Severe cradle cap...

[Sindarella]

Hi, my 20 week old ds has awful cradle cap. Its thick and smelly, it doesn't peel an is stopping his hair coming through properly. I have taken him to the Drs who gave me special shampoo, it stinks of coal or something. I have to put it on and leave it a few mins.

Anyway, I have been doing this an it has worked a bit, its looser and peeling slightly. But i have found it leaves his skin red and shiny, with a slight rash.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of it without harsh chemicals, i've tried olive oil.

Some people recommend coconut oil as this smells nicer and is more pleasant than olive oil. I used vaseline with dd2. Just rubbed it together between my fingers to make it thinner then gently massaged it into the cradle cap. Left it for a little while to soften then gave her a bath and washed it off with a gentle but thorough rub with a towel afterwards. Got a fair amount off each time.

Oleic acid (in olive oil) can aggravate flaking. Try a saturated fat like coconut oil.

Severe cradle cap is sometimes a biotin deficiency. If the coconut oil doesn't clear it up ask your doctor about temporary supplementation. wiki

I'll give the coconut oil a go, an the Vaseline, if it doesn't help i'll go back to the gp, poor little thing keeps scratching at his head.

I didn't use anything to be honest - tried oil but didn't find it did anything. In the end, I just kept rubbing his head gently with a muslin while he dozed. Actually found it quite addictive

He still had a little bit after his first birthday and I'm not sure if it's all gone now or not (he's nearly 17 months) but his hairs grown a fair bit so can't see it if it's still there.

Long shot but how do you feed him? Just wondering if it's excema which could be triggered by formula.

my DD had terrible cradle cap. Her hair grew through it or into it. If I tried to take it off it hurt her head. Then at around a year it just disappeared.

Thing is it's not doing any harm but you can hurt your baby trying to get it off. If I were you I'd just leave it. It will eventually go. Don't risk hurting your baby.

Head and shoulders

I tried many many remedies when dd had cradle cap. Nothing made much difference until I tried Epiderm. Sorry, I don't know if it has harsh chemicals - I used it once and it cleared up the cradle cap.

I had to ask at the chemist for it.

None of these suggested remedies worked for my baby but something else did - I made a paste of baking powder with a few drops of water, put on the cradle cap for less than a minute, wash off and then use an oil or Vaseline and comb through. The baking powder acts to lift the cradle cap and then the oil softens so you can comb it out. It worked first time and it never came back. give it a try, my LO had it quite bad.

Excema, i thought this about the red rash that popped up, more so as it seemed itchy. Ds was bf but started to refuse to feed properly at about 6 weeks an i sadly gave up and switched to ff, i know now it was due to silent reflux.

I've not heard of the baking soda method, does it not irritate the skin?

I know its not really a health issue, but it smells awful, an i feel bad keeping his hands covered, as soon as his fingers are free he scratches, even with filed nails he draws blood.

I used Vaseline all over DS's head, left it for a bit, then baking powder to soak up the Vaseline, then shampooed loads and combed the cradle cap out with a narrow toothed comb. Once it was all out I applied breastmilk all over and left to dry. No idea which parts of that got rid of the cradle cap - but some of it certainly did!

Has he got rashes elsewhere? It sounds bad so I'd go back to the GP to discuss excema.

I wish I'd got rid of DS2s when he was a baby- he still has it aged 3, and I really want to pick it off but he won't let me! When I do pick it off though it leaves clean skin, no rash or redness or itching. So in my case I think it's ok to pick. If it's red though, I wouldn't.

Coconut oil seems the best idea. I may try it!

peachy I would suspect it's not cradle cap if still got it at 3!!!

On the NHS website it says that if it's itchy it's more likely to be atopic eczema. I think you need to get back to Drs to see what they think. Also you say it smells. Possibly infected eczema so need antibiotics and cream?

I bought boots own brand cradle cap cream , only a couple of pound, took it all away within couple of days. Fantastic , was few years ago but sure they ll still sell it

Be careful when using he smelly coal shampoo, as it can really burn if left on for too long. It was also prescribed to DD2, but we only used it a couple of times as we were worried about it hurting her. In the end, we rubbed on olive oil before bath time, and brushed it out when we washed her head, and then used an emollient to moisturise. It did take a few weeks, but worked for us.

The rash is on his forehead, along his hair line then spreads down about an inch, he has it by his ears too which is why i first thought it was a reaction to the strong shampoo. He doesn't have it anywhere else.

The small amount that has come off has left clean skin, but it comes away with hair stuck to it?

Steam !!!!

It is cradle cap- it is the same bits of cc he had as a baby. It's not new cc iykwim, it's the old stuff from when he was a baby that is STILL there! That's why I wish I'd picked it off then. Grrrr.

DS2's comes off with bits of hair stuck to it too. It doesn't hurt when I take it off though- he just hates being fiddled with!

It sounds like normal cc but that the shampoo has made his skin react. I'd try the coco oil.

I used Dream Cream from Lush, I asked and they said as its all natural ingredients it would be fine on babies, just put a thin layer on every other day now to keep it at bay but i put it in twice a day ti start with and it cleared up in 3/4 days, along with brushing the flakes off with a soft baby brush (got that from Boots I think)

My DS had it very badly too - a thick impenetrable crust that covered the entire top of his head. But it didn't seem to itch and it didn't smell, so I agree with others, it doesn't sound as though it is just cradle cap. Definitely worth going back to the doctor.

For what it is worth i used cradle cap shampoo for weeks and nothing happened. I tried smearing vaseline on (also tried coconut oil), leaving fir an hour or overnight and then shampooing, nothing happened. Then a friend recommended getting a soft baby hairbrush and brushing his head after soaking with Vaseline (while the vaseline was still on), then shampooing off. That really really helped. The brush is very soft and only removes the loose stuff, and once the crust started to break up a bit each cycle of treatment was more effective. I didn't do it every night, maybe every third night, but over 2-3 weeks it pretty much went. Just a few flakes left and now at 13m he is completely clear. Incredible when I look back at the photos, I thought it would never go!

I never ever picked it as I couldn't trust myself not to overdo it.

My LO had a thick crust and it smelled as well. Dr said it wasn't infected, just regular CC. He had excema as well at the time and Dr said to just his diprobase cream. That didnt work,neither did any of the cc shampoos or creams. The baking soda was brilliant, lifted it clean, no rashes, no irritation.

My DD had awful cradle cap, we tried everything from olive oil, coconut oil, vaseline, cradle cap shampoo, coal/tar shampoo, head and shoulders, nothing worked.

In the end the GP gave us hydrocortisone cream (1% I think), I had to apply it and leave it on for a while (an hour or maybe 2?) and then wash it out with a mild shampoo. I did this for 3 days and the CC totally disappeared and we could see the healthy skin underneath revealed. Since then, to maintain a clear scalp we've been using head and shoulders, still using it now at 3 years old.

www.wikaniko.com/shop/cradle-cap-lotion.html

This is a very good remedy for cradle cap, it consists of aloe vera gel and rosehip oil. A few friends have tried this and now swear by it.

I hope it helps!