Why is my four year olds scalp yellow?

[JonSnowedUnder]

I noticed today my four year old has a big patch of yellow scalp on his crown area. Had a look on google but most explanations seem to be around dandruff/psoriasis/cradle cap type of issues but his scalp seems to be totally free of any flakes, the skin looks fine just yellow so I'm not sure that any of those reasons match.

Due to the way his hair sits it probably gets the most sun exposure but his hair is fairly thick so not something I would have thought would cause skin colour changes, especially as we are only in April (and we are up North).

Any ideas? I'll get in touch with the doctor tomorrow as it's actually quite a big colour difference, I didn't notice until I started parting his hair and can compare the yellow area to the rest of his scalp. Must be fairly recent as I usually check him over for nits once a month or so.

My DD has was sounds like the same thing. I didn't really think much of it to be honest.

She had cradle cap as a baby and gets the odd bit of eczema on her arms so just assumed it was part of that. She also hates getting her hair washed so it only gets once a week at most and I wondered if that was part of it.

I haven't really worried about it so please report back if the doctor says something I should know! 😬

Have you lightly scratched it a bit with your nail to see if it's dry skin? My daughter's cradle cap looks like yellowy smooth skin but if you pick it, it is actually a layer of dry skin. Although she's only 6 months, not sure how long you can have cradle cap for!

I don't think it's anything to worry about but I will let you know! My DS is also a reluctant hair washer so I only do it once a week as well, possibly just a build up of skin even though it doesn't look dry.

@otterbaby yes, just given it a scratch and actually it has flaked a bit! Strange as it doesn't look like it is dry at all. My eldest used to have cradle cap and I spent many an hour picking at it when he was a baby.

Oh well, mystery solved. Better get the Dentinox out.

Dd2 had horrific cradle cap bless her. She is now 11 and she still gets scalp build up from time to time which is yellow. My sil (her aunt) has always had similar.

We use t gel periodically now and that keeps it at bay but your LO may be too young?

Does it come off? It sounds like cradle cap. You can have it for life although it's more common in little babies.

When my toddler gets it I do gently rub it to see if it loosens and if it does then it kind of flakes off. You shouldn't pick it aggressively though as it can break the skin underneath if you do that and then it will be sore for them.

It's totally harmless to leave it as it is though.

My son got this recently, he's 13! I think its because he wasn't washing/brushing his hair well enough as its quite thick and he's a lazy teenager
He also had cradle cap as a baby, then as a preschooler.
Anyway, gentle teasing with the nit comb got it loose this time and he's been instructed just HOW well to wash and comb his hair and he seems to be free of it again.

Both my boys had this, we tried cradle cap shampoos and it didn't do anything, so we switched to using Head and Shoulders, and bought a silicone scalp brush, and it's cleared up.