Cradle Cap
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Both of my babies experienced cradle cap, which for them meant yellowish scaly patches on their heads. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that they were both born with full heads of hair, but whatever the reason they both had it. It didn’t seem to bother them at all because they never seemed uncomfortable or itchy, and from what I understand it’s mostly a cosmetic issue that goes away eventually on its own.
I didn’t really concern myself too much with the cradle cap because I figured it was just a minor annoyance that would disappear with due time, but my husband was absolutely repulsed by it. He couldn’t stand the sight of the stuff and would spend quite a bit of time combing it out of their hair. For him, I went ahead and bought a cradle cap shampoo at the store and we used that on both babies with a little bit of success. The cradle cap did just eventually go away on its own, though. I’m not even sure the shampoo did much at all, but it certainly made my husband feel better to at least try to do something about the situation.
Someone once told me that if cradle cap is left unchecked it can spread like wildfire all the way down the baby’s back, but from my experience with my own babies it seems that like that scenario would certainly be the exception to the norm. If your newborn develops cradle cap then try not to fret too much about it because it will probably disappear on its own without much help from you. If it freaks you out then you can try store-bought remedies, or you can do like my husband and spend quite a bit of time combing the scaly patches out. Either way, if you are really concerned about it then you should make an appointment to see your baby’s doctor.
R.Henry says...
In my experience with cradle cap, if just left alone, it will spread and cause the baby’s hair to fall out. If you scratch it out, it will come back worse than before. The best thing to do for cradle cap in my experience is to wash the hair with a shampoo called, Sebulex, every other day until it disappears. When washing the scalp, make sure not to scratch it, just rub the baby’s scalp. Rub mineral oil on the baby’s scalp two to three times a day and it will disappear without the baby’s hair falling out. Some say olive oil but, it leaves a smell and stains whatever the baby is on.
Some people believe that every baby’s hair is supposed to shed but, in my family we have not had that happen to one child! Rubbing their heads with mineral oil daily and making sure they do not constantly lay on lycro material will help. It’s even helpful to have them nap on little silky blankets since they do roll their heads back and forth while napping.