Hi Ladies,
My son has a flaky scalp and I was wondering if you had any remedies to get rid of it? It's not a serious case but I would like to try and clear it up. My Mom said to use baby oil, but I'm 34 yrs old and an only child. Her remedies and suggestions just seem so ancient to me. Times have definitely changed since 1973 and I don't want to harm my little man.
Thanks!
My peds doctor said to use PRELL shampoo. Used it on all 3 of my babies and it worked each and every time!
I don't know how old your son is, but if he is still reclining in the bath, this worked great for our two babies: when we first put the baby in the bath, we wet the top of his head with the warm water, then set a warm, wet wash cloth on top and kept it there while we washed the rest of his body (you may need to re-wet the wash cloth a few times if it cools in the air). After the wash cloth has had a few minutes on top of the head, pour some oil over the flaky area (we found Jojoba oil to be the best, I have heard some use Olive Oil - I don't like the smell it leaves on my baby!) then use one of those really fine-toothed combs to gently comb the flaky area. The flakes come right off (if takes a few baths before it all goes away and I think it can come and go), then you can just wash off the oil with the baby soap. Hope this helps!
I had a horrible cradle cap problems with my twin girls and was told by my doctor to use Selsum Blue Shampoo in their baths and what huge difference that has made, it's a long process but is well worth it.
Massaging jojoba oil in my daughter's scalp did wonders. You can get it at health food stores.
I found at Target the All in One Bathing Brush from American Red Cross (actually made by First Years). It has a sponge on one side, firm bristles on the other side and the base contains shampoo/soap. The directions explain how to use it for cradle cap. Anyhow, my son had a mild case of cradle cap, but after 1-2 uses, it went away and I haven't had a problem since. This is a great product - I also recommended it to another mom who said that it worked well for her son.
If you just wash his head really good and keep doing the baby oil or olive oil, it won't go away instantly like it might with some of the shampoos, it will go away on it's own though. I have heard you can hurt the baby if you scrub too hard. I just did the washcloth and oil method till my son's went away on its own. But beware of using the baby oil gel, it stays greasy and is hard to wash out! some one recommended that to me but it was not good.
I know you've gotten a few responses already, but I didn't see this suggestion which worked great for us: Vaseline rubbed on the head before washing his hair. Your mom is right, the baby oil is fine and would work just as well, but we all have sensitive skin/allergies in my family and the fragrance in baby oil is bothersome so we opted for Vaseline. The Vaseline is hard to wash out, but it was kind of fun when we used it because we would give him a mowhawk after his bath or other silly hairstyles. We also found that his cradle cap got worse if his hair wasn't washed everyday. I was trying to wash it once every couple of days when he was really little because everyone said he didn't need his hair washed often and it would make the cradle cap worse, but it seemed more the opposite for him. If we washed it everyday using the Vaseline first, it really helped loosen the flakes and moisturize his scalp and pretty soon he didn't have cradle cap at all.
Hi C.,
My son had cradle cap as an infant as well. We rubbed baby oil on his head and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before putting him in the tub. When we rinsed his hair we lightly "scrubbed" or brushed his hair with the baby brush that has those little bit stiffer brissles. The dry scalp will come off right away. You'll need to do this every other night or so for a week, it won't all go away in one shot.
Our Pedi at the time also said we could wash his hair with a small amount of Delsym Blue shampoo. We never tried that trick since his cradle cap was coincidentally gone by then next time we would ahve had to wash his hair.
Good luck!! Sometimes those old ancient remedies still work today in this Millenium. :-)
-Char
My 6 month old has really bad cradle cap. If the oils don't work, a dermatoligist told to use a small amount of Head and Shoulders or Nutragina T-Sal with a soft brush. We tried both however the T-sal worked better. Everytime we washed his head I could see a difference and within a couple weeks it was completely gone.
