Ladies,
I'm looking for some advise here. My almost 3-year old looks like she has cradle cap again. She had it as a baby and when she had no hair. Now she has a full head of hair and yellow flakes on her scalp. We don't wash her hair every day and use Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. When she was bald - it was easy - just lather up the head.. but now that she has hair, I don't know what to do.
My 2 mth old son had cradle cap and my Pediatrician suggested to wash his head in Selsum Blue. It sounded weird to me for such a young baby, but we did and it cleared it up within days. So, it might be worthwhile to try it.
My pediatrician recommended the use of selsun blue on my little girl since she was 2 months old. Just use it 1 a week.
Ha! We thought we left that issue at the 6 month old mark, right! I also recently discovered that my almost 2 year old had a yucky case of cradle cap that I didn't even know about because her hair was hiding it! I did a little research and found that kids can get cradle cap as old as 4 years old. Wash her hair with a little bit of Head and Shoulders (or similar dandruff shampoo.) Massage it into her scalp really well. It is the best thing for cradle cap. Just don't get it in her eyes as it burns something awful! My daughters cradle cap was gone after a couple days. Good luck!
-M.
My son just turned 3 and he has the same thing. His dad has dandruff and has to use a tar shampoo, so i just assumed that he will have the same issue. I wondered if I could use a dandruff shampoo on my son, but I think I might try it now...good luck!
Add a drop of tea tree oil to her shampoo each time.
Try using a very small amount of Head and Shoulders. I had the same problem with my daughter's hair. Just be really careful not to get it into her eyes since it is not baby safe for the eyes and such like Johnson and Johnson is. Hope this helped you. My daughter just always got the cradle cap and dry scalp, and that's the only thing that ever worked. She's 9 now, and still has dry scalp sometimes, so now she uses a more potent type of shampoo on her own, but when she was younger the only thing I was ok with using was the Head and Shoulders brand. It seems to be a little less strong.
My son had this at 5. I took him to the dr because it didn't look like dry scalp (dandruff) to me. That was pretty much all it was; a severe case of dry scalp. The doc told me use nizoral ad shampoo until I could get the prescription (they had to order it). She also said to scrub it really well my finger nails. It went away in about 3-4 days and hasn't come back (its been about a year).
Talk to your Dr about it. My kids now (15 & 17) have always had very sensitive heads. By about 2, my oldest had to use a prescription shampoo (like Denorex)a couple times a week.
My Pediatrician said Selsun Blue. Get the regular kind and use once a week. My daughter's went away within a couple of weeks.
I would check with your pediatrician b/c I dated a man who had eczema on his scalp. My little boy has eczema (only on his legs/wrists) which is only 'triggered' when he doesn't bathe/use lotion daily. You could google eczema to determine if changing shampoo would help too (we use pantene on the kids). Good luck!
M. R.
My son is the same age and had the same exact thing.
I used a good moisturizing conditioner on his head for 5-10pm while in the bath and then used a fine tooth comb and just brushed it out A LOT....almost like scrubbing it. And my son didn't mind and he played. The dry specks came out in the brush and then when I was done I just washed his hair..... Fixed the problem and haven't seen it again.
I'm sure that's all it is.... No need for fancy products just a little scrub in the bath.
If it is a patch check it might be ring worm and it isn't a round shape... my daughter had this at your daughter age.. sounds weird.. but google wring worm on children scalp to look at a picture.. then go from their..
best of luck.. we used an over the counter cream like Lamisil ant fungul.
Lenc
My son is 3 and he still has recurring cradle cap. I use baby oil on his scalp to loosen the flakes, then I comb them out and give him a bath. Johnson's is a very drying, irritating shampoo, in my opinion. I use one by Arbonne, but it doesn't really matter at that point. The baby oil works the best for us. Hope that helps you!
my daughter has it to the she will be 3 in april but the doctors said it was just shampoo . no matter what some of the soap stays on the babys head and when it dries you get the flakes. i find washing with shampoo every 3 days and just using water the rest of the time helps
scrub the area. if that isnt working use a dandruf shampooh (ask pedi). my son has always had a full head of hair and i thought you had to be super gentle with babys heads. then a friend showed me how to use a soft bristle baby brush and scrub. . . still gently but rougher than i would have ever thought you could be!
Stop using the J & J baby shampoo immediately. Years ago, our pedi. told us it's very drying and will make skin problems worse.
I've never heard of cradle cap at that age, so I'd assume it's something else.
Are you sure it's flakes? Head lice can look yellowish and will be close to the scalp. I know it's not what you want to hear, but if she's playful with other kids, it's a possibility.
I wouldn't recommend treating it until you've spoken with a pharmacist/physician to confirm that is going on.
Here's a site that has some pictures and videos in case it helps you rule it out: www.myheadlicetreatment.com
Good luck. I hope it's just winter dryness.
