Cradle cap at 5 years old!

[EweHaveGoatToBeKiddin]

Was doing the obligatory nit check last night on 5yo dd and panicked for a moment when i saw hundreds upon hundreds of tiny yellowy things in her parting. Then i saw two gigantic patches of greasy, yellowy old skin on her scalp.

I brushed them away with a very soft (and dry) paint brush, thus creating a billion more of these yellow flakes. I gave her hair a good wash, and scraped out all the flakes with the nitty gritty (not a single lice found though - silver cloud and all that).

She has a gp appointment next week to see about her icky tummy (possible constipation) so is this worth mentioning too while I'm there? Or is it something that will go away on its own?

Her head isn't itchy or anything; she didn't even notice the patches.

I suffer from terrible dandruff myself, but it's all white flakes I have not yellow.

Oh the joys!

Just to add, I'm switching her over to Head and Shoulders shampoo which I use on myself, or can anyone recommend something better for her?

DD2 gets this and she 6.

I think it's just because hot ans sweaty at night. I haven't found a shampoo which will get rid of it so I tend to wash and put conditioner on her head and leave to soak in for about 5 mins and use the Nitty Gritty comb to gently lift it.

Thanks for your reply, wheredidiputit.

A bit gutted to hear there's no magic shampoo to get rid of it. The Head and shoulders i used on her the other night is a 2in1 but I've also got some conditioner on its own I can try. Seems like a lot of work doing the conditioner and nitty gritty routine every time I wash her hair though. Her hair is currently half way down her back and very, very thick/bushy. Sigh. Here's hoping it goes away when the cold weather sets back in.

hi. I used boots own brand cradle cap cream on my dd who is 3. it is a green tube and I think the main ingredient is lanolin. I rubbed it in and left it to work for an hour keeping massaging it then when I washed her hair most of the cradle cap had gone. so there is hope. tried so many other creams and potions with no success. xxx

Thanks, Yacka. I'll try and pick some up tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be mostly gone by Monday for going to school.

My dd also 5 also gets it - normally when she has a 'hair growth spurt' . As she is very very blonde it doesn't show that much. I tend to use Almond oil, massage and then use a comb . It lifts off and then rinse . Funny enough after summer hols - loads of swims in the sea it pretty much vanished before I got the oil out.

DS gets it still. He is 5 tommorow. We use Dentinox shampoo, from Tesco, local chemist and Boots.

DS1 still gets cradle cap and he's 9! Dentinox used to work but hasn't for a while now. The only thing that works is Eucerin. I can only find it in Boots and it's over £10 a bottle but last for ages. Rub it in, leave for 5 mins then wash out.

Thanks so much for all the tips. Off to Boots on Monday to do a bit of cradle cap shopping. Oh the joys.

My dd is 8 and last few months she had complained of itchy scalp and had what looked like cradle cap, used all sorts of shampoo and oil and wasn't getting better, took.her to the Dr and it is psoriasis so now has medication and looks allot better already.might be best to mention it to your gp

My two also get it.

Dd gets patches of it.
Would say hers is more eczema like than cradle cap, but because its patchy, I just dump e45 on the patches and then wash that night which always clears it.

I sometimes wash her with polytar but she has long glossy thick locks so I use shampoo as decent as I would use on myself such as Aussie or more £

it's apparently a build up of oils... when you brush their hair remember to brush their scalp as well as this distributes the oils, and they won't get the build up...