is it inevitable that cradle cap = bald baby?

[elbarto]

bit eewww but need some advice from experienced mumsnetters!

my six month old dd has had a scaly head on the top for the last couple of months underneath her very long fine and wispy (dark) baby hair.

it doesnt bother me and it doesnt bother her either, but it looks a bit gross and doesnt seem to be coming off

so tonight I shampooed her hair with the dentinox stuff and gave her head a good scrape, and underneath all the scales is lovely fresh smooth baby skin

HOWEVER...

her hair has come out with the scales

I got scared after doing a tiny bit but should I carry on so her proper hair can grow through, and if so how long does it take for the hair to grow back??

this is a bit long, sorry. she is my pfb - can you tell?

Don't scrape it. It could get infected.

awww shes gorgeous

hunker - well I say scrape but I didnt really, just rubbed it gently with a flannel. It came quietly

Message withdrawn

Hmm, Dentinox says on bottle your supposed to give a good rub, and not to be too gentle, but have read a lot of threads on MN where this has led to hair loss. I think if it comes out when it's not actually infected, there is no damage to hair follicle so you should be alright. DS, also nearly 6 months has it, but his baby hair is very fine and short. I have found best trick is just to slather on Vaseline over night (put sheet across under his head). It softens the scabs, but I don't rub at them, they just then come away naturally during the day, or when I shampoo at night. Any help? I've junked the Dentinox btw, DS has eczema, so am now using baby aveeno shampoo.

That's YOU'RE...

well i used to pick at the cradlecap scales while breastfeeding - kinda addictive and sometimes the hair would come away too - both ds and dd have lovely full heads of hair now - i did read a thread awile ago about shaving babies heads i think it was mainly an asian practice to avoid getting it i think

The Asian and Oriental practice of shaving babies' heads is to make the hair grow back thicker, and lead to a luxuriant head of hair.

Ds had a bald patch at the back of his head. So we shaved it all off on 3 separate occasions now. The bald patch is gone and his hair has grown back evenly. But then, he might have grown it out anyway.

So not to worry about hair coming off with the scales.

her hair is short in some places and long in others, have never cut it as I'm superstitious that its unlucky (I have no idea where I got that into my head by the way but there you go)

however if its going to come out anyway maybe I need to cut it. my ultra neat and tidy mother has been moaning about the "long bit at the front" so might as well

thanks for all your posts

BTW both my DD (now 2.6) and my DS (6 months) had bald patches at back of head, cos of skull shape and much thrashing of head whilst laying down - I never cut or shaved DD (shaving ) but it all grew out nice and evenly. She had her first haircut about 4 months ago...it's real nice and neat now

ds did look CUTE with a shaved head though. It was with clippers, not completely bald but a neat little head.

Oh! I had visions of hand razor for some reason ! Thought of it terrified me - but i am v. squeamish. Clippers seems a lot more sane. DS has his own cute buzz cut look which hasn't changed since birth, so I can see the appeal...

Did exactly same with DS. Kind of rubbed off scales after applying olive oil and hair came away. I was horrified!! I laugh now when I think back to my reaction. I remember we went out to church next day and I put a hat on him!!
Poor little thing.
Anyway, his hair grew back really quickly and he now has loads and it's fine!
So, that was my really long-winded way of saying not to worry!

Don't cut it, especially not to please someone else. It will grow back.
DD had lovely long hair at birth, but some of it rubbed off on the pillow, leaving a most peculiar Willie Thorne lookalike hairdo for a while. Then she got cradle cap on the bit that was left on top (DH thought it looked like 'cornflakes' stuck to her head). Rubbed in olive/sunflower oil every night and gave it a good brush in the morning. The flakes came off and took even more hair off with them. Her hair is now growing again, with one lovely long wispy bit which we can actually tuck behind her ear - aaah .

don't use medication - just use olive oil, leave on overnight and comb out in the morning. keep doing it.

Littlelapin - we are using vaseline every night and it does seems to be working - but DS has very little hair, so you can't really notice it in the daytime. However, his cradles cap is mostly on the back of his head, so I guess it gets rubbed off in the night on the spare sheet I put under his head....it might be a bit greasy, but it really has been the only thing that has kept the cradle cap at bay...if we miss a night, or forget it, it's back with a vengeance...

this is great advice thanks all. off to bed now but will be checking in with mn in the morning!

Dentinox worked for us too..I tend to rub it in the wet hair, then agitate it a bit with a comb and rinse. I think the Dentinox works best when it can get under the scabs IYSWIM, then it kind of treats the skin rather than sitting on top of dead skin (nice). Of course this is not a scientific explanation..just my own random theory

Have you tried Olive oil. Both mine got cradle cap and with dd2 put olive oil on her about 30 minutes before bath and then washed it off with dentinox in bath and I think this helped. She did lose a fair bit of hair though but it quickly came back nice and fluffly

Olive oil is best, 30 mins and loosen with a comb very gently (my GP advised this).

I didn't treat CC with DD1 and it was a BIG mistake. I had thought it would go away of its own accord, but at 2.5 she still had it.