin VERY gently......wash the hair/scalp. These steps got rid of all 3 of my children's cradle cap in a few days.
Good luck.

well, I'm not sure if this will be much help, but California baby has a good cradle cap soap and first you do a few days of coconut oil (baby oil is NOT good if it's not vegetable) and then you do a shampoo and THEN you do a fine tooth comb and GENTLY flake it off. You may need to do this several times. good luck!

I remember when my daughter had that as a baby.
I used a soft toothbrush...

Good luck!

My pedi.told me to was hair wiht head and shoulders and then put baby oil on the scalp and comb off the patches. becareful with shampoo in the eyes though. You may have to do it a couple of times to get it all.

We used olive oil and a fine tooth comb to rid our son of his cradle cap and it worked like a charm! We would put the olive oil on his head and massage it in really well, let it sit on his scalp for a few minutes and then comb through with his fine tooth baby comb. The cradle cap crusties would lift off and we washed his head thoroughly with his baby shampoo. It only took a couple of washings to get rid of his cradle cap completely. The olive oil was safe and made his hair and scalp so soft. Give it a try! It certainly won't hurt your baby. Good luck!

I've heard olive oil, massage often and then shampoo. But our doctor says they'll just eventually outgrow it. I wouldn't worry about it.

Hey C.!
As a mom of 4 I can sympathize... All but 1 of mine had it and it about drove me nuts! Here's what worked for me... I took a small brush that had plastic teeth that were soft and very bend able (I used the little brush they gave me to take home from the hospital) and a small comb with hard teeth (the kind a man would use)I would sit in a comfy chair, place the baby on my legs facing me, put a towel on the floor under my feet and a bowl of warm baby soapy water w/ wash cloth next to me. Then I'd rub baby oil into their scalp and let it sit for a few minutes while we played. Then gently I'd use the brush to work on a section of scalp for 5 min or so using the hard comb to lift the flakes not touching the scalp as it won't be covered in oil.Use the wash cloth to wipe the section your working on as well as oily hands. I did this days in a row until I had it all cleared up. It's a pain but we turned it into a special bonding time.Just be careful not to over do it but their scalp will be pinkish but you don't want it to be tender. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you, your family and your new little blessing! Take care!

Hi Cristy,

Please check out my book - What Haven't They Told Me? Practical Tips for Surviving and Thriving During Baby's First Year. The book is chock full of helpful hints on everything from getting rid of cradle cap to diapering, traveling, sleeping and more!

It's available at www.OffRampPublishing.com. Mention you saw me on Mamasource and I'll give you a 10% discount.

Best of luck,
L.
www.OffRampPublishing.com

You say you've used baby oil, how did you use it. (In our day and I've seen it work many times 60 years ago) after bathing and several times a day we would apply baby oil...however I still buy baby oil, but they now have so many things in them that they're not really pure. Try mineral oil which is pure, and what baby oil used to be made from, but now has lavender and many other things that will keep the oil from doing what you want, which is to lubricate the skin. We used to oil our babies after every bath, every day because we felt that they were used to being in a lubricating bag inside you and now the soaps and lotions have too many things in them, but they still need some help getting started...Love and God Bless...Tillie

It took MONTHS for both my kids cradle cap to go away. My son was formula fed and his was much thicker, smellier and took the longest to go away. I think he had it for almost a year.

My DD was mostly breastfed. She didn't get cradle cap until she was 3 months old and had to be supplemented with formula because my milk was starting to dry up. Hers was thinner and lasted maybe 4 or 5 months.

Both my kids were lactose intolerant until they turned 1 and so both were put on lactose free or soy formula.

I am a pediatric nurse and when I had my son(Brennen 16 months) he had it bad, along with everything else and I used pure mineral oil...it takes a few days and is messy but should work. Good Luck! L.

My nephew had constant cradle cap as well. Whenever I'd get the wonderful opportunity to babysit, I would lather his head with aquaphor (petroleum jelly). And, well he'd play all day with his head that way. Then, I would give him a bath, shampoo what I could out and comb his hair removing most of the dead skin. His head would still be a little oily, but that was okay. I would even apply it again just to make sure there was still a lot of moisture on his head. My sister mentioned that his skin was clear for about a week, but she never repeated the regimen.

Hi C.,

I used olive oil for my son's cradle cap and it was the only thing that worked. In fact, it never came back again after that. Good luck!

Selson Blue will get rid of it.

C.,

My friend's baby had horrible cradle cap. Her nanny (from another country) smeared his head with A&D ointment (the one in the orange tube), let it sit and then washed his hair. Problem solved. It did come back but much milder and they did it again. It kept is well under control.

T.

There is a great homeopathic remedy for cradle cap, get it in a health food store. It works.

My 6 month old daughter has it also. When my first son had his dr told me not to do anything and it would go away on it's own. I didn't do anything and in time it went away. Like I said my daughter has it now and has had for awhile now. I guess I just don't understand why you are worried about getting rid of it. It's a fairly common thing, why worry. It will go away when it's time.

I know you got a ton of responses already, but I wanted to share a tip that worked great for both of my babies. They were in a reclining baby bath at this point, and I would get a wash cloth, soak it in the warm water then put it on the baby's head, letting it sit there while they had a little play time in the bath (I would usually re-soak the washcloth a few times in the warm water - it gets cold after a few mintues). That seemed to moisten up the cradle cap stuff, so when I put the oil on then combed it, it would come right off. And I don't know what kind of oil you are using, but jojoba oil (expensive) or olive oil worked really well. Then lather up with some baby shampoo and the oil comes right off! Good luck!

Hi C.,
The best thing that worked for me was the occasional use of a little Tegrin (dandruff shampoo)and believe it or not...following all shampooing with adult hair conditioner. I also have a soft plastic surgical nail scrubber that I would use to gently scrub the moistened scalp skin in all directions during bathtime. I think the Tegrin really did the trick though...just be really careful to not get in in the eyes. Now that my daughter is over it and older, I don't wash her hair every night...sometimes just let it get wet, otherwise her scalp gets too dry. Good luck!

Ok, it's gonna sound strange, but my daughter had the same problem, Head & Shoulders shampoo. I thought the Dr. was crazy, but it worked in about 3 days, and it made her hair even softer. Just use a little bit and obviously, be really careful not to get it in her eyes.

C. - my little girl had it earlier on and all I used was a little olive oil (that is what my pediatrician recommended)and rubbed it gently on her scalp. I did it an hour before her bath time and then washed it off with fragrance free shampoo. Worked great! Best of luck and congratulations!

All of my kids have had horrible cradle cap - I usu put oil on it and let it sit about 15 mins, then scrub it off with a soft toothbrush. Then once you get it all off you have to shampoo frequently - like every other day.

My pediatrician recommended Neutrogena T-Gel. It's a dark brown shampoo that worked wonders for my daughter's cradle cap. He had me gently rub it onto her scalp and wait a couple minutes before rinsing. It's not tear-free, so make sure it doesn't get in her eyes. Good luck!

Use Vaseline. Wash and dry your baby's hair first. Then rub the vaseline on the scalp. Apply a generous amount, then in the morning...or several hours later after application, use a fine tooth comb to gently massage and remove the scaly parts. Keep the Vaseline on lightly there after as a moisturizer. Petroleum Jelly is a great moisturizer for a lot of things. This method has worked every time with both of my children! Hope this helps.

My son had cradle cap when he was younger. I talked to my pedi and she said to use selson blue and lightly use the brush. my son's cradle cap went away within a wk.

My son had cradle cap real bad and I found out he was allergic to milk. I was breast feeding, so when I had dairy he broke out in a rash and had bad cradle cap. I took him to an allergy doctor, per another mother's advice, and they did a quick and simple allergy test. They had a tray of the most common allergens and dabbed all of them on his back at the same time, waited a few minutes to see if there was any reaction. Sure enough he was allergic to cow's milk, but he outgrew it by the time he was 2 years old.

My son had the same problem many years ago, and I used a natural shampoo - worked great with no harmful chemicals. If you are anywhere near Carlsbad I can give you a bottle - it's not sold in stores. We still use it today as it is a great conditioning shampoo!

Try Selson Blue with the red cap. Just be extra cautious when rinsing and make sure that it doesn't get anywhere near her eyes. If you're not comfortable using something that strong than try Head & Shoulders. Both were reccomended by my Dr as long as you use caution with them!

The only thing that worked for me was a fine-toothed comb. Maybe that will do the trick?

My dr. told me to use mineral oil..but I'd guess that's pretty close to baby oil?? He just said to try that and that it would go away eventually and that it wasn't anything to worry about. It did eventually just go away. I tried to keep her head covered quite a bit when she was still really little..the mineral oil was so greasy and messy!