Severe cradle cap/cracked bleeding skin on baby's face?

[greenlawn]

Ds3 is 14 weeks and over the past 6 weeks or so has suffered from increasingly bad cracked skin. It started out as cradle cap on his head which cleared up with olive oil (basically combed out OK and is now clear). But over the past week his forehead and cheeks have been affected - looks a bit like cradle cap, with greasy yellow scabby bits, but his skin is also cracked and bleeding. The skin also looks thickened and rough.

We've tried smothering it in doublebase gel which our GP gave us but it seems to be getting worse. Is it usual for it to get worse before it gets better? Could it be anything worse than cradle cap?

I get mild ezcema but it doesn't really look like that. He's wearing gloves 24/7 so he's not scratching it, but we can't tell if its itchy, either. Can anyone suggest anything else? TIA.

No idea I'm afraid but a trip back to the doc seems in order.

Hope someone who can help comes along...

Thanks, I think so too!

We have had that in 2 DDs.

We used emollient cream and hydrocortisone, prescribed by the doctor.

Sounds like a severe case of cradle cap - definitely go to the docs so you can get checked out - you might need something cream based rather than a gel. Also get your GP to check skin for signs of infection.

Bless him - good idea for him to be wearing gloves then he can't scratch.

Sounds just like DD (8 mths). It started a few weeks after she was born. It's on her forehead, cheeks and the back of her head. She is now waking up scratching. I think it is eczema as DH suffers and it seems similar.

I'm wondering if it could be a reaction to detergent in the bed sheets. I use a small amount of Non-bio only, but I've heard doing an extra rinse might help. I'm going to try that.

We use diprobase (cream) which helps, but I'm going back to GP on Mon as it seems to be getting progresively worse.

Thank you all, the GP did say it might not respond to the doublebase and we might need to try a few different creams to see what worked best. I was just hoping it wouldn't get worse! It looks really sore today, tight and red like sunburn with patches that are bleeding. Hope your dcs all feel better.

I did read on another thread about babies with ezcema that some creams work on some babies while others make them worse and there is no pattern to it. Maybe give the doublebase a miss if you think it is making it worse? it sounds like your GP os going to prescribe you a few different ones to try so hopefully with trial and error things will improve x