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Original poster

does crandle cap ever just STOP?? He's nearly 3 FFS...

36 replies

funnypeculiar · 07/01/2007 19:33

DS (nearly 3) STILL has cradle cap - it ain't dandruff - not flaky at all - just lovely and yellow [blush}
Will it just go sometime ... & when?? Anyone got any tips on treating it at this age - way too much hair to even comtemplate trying to get olive oil anywhere near...

OP posts:
2boysmacca · 07/01/2007 20:32

My ds (just turned 3)has the same problem. I treat him with a dilute tea tree solution which clears it up but if I stop using it regularly it comes back!

Lio · 07/01/2007 20:34

ds is 3 and still has it, and I'm sure I've read of 5 year olds with it on previous threads. Bummer, eh? I am taking earlier action with dd (4 months) and hope this will have some effect.

RumMum · 07/01/2007 20:39

just wondered if you brush his hair at all, as brushing apparently stimulates the blood supply in the scalp and will stop the cradle cap from forming. Once its gone, if you keep brushing the hair and scalp it won't come back...

Miaou · 07/01/2007 20:41

dd1 still had some at age 7! Fortunately she had a good covering of hair so it never showed much.

lucy5 · 07/01/2007 20:44

Cradle cap returned to my dd when she was 3 or 4 and it turned out that her nursery had been putting cologne on her her hair before I picked her up. Have you changed shampoo or anything like that?

Original poster
funnypeculiar · 07/01/2007 20:52

Bummer indeed, Lio!!
Thank you for all those lovely ideas ... we've got some teatree - how dilute a soln do you use, 2boysmacca? I think there a teatree shampoo somewhere - might try & look out for that - we do still use the cradlecap shampoo (Detinox or something?)
And Rummum {blush] I do brush his hair ... but neither of us particualrly enjoy it, so perhaps a more vigourous approach would be a good idea!!\
Lucy5 at the collogne thing - how wierd is that?! Don't think we have any such excuse...!

OP posts:
SmileysPeople · 07/01/2007 20:57

My DS still has it at 6yrs!! Has always had it. Recently seems to have gone though due to the wet combing with conditioner for nits.

2boysmacca · 07/01/2007 21:06

I just put a drop in my hand and rub it in (used to be scientific but not now). Started out by using tea tree shampoo (my GHD but felt it was too expensive to use all the time) Def agree with the brushing, I have concurrently been combing his hair with the solution.
Incidently it was worse after dh had bathed him so I reckon a lot of it has something to do with the shampoo not being rinsed out - he has been banned from wahing hair with conventional shampoo!

lucy5 · 07/01/2007 21:08

I am in Spain by the way and cologne is put on anything that moves

Original poster
funnypeculiar · 07/01/2007 21:15

2boysmacca - Thanks. dh is in charge of bathtime, so will blame him (why change the habit of a lifetime
Lucy5 - had no idea Spain was so fragrant

OP posts:
ILoveDolly · 07/01/2007 21:16

my friend who is an hv suggested i try olive oil on my dds cradle cap. apparently you rub it in, leave for a while, then comb out the softened flakes. presumably some washing out is also required after this! I have not tried it yet but will keep u posted

Pesha · 07/01/2007 21:43

Putting olive oil on worked quite well for my dd and would prob have worked better if id done it more regularly but I couldnt be bothered as it didnt really show and she wasn't bothered by it. I was told by hv that dentinox can actually aggravate it and make it worse, it certainly never made hers any better. But her cradle cap didnt completely go til she was 5 i dont think. And could actually have had something to do with the wet combong for nits with loads of conditioner as the two certainly coincided and i did often find myself combing out cradle cap as well as bugs. And leaving conditioner on whilst combing would prob do quite good job of softening and loosening CC.
Would much rather she had cradle cap than nits though if i could choose!!

Pesha · 07/01/2007 21:45

Putting olive oil on worked quite well for my dd and would prob have worked better if id done it more regularly but I couldnt be bothered as it didnt really show and she wasn't bothered by it. I was told by hv that dentinox can actually aggravate it and make it worse, it certainly never made hers any better. But her cradle cap didnt completely go til she was 5 i dont think. And could actually have had something to do with the wet combong for nits with loads of conditioner as the two certainly coincided and i did often find myself combing out cradle cap as well as bugs. And leaving conditioner on whilst combing would prob do quite good job of softening and loosening CC.
Would much rather she had cradle cap than nits though if i could choose!!

Pesha · 07/01/2007 21:45

Oops

Original poster
funnypeculiar · 07/01/2007 22:19

Pensha
DS HATES having his hairwashed, and I can't imagine I would ever get the oliveoil out ...used to do this when he was little, but think he'd look like an oilslick for days now!

OP posts:
eidsvold · 07/01/2007 22:34

dd1(4) had a patch of this on her head that I could not get rid of until I started using tea tree shampoo and conditioner - it seems to be going.

fortyplus · 08/01/2007 08:41

My ds2 had what appeared to be a patch of cradle cap until he was nearly 7!!! HV said nothing to worry about. I persisted with warm olive oil etc, but then became suspicious when he started getting flaky yellow patches on the side and back of his scalp, so I took him to see one of the GPs at our practice who also happens to be a Dermatologist.
Turned out he had Sebborrhaic Dermatitis. (sp?!) He had to have some revolting stinky ointment called 'Cocois' applied and left on overnight. I think we had to do it every night for a week, then about once a month for another year or so.
He's 11 now and has had a perfectly clean healthy scalp ever since.

foxabout2pop · 08/01/2007 17:31

Coincidentally I just de-cradle capped both DS and DD on Saturday!

DS is 6 and DD is 3. I used olive oil, left it for 20 minutes then combed all the scabs off. She gets more cradle cap than him, but he still has little patches of it.

The hairdresser explained to me that DD's hair won't thicken until her scalp is clear as the new hair can't grow through...

I hardly ever de-cap them, but think it probably needs to be done once a month to keep their scalps clear.

I wouldn't worry about it TBH, though I suspect that children with sensitive or dry skin are much more probe to it.

mumtoone · 08/01/2007 20:47

My ds aged 3 also has cradle cap still. I think olive oil probably works best I just don't use it often enough. His hair covers most of it so I'm not too concerned.

fortyplus · 08/01/2007 21:04

The point I was making was that my ds looked like he had cradle cap - I just persisted with the olive oil every couple of weeks. But it turned out to be something different that needed a prescription ointment to clear it up - otherwise I'd probably still be on the olive oil!

MerlinsBeard · 08/01/2007 21:08

my ds1 has it off and on, hes nearly 4. started again since we had to go to 'basics' shampoo...i get what i can off with a comb when he will let me

foxabout2pop · 09/01/2007 09:14

I find that using scented shampoos also dries the kids scalps (mine too) and use very pure herbal ones. I think DD's hair will stay thin until I discipline myself to decap her regularly so more hair can go through.

ernest · 09/01/2007 09:24

my ds had it bad as baby then got rid of most of it using dentinoy cradle cap shampoo (tried olive oil and just found it made his cradle cap greenish and smelly - nice.

Anyway, age nearly 3 it came back again quite bad, so I 'soaked' his head in olive oil (ie put loads on, so it was practically dripping) a couple of hours before bath time, then went to work with dentiniox shampoo and flannel, only took a couple of session and it went. try it. quick and easy

Original poster
funnypeculiar · 09/01/2007 13:57

Thanks for extra advice everyone - maybe I should grin & bear it & try olive oil. Sigh, that'll be fun. It doesn't show - he's got thick, dark hair - but I'm when he has a haircut & it all comes flaking out

Fortyplus - I don't think he has anything as interesting as that, but just in case, how would I know the difference?

OP posts:
belgianmama · 09/01/2007 14:12

Ah good to see that my dd isn't the only 3 year old with cc. I'm not sure it is related to sensitive or dry skin though, my ds has very dry and sensitive skin, but no cc and my dd has the softest smoothest skin in the world and does have cc. I do wish it would go soon though, as her hair is incredible thin now.

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