4 year old son has terrible dandruff

[WinterRose92]

Hi all!
Just wondering if anybody can help me please?
My four year old has had bouts of dandruff on and off for a while, always sorted it out with anti dandruff shampoo.
But this last week or so the amount of dandruff is unreal! You can really see it, big flakes too. I’ve looked at his scalp and it looks irritated all over, poor thing. Though he isn’t itching, it doesn’t seem to be bothering him.

Does anybody have any suggestions or what to do/anything I can try to get rid of it please? I’ve been carrying on with the shampoo and really giving it a good scrub but it’s not doing anything at all.
Thanks in advance!

Are you sure it’s not some form of eczema? I would probably talk to a GP.

This is worth a visit to the pharmacist or GP. Could be dermatitis or eczema. Sounds like the former is a possibility - here's the description:

Seborrheic dermatitis is a common skin condition that mainly affects your scalp. It causes scaly patches, red skin and stubborn dandruff. Seborrheic dermatitis can also affect oily areas of the body, such as the face, sides of the nose, eyebrows, ears, eyelids and chest.

Gogglebox20 Thanks for your reply. I am wondering that, it does seem really excessive.

Try neutrogena sensitive scalp.

I was going to say exactly the same. The commercial anti-dandruff shampoos can really irritate the scalp, too.
Coal tar shampoo is effective (but ££££), also body shop ginger shampoo

youvegottenminuteslynn He has had a few scaly patches, actually. Okay, I’ll try and book an appointment with the gp to sort it. Thank you for your help!

Thanks for the replies. I’m going to talk to the go and in the meantime try and use something more gentle on his scalp, I don’t want to irritate it more.

My 4 year old son has ezema on his scalp and the only shampoo we can use is this one. If he has alot of dry skin on his scalp I have soaked vaseline onto his scalp and it lifts right out after a few hair washes. Also, definitely speak to pharmacy or GP.

My 50 has yellow scaly patches, he had dreadful cradle cap also. I put coconut oil on before washing and give it a good scrub. He won't let me near it with a fine tooth comb which I know would lift it. Interested in actual solutions tho as I know it only comes back anyway.

@HeyGirlHeyBoy

My 50 has yellow scaly patches, he had dreadful cradle cap also. I put coconut oil on before washing and give it a good scrub. He won't let me near it with a fine tooth comb which I know would lift it. Interested in actual solutions tho as I know it only comes back anyway.

Have you asked the GP about dermatitis? Often people dismiss the symptoms as dandruff but have dermatitis.

No tbh like the op it doesn't bother hjm, but I do examining it! He doesn't have the dandruff part. I might look into it further. Picture attached.

Try this from Superdrug...so cheap and VERY cheerful. Has helped my flaky scalp no end

HeyGirlHeyBoy he has had some patches like that before - none at the moment though. Just really bad dandruff.
BabyBee93 brilliant, thanks, I’ll pick some up and try it!

I’ve just completed an online consultation and should hear from the gp by the end of Tuesday so I’ll see what’s said. I did upload pictures to it too.
I’ll keep updated on this thread in case anyone is following with interest for their own child.
Thanks again for the advice, I appreciate it!

Definitely interested, good idea to do something. Will look into that shampoo, thanks to pp.

How is the rest of his skin? Only asking as our DS has always had very dry skin along with cradle cap and has been diagnosed with ichthyosis.

JiltedJohnsJulie the rest of his skin is fine, it’s just his head.
I’ve just had the GP call, she viewed the photos I sent and had a chat. She’s diagnosed dermatitis and has prescribed a strong shampoo which is a coal tar, coconut oil and salicylic acid preparation. Hopefully this should help clear it up 👍🏻
It can be used daily.

Thank you to everyone for your replies and advice it’s much appreciated x

Our two boys (who have very similar hair and skin) both had cradle cap until they were 5 or 6, so suborrheic dermatitis. It looked just like @HeyGirlHeyBoy 's picture.

I have to admit that because we knew what it was we just treated it with over the counter remedies until they grew out of it.

We used cradle cap shampoo at first, which was effective at reducing it, although we found that putting oil (baby oil, or a natural one like olive or coconut) on it and letting it sit for a while before bath time would cause it to just flake right off.