Can the HV really not hace a clue???

[MumtoEliane]

I got to the point where I got actually angry.

I though my DD has cradle cap. I looked in a book that I think has got very accurate stuff and pretty good advise and in there it said that cradle cap is not painful at all but a cosmetic problem, but there is some special shampoo to treat it.

So I took DD to HV to a general check up and showed her the cradle cup. She said put some olive oil and then wash it off. I asked her to tell me the name of the shampoo to treat it and she said "is shampoo for cradle cap". Ok. Went to the chemyst and got the shampoo. The pharmacyst told me never to give her oil! The HV also told me that I should treat it as soon as possible otherwise it increases, it gets harder, and it will hurt (???)

I know I should be inclined to listen to the HV but she has told me very strange things in the past. For example: the previous HV told me DD has dry skin in her face and that I should give her moisturising. Now, I didn't see any dryness but I did as I was told. Didn't see any difference in her skin, it was nice and soft. So yesterday I asked the HV if I can stop giving her moisturiser. She said yes, her skin is lovely. And I said, well, thats what I thought but was told it was dry... she said no when its dry it gets a bit like sand paper (!!!!!!) honestly! Sand paper???? I hope not!

So I am now properly peed off with this woman. Is like talking to a victorian nurse, I wonder if they get ongoing training? Why the advice differs SOOOOO much form a HV to a pharmacyst to another HV?

Really angry.

DS is 4 and he washes once or twice a week with a SLS free lotion and just water in between. Has skin I would die for (mind you thats mostly becasue he is four!)

And for her hair???

JOHNSON'S® Baby Lotion with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E

Ingredients
Water, Propylene Glycol, Myristyl Myristate, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearic Acid, Oleic Acid, Polysorbate 61, Dimethicone, Isopropyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Synthetic Beeswax, Carbomer, Benzyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Aloe Vera Extract, Tocopherol Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), BHT

PS: the 'fragrance' will contain the phthalates. they do not need to be listed separately.

All babies in my family and am sure in DP's family have used soap and never had a problem. And my freinds now I think of it...

I am in no way saying that johnsons is good. Just stating the fact that I used it and nothing bad has happened.

It makes sense to use only water in small babies.

And I am wondering what do you use to wash their hair if you only use water to bath them.

Hair is generally fine with just water when they are babies too. And if the hair is short then water will do well into toddlerhood (if hair is longer then they start to get food and other stuff in it and it passes beyond the reach of water alone). I very rarely used shampoo on DS's hair when he was DD's age, but she manages to rub all sorts of things into hers and often needs shampooing a couple of times a week.

I use sls free stuff same thing I use on his body. Sodium laureth sulphates dry me out and I have older tougher skin than DS so I have never used them on him. On the occasions that he bathes at my mums nad she uses "baby" shampoos he comes home with skin like snadpaper and it needs moisturising, no SLS's no moistuerer needed.

use this ://www.halosnhorns.co.uk/the_range.html orange on hair and body or Liz Earle (adult) body wash

Well, it is the first time I have read/heard anything like that.

And all the advide here for the cradle cap was to use olive oil and then wash it off, with shampoo I suppose

Advice, or advise, not sure now!

very few people are aware of the drying affect of SLS's. They are not usually in soaps so if you stick to a good brand of unperfumed soap you probably won't have the problem.

They are a foaming agent and without them the shampoo/gel is not as foamy and people think it deosn't clean so well (it does). They are used because they are chemicals and more cheaply mass produced than the gentler alternatives

"Sodium Laureth / Lauryl Sulphate (SLS/SLES) is the most common surfactant used in toiletries to make them foam and cleanse. It's widely used by big manufacturers as it is cheap and effective but it can sometimes cause skin irritation or aggravate serious conditions like dermatitis or eczema. This is because, being a harsh detergent, it can strip the skin and hair of its natural oils."

There are products which are Phtalates, SLS, paraben free, eg Horns and Halos and Green baby.

Hi MumtoEliane

The olive oil can be washed out just fine with just water, although it might take a couple of baths before it all goes.

Please don't use the horrible Johnson's Baby Oil or the dreaded Dentinox shampoo. My DS's head went a shocking hot, bright and angry looking red the one time we used that. And it didn't work! He now has eczema on his head and I'm sure it was from that nasty stuff.

Also he's 9 months and we still just use plain water with an added emolient (oilatum) on his in the bath and just cotton wool and water on his bum during nappy changes - only using wipes for epic monster poos - and he's super sweet smelling and lovely.

I wonder then why doctors and nurses don't recommend/use those then??

slow to respond due to work hence crossposting but...
dd2 is now 20 months old and I have never used soap shampoo or conditioner in her hair and she is still scrumptious.

all the babies in my family before my 2 (and we are a big family,) have used Johnson's baby stuff and other ubiquitous commercial brands and never had a problem. DH's family however is riddled with eczema and now I have learnt loads about how nasty these things are and how redundant they are for skincare in babies and small children.

These companies sell these things not for hte health of the babies but for the health of the company profit. Parents for generations have been brainwashed that soap is necessary for small children and babies.

I used Dentinox last night and nothing happened and been using baby bath since she was a newborn and has got lovely skin. She only had dry skin (apparently) on her face where we didn't use soap!

why don't doctors and nurses recommend that you use nothing but water on babies instead of Horns and Halo?

water is nearly free.

Well, exactly!

Olive oil worked well for us for cradle cap.
Washed it out with a drop of baby shampoo and water.

Any signs of dry skin and I would put a thin smear of Vaseline on especially after the baby had had a bath.

Shampoo with all it's nasty, false, harmful chemicals.......or pure, natural olive oil........Hmmm, it's a no brainer really.

Someone posted before why olive oil might have its drawbacks also.

And the olive oil has to be washed off. Or at least I am not leaving DD with a blob of olive oil in her hair.

I'd put the olive oil on at bedtime and wipe off in morning if worried perhaps? But if you only put a little on, surely nobody would notice anyway when out and about? Put a little on cotton wool and massage it into the scalp maybe?

It was me that said that there might be a problem with olive oil - it's just a theory though - and it didn't work that well for us. I'm still glad we tried it before cradle cap shampoo though. We just washed it out with water.

My DD is allergic/sensitive to oilatum but a lot of other people use it without a problem. We use epaderm like a soap on her skin in the bath and doublebass as a bath liquid (both on prescription but can be bought over the counter). DD had a lot of eczema when she was younger - some of it diet related because she's allergic to egg and milk - but her skin is much better now.

I don't think you can wash it out with water. I put olive oil in my her when I was a teenager because I heard it made it shinier and it took 3 or 4 shower with loads of shampoo to get rid of it! My hair kept looking dirty and greasy

Olive oil doesn't have to be washed off. Don't put so much it is streaming off her scalp but apply liberally. it will soak into her skin mostly. some will be rubbed off by clothing and soak into her hair too.

hair is v good at soaking up oil. they are even using human and animal hair stuffed in stockings to soak up the oil spill in Louisiana.

x-post again but I don't know how much hair your child has. but apply to the scalp, not to the hair.