Cradle Cap: Is it okay to pick off?

[Anonymous]

My dr said to use cortisone 10. Cradle cap is caused by a Bactrial rash. I used the mustella cradle cap wash too

[Anonymous]

I took a certain joy in scratching off all those awful little flakes with olive oil and a soft-bristled brush only to find that I turned my son into Jack Nicholson, fuzzy receding hairline on top with long hair on the sides. After that, he wore hats every day for three months. And I swear to this day (he's almost 3 now) that the hair I removed along with the cradle cap has still not come in as full as the places that were not affected. Anyway, the more crunchy moms I knew just left it to its own devices and it seemed to clear up on its own.

[Anonymous]

DS had terrible cradle cap that wouldn't go away. Ped gave me sample of an rx cream that took care of it in hours. Every so often the scales would appear again, and the cream worked each time. Tried all of the fancy shampoos and various oils (olive, mineral, etc) before resorting to rx, but nothing else worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One pediatric book recommended washing the hair more frequently, using mild baby shampoo. Cradle cap is likely caused by overactive oil glands, not dry skin. Washing our baby's hair at least every other day helped tremendously, and we never had to use oil or topical lotions.

This. It's not dry skin, it's overproduction. Shampooing more frequently helps, and you don't have to risk picking at it and irritating the skin. Yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes, should I be worried if my 10 mo has it (perhaps got it around 4 mo) and we are just ignoring it, figuring it will go away? The kid has so much hair you can hardly see his scalp. I always thought it was more of cosmetic thing, but perhaps I'm wrong. [A while ago I did make a few attempts with oil and the special brush they gave us at the hospital, to no avail, so just gave up and moved on to other worries.]

we never touched it and it went away on its own. I thought you were supposed to leave it alone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why do you need to get rid of cradle cap?? is it harmful? I just leave it alone.

Not at all harmful. I actually found it weird that at pediatrician visits for both my babies, the pediatrician gave me unsolicited advice on getting rid of the cradle crap (our family name for it). It's solely an aesthetic issue. Doesn't harm baby at all. And you should definitely NOT pick at it to the point where there is ooze and you need Neosporin as a PP said-- that's not good. Just give it some time. It goes away on its own, though when it gets loose and dandruffy you can oil/toothbrush it off.

All the babies in our family have it, and it seems genetic; for some reason, none of my (spouse's) South Asian relatives nor my South American friends seem to have ever seen it before.

[Anonymous]

Why are people responding to a three year old post?
Cradle cap is gross and is easy to treat. I think the reason parents don't deal with it is 1) laziness 2) reading some old wives' garbage in some hippy triangle crystal healing baby book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Head and shoulder works, after taking a shower flick it off a tweezer if you think your cradle cap is rusty. If not, flake it off with your fingers. It may leave a red stain but after two days you have to take a shower and use Head & Shoulders. Worked for me!!

What? Rusty and red? What are you talking about???

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had this with a toddler? My son has a toddler version of cradle cap. I just got a new shampoo to try. We wash his hair every other day.

I don't know what else to do. He has so much hair, that I can't really put oil on it. We've mentioned it at every doctor appointment and they never really seem concerned. Going to mention it again at his 5 year appointment.

[Anonymous]

I have not found much research on what the composition of the oils and buildup that we call "cradle cap" is and if there is some explainable benefit of leaving it be. It is NOT HARMFUL to the baby, that much is known. Many parents are concerned because of the appearance of it and wish to remove it because it "looks gross". Since there is no known detriment to it, it is safe to assume it may be there for a reason and DO NOT pick it off, scrub it off, or otherwise remove it. In fact, one alternative health source I checked actually links cradle cap to increased intelligence in old Indian health wisdom. If you think about that, it could be possible that the fatty oils in the cradle cap are excess fats being gradually absorbed through the skin to nourish the baby's growing brain. Neurons are lined with fats that help them function optimally! I am thinking about asking a friend to research this topic as part of her medical school studies to see if my theory holds any weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so this stuff is not caused by dry skin but oil glands?

Are there any babies out there that didn 't have this?

And does it come back?

Mine had it really mildly, generally a little oil and the soft baby brush worked as it was getting "worse". he hated the bath until about 6 or 7 months so we sponge bathed him most of that time.

[Anonymous]

I just couldn't stop myself from picking at it.

it would take out chunks of her hair. but she's 9 months old now and has a different color hair now.

The shampoo and brushing didn't help and my picking was a compulsion.

[Anonymous]

We used the brush the hospital gave us with a little shampoo. It came back a couple times with each child but always just brushed it out in the bath with very little hassle. I get that it's not harmful but why let it get so bad? i see babies with bright orange heads! If you brush gently at the first sign it doesnt have to take over. That's why they give you that brush at the hospital!

[Anonymous]

Mustela shampoo and a soft brush. Looked way better within two shampoos. We've used the shampoo for 10 months now, so it lasts a long time which is good since it's expensive.

[Anonymous]

Generous amount of olive oil, let sit for 30 min while intermittently massaging it in then put baby in bath and comb out with a soft tooth brush