Ok our son is 3 months old and his ped says that he has craddle cap. I did what he said but now it has changed. There are tiny pin prick looking and are on his forhead up where a hat would be. When I scrub it does not flake but instead it weeps. It looks almost like tiny blisters being popped. When it dries it is a yellow or honey colored crust I guess. His ped just told be to try a different shampoo and I don't think that it is. We use organic and natural soaps and shampoos because of skin allergies in the family.
The food allergies makes sense because I can get it cleared up and then it comes back really bad again. I will try taking some different foods out of my diet and see if that helps.
My daughter had it too- olive oil works and you do not have to worry about them accidentally ingesting it. Just rub a little on the scalp, gently comb it through and lift off the scales(don't pick them though, if they are stubborn, leave them), and then wash the hair as usual.
My almost 3 month son had the same. it went away with time. I use California Baby Super Sensitive Body Wash and Shampoo.
I see you are getting several responses and it will be trial and error to discover your sons particular source of this cradle cap. I have 3 children and all of mine had sensitive skin, excema, and cradle cap. I discovered Arbonne and that cleared it up for all of them after everything else did not (even doctors prescriptions). I am happy to send you a free sample pack to try the wash and essential oil to see if that might be a solution. Let me know if you want me to get that to you.
Good luck. ____@____.com
It sounds like eczema? That's the age it appears. Our son had a yellow stain around the rim of his hats and on the bedsheets. We stopped using soap and shampoo altogether, and that helped, but the real issue is that he is allergic to eggs. He's almost two and we wash him now with soap and shampoo occasionally without issue.
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Well my almost 3 year old had craddle cap when she was a baby and now my 8 1/2 month old has had since she was born. I was told with my oldest to rub in baby oil into her scalp and then try and pick at it with my fingers and then use a comb to get it out of her hair. That worked. My youngest who sees a different doctor told me to use an anti itch ointment. That has been working ok, but it hasn't cleared it up very fast. I would try the baby oil. That seemed to work the best for me. My youngest has very senstivie skin as well and has eczama (spa) problems on the rest of her body. The only thing I can say is the ointment does keep her skin moist and stays on her a lot longer then the baby oil does and seems to help her eczama problem. Try both see what might work for you:)
One of my twins had cradle cap, and it also changed into the yellow, crusty spots. I tried every remedy I could read about or was told about. For us, the only that that worked was hydrocortisone cream, which was prescribed by the pediatrician.
I have basically left my daughter's cradle cap alone and it has slowly gone away on its own. I don't wash her head every day and when I do, I just rub the shampoo on with my hand and quickly rinse it off. There are flakes and she has gotten the occasional "pimple" but it is basically okay. I don't know if you wash his head everyday or not, but if you are, try cutting back. And even try not washing it but once or twice a week. You could probably even find a moisturizer that you can put on his head to help moisturize the scalp. Other than that, I wouldn't know. Hope that helps!
Just because you use natural/organic soaps does not mean your child cannot be allergic to them. I did not use any soap on my son until he was close to a year old because even once he would get dry skin. Using baby oil on his scalp will also help with the cradle cap. If you are concerned about the scent then just get mineral oil, it is the same thing.
My son had horrible cradle cap and the only thing that worked was Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Care it has Winnie the Pooh on the bottle. It is not as oily which can clog the pores. I also used a little Head and Shoulders which I think dried it up a bit.
Both of my children have had cradle cap - my 3 year-old we just occasionally used a bit of baby oil on the problem areas - let it sit there for about 20 minutes to really penetrate the scalp. Then use an old toothbrush to gently brush the area and loosen up the flakes. After that I used a fine-tooth comb to get the flakes out of his hair. Be sure you wash all of the oil out completely.
My daughter, the baby, had cradle cap a little bit worse than he had it and also had the yellow crust on her forehead and on her face near her ears at about 3 months. I treated her scalp the same as I mentioned above, and for the areas on her face and forehead, I would apply A&D or Vaseline to the area and let it sit there for about 5-10 minutes. Then you gently scrape away the crust and ointment - it always lifted right off in our case. She's almost 7 months now and her face is completely cleared up, and her scalp is also basically cradle cap free.
Cradle cap *can* be indicative of a food allergy as well. Dairy and gluten are the two that come to mind. If you are nursing, try eliminating all dairy/casein from your diet for a month and see if it helps. 3 months is the "golden stardard" for elimination for food allergies to *really* know if it is working, however. (Both my girls have food and chemical sensitivities.) You should also see a drastic reduction in spit up when you go dairy-free.
Another thing that comes to mind is that a friend who had a baby with really horrible, sore cradle cap found that her son was allergic to ALOE, which is in almost everything! It's a biggie in the organic shampoos, for sure.
At 3 months, I am willing to bet he is not getting super duper dirty, and I would avoid putting ANYTHING on it but water at this point when washing, just so as not to irritate it further.
A product that we used for baby eczema was Stelatopia cream. I bought it on Amazon I think. Here is a link to the product: http://www.mustelausa.com/stelatopia_moisture_cream.html
It comes in a big tube and is creamy, not too pasty to smear on, and lasts FOREVER. It does have a slight floral/herbal scent, but it fades quickly and wasn't intrusive in my opinion (and I am sensitive to scents.)
Hope this helps.
M.
