Baby cradle cap

When babies are very young it’s not uncommon for them to develop a dry skin condition of the scalp. If this is flaking, or has a yellowish crust then this is called cradle cap. The technical name for cradle cap is seborrhoea, this can affect adults, however cradle cap is the children’s version.

The flakes or crust are nothing to be alarmed about, they are simply caused by overactive oil glands. It’s not unheard of for babies to develop similar symptoms on other places of their body, this also isn’t harmful. Normally these patches of flaky skin do not cause any discomfort to the baby.

My first baby was sort of an experiment, and I did find some great ways to help the cradle cap to clear up. If my baby only had a few flakes on his head then using a very soft brush was enough to remove the flakes. You must be very gentle, and avoid pressing too hard. Make sure you don’t get any of the flakes into the baby’s eyes.

If the cradle cap is thicker then the best way to remove it is using some baby oil and massage it into the head. Then use shampoo to wash it out. You must be very careful not to get any of the shampoo or baby oil into the eyes as this would cause a lot of screaming! If you are having trouble washing the baby’s hair, hold them like an American football and wash them over the sink, a shower is very useful to wash the soap out of the baby’s hair.

If the cradle cap is very bad then I used some anti-dandruff shampoo, just a small amount mind. You put it on a soft brush similar to a shaving brush and then cover the affected area with the shampoo. Massage the shampoo into the scalp and then leave it on for a few minutes. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the shampoo out of the hair afterwards, this really does make a noticeable affect on the cradle cap.

Cortisone cream is a steroid cream that can be used to treat itching and reduce swelling. I rubbed a tiny amount of cortisone cream into the baby’s scalp to help calm down the inflammation.

The best time to do all of this is of course before bedtime. For some reasons baths make most babies very sleepy, which makes it an ideal time! While the baby is having his last feed of the day it should be possible to rub in the cream without alerting him to what you are doing!

Cradle cap doesn’t look very attractive, but it doesn’t cause any harm. Almost all babies experience cradle cap, it’s a perfectly normal stage of the baby’s development. Cradle cap normally clears up by itself without any intervention in a few months, if it does persist then talk to your doctor about it.

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