Cradle cap - does it just go away if you leave it?

[dizzy77]

DS2 is 10wo and has a healthy crop of cradle cap on his scalp (impressive cornflake texture). I'd been olive-oiling it and he ended up smelling of cheese, and when he got a rash on his cheeks a few days ago I switched to bathing with plain water. The cheek rash has now gone and the CC seems to be receding away either side of his forehead like a widows peak.

DS1 had it rotten and I tried everything so have dentinox, nit combs etc around the house. He went through a really itchy/scratchy phase during the various treatments which was horrid but his hair soon grew over it and as far as I can see its mostly gone (the gp was no help beyond putting dentinox on repeat prescription). I'm inclined not to bother with unctions this time if anyone can share experience which backs me up/persuades me otherwise.

Ha! Glad you like it! It's v gentle but v effective.

It's actually the only brush I use now so you Will definitely get your money out of it. I have 3! One in the bathroom, one in the bedroom and a travel/handbag one.

DD had it as a baby and I never treated it, mainly because she had dark hair and you couldn't notice it. No idea when it eventually went, can't say I noticed... But at 4 she certainly doesn't have any now!!

Sorry, not helpful...

If you wash your baby's head with Johnson's baby soap in a bar the cradle cap will clear and if you then wash the head with it once or twice a week it won't ever come back. An old wives' tale that really works.

I never treated my twins' cradle cap and it has gone already (they are 8 months old). I do massage them twice a week with baby massage oil though, including their scalps, and I never wash their hair with anything other than water; I don't know if that has helped.

Sort of goes away by self. Takes years.

My LO doesn't have it anymore, with the hot weather the flakes just dried up and fell off with a little help from me. It is easy to get rid of it if your LO has no hair, flakes doesn't have where to hold on.

Just came through the other side of this.

We were using Doublebase (white paraffin basically) for DD's heat rashy thing - asked about the cradle cap and GP said just smear some of the same stuff on her head. I did, and the next morning it practically peeled off (with a teensy bit of help which was most satisfying!) - washed her head with gentle shampoo and a soft wash cloth and she's just got a flake or two left - probably a couple more applications just to be thorough and we're sorted!

Bits of hair did come off attached to the cradle cap bits but she had lovely new growth sprouting underneath.

It will go away if you leave it, but it took 5-7 years for my dc. It wasn't irritating them or bothering them in any way which is why I felt ok leaving it.

Thanks for all the experiences . Was very willing to leave it but couldn't resist picking so have been a good girl and been treating DS2, followimg your advice with baby oil w aloe vera (he'd been scratching) and dentinoxing daily. The tangleteezer comb is almost as satisfying as a good scratch, he's been amenable to some gentle "lifting" during feeds. Definitely fewer, smaller, scales; now must persevere until I don't look like a bad mummy anymore. Or his hair grows in thicker: whichever comes first!

BTW not deliberately implying anyone who leaves it is a bad mummy! Although I can see that could be how it reads . There are more important things to worry about!

Breast milk also clears cradle cap.

My ds has just developed a huge patch of cradle cap , he us 2 1/2. It doesn't seem to bother him but it us very thick. Will his hair fall out as it lifts??

Tea tree oil shampoo was the only thing that worked proper in the end for DS. I didn't want to use Dentinox and although a big fan, the coconut oil hadn't worked. Tea tree oil shampoo worked within a week.