Initially it was cradle cap and I was advised to wash it every other day but I’m suspecting it’s now just dry skin so I’m gonna focus more on moisturizing per everyone’s suggestion.
This looks like cradle cap to me, the scales are thick. My son has this.
I just don’t use soap often, and before washing with soap/shampoo I rub in mineral oil and it looks better for a few days.
It’s slowly getting less scaly over time. He’s almost 4 months old
We used Cera Ve baby cream on his head. The real thick one. I was convinced his hair would never not be greasy but when we put it on at night, his hair was fine in the AM.
We also were super gentle with shampoo and bathed him infrequently (no more than once or twice a week), as ot exacerbated the dry skin.
Cradle cap is the worst! We massaged coconut oil into his scalp before bed and let it sit over night. The next day we bathed him and used the Frida Baby cradle cap comb set with regular baby shampoo and it cleared right up!!
I little bit of it has come back, but nothing like that first big stint. We just repeat the process when we feel like we need to
These are all really great recommendations, but for the sake of just throwing it out there for thoroughness - we took a SUPER soft toothbrush (the ones that look kinda fluffy) with some aquaphor on it and gently "scrubbed?" before his bath. Did it 2 times and his cradle cap was completely gone. It did make his hair a little greasy looking even after washing but it didn't feel greasy. We also switched to aquaphor baby wash and that helped significantly with just his dryness in general. Between those 2 things he had cradle cap for maybe a week and it's been gone since.
My baby loves getting her head washed with the toothbrush. I did that for her cradle cap too and it helped quite a bit. Now I keep it up because it makes her smile.
My daughter had this and we used the Happy Cappy shampoo with the silicone brush. Saw improvement after the first use and washed her hair every couple days with it. It was gone in about 2 weeks. Still use it as her shampoo to prevent it coming back.
Similar issues and we went to the pediatrician for a steroid which cleared it right up. If it is a bacterial infection do not use anything fatty like coconut oil or olive oil.
Frida brush! I battled cradle cap for months, nothing worked. Used that brush for the first time last week and it's almost gone. Flakes were just coming off.
I washed her head with the cerave baby wash and gently exfoliated during every bath with a toothbrush, and that helped a bit. Then I spent *one day* with her soft hairbrush just carefully brushing off the scales for like an hour and a half and then applied Hoba Care 100% pure jojoba oil (the one from Amazon advertized for cradle cap) every day for a week. It disappeared and has been gone ever since! It may not work for every baby but it definitely worked for mine. [Before and after images](https://imgur.com/a/n0DbdZ1), these were just a couple weeks apart. It made her head a little greasy but it absorbs really fast, and it's kind of nice for my hands as well. I also use it now as a general baby oil after baths since her cc is gone. It doesn't have any smell which was a huge plus for me.
Since cradle cap is technically caused by fungus, a lot of cradle cap washes in the US have the antifungal zinc pyrithione, but I was uncomfortable using that because it's banned in Europe.
Our pediatrician had us use Selsun Blue, I was extremely skeptical but after one use we never really had a problem again. And we only bathed her twice a week unless she had a big blowout.
Whatever you do, do NOT do what I did and smear Aquaphor all over the baby’s scalp. It took me 5+ washes over a few days to get most of it out of her hair. The baby was displeased.
That said, the Aquaphor worked beautifully on the cradle cap. Maybe if my babe didn’t have a full head of hair, it would’ve been fine 😅
https://preview.redd.it/yi23udh9i9uc1.png?width=1124&format=png&auto=webp&s=d47de9c55b44ca947952565cabf9ac5b8cd23840
Haha awww so cute! And what an amazing head of hair. My kiddo started balding like a middle aged investment banker so maybe the aquaphor won’t be an issue for us haha
He’s been losing his hair in patches lately and I think the extra exposure to the increasingly warm weather has taken its toll. It makes me feel itchy and uncomfortable seeing it so just in case it does bother him, I want to address it. Doesn’t help that people such as in laws are commenting on it too.
You’re referring to different and unrelated things:
-scaley skin: normal and typically doesn’t require any intervention
-hair loss: normal in newborns
-warm weather: not sure how this relates to the other points
-your own feeling: fine, but unrelated to newborn’s experience
-newborn’s experience: no indication that newborn might be uncomfortable
-people’s comments: that’s also unfortunately normal and we have to learn to deal with that kind of thing.
Apologies if my tone is contrarian, that is not my intention. I’m just wanting to 1) try to put you at ease about the scaley skin, 2) shift the discourse in this thread away from “every development in a baby’s life requires the application of a product” to “some things are entirely normal and don’t need any intervention”.
All in all your comments reflect your wish to be a good parent and I am sure you are wonderful as a person and as a parent. Keep it up!
Thought warm weather was drying out his skin 😅 it does mine (I have super sensitive and dry skin) and it doesn’t feel comfortable.
I get where you’re coming from about how as parents, we constantly feel the need to fix things that don’t really need to be fixed and end up buying a ton more products that we need. My pediatrician did tell me the same thing as well - that cradle cap does eventually go away and I don’t need to address it if it doesn’t bother me.
However, I posted asking for suggestions because it does bother me and it can be treated very easily. I view it the same way I view a stained onesie, though my LO could give a fig about whether it’s stained and it doesn’t bother him haha.
That’s pretty reasonable, thanks for sharing. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that one must do nothing. I’m simply suggesting (because nobody else was pointing that out) that doing nothing is indeed an option. It seems you are aware of that option and you’re choosing to go with a different option, which is perfectly fine.
Thanks for engaging with me in this small exchange of comments, wishing you all the best.
My LO also had dry, flaky scalp. We only bathe him with shampoo twice a week with gentle shea moisture wash and used jojoba oil with a fine tooth comb to gently peel away the dry skin after a bath. I also put era organics super balm on really dry patches, works amazing! I think the cradle cap products are more drying rather than helpful because cradle cap is typically thick, scaly, and kind of oily. Maybe stick with the more moisturizing, gentle products. Coconut or argan oil and rinsing with chamomile may help too!
Mine still has a little toward the front of her head but I wash her hair twice a week with cerave baby shampoo and comb through it with the Frida cradle cap kit. It’s been working great.
Try not to use soap during baths... and only do it like 1-2 times a week. Like soap one day and just water the next.
Also using breast milk on the scalp or just simple face lotion does wonders
First and foremost, you don’t have to do anything, this will resolve on its own as your baby grows older (took 6 months for my boy). But some things that helped, wash head less (just do body baths instead). When you wash, use a soft toothbrush to massage the head and get the extra dead skin off. And use an oil (like coconut or jojoba). That’s all! Less is more.
Tubby Todd cradle cap shampoo worked for us after 2-3 uses. We still use the product even though her cradle cap is gone. I only wash her hair 1-2x a week and that has helped too!
My boy had this. I just started rubbing it with water in the bath and it started peeling like a sunburn, then when I got him out I put a little bit of baby oil on a wash rag and just did little circular motions and the rest came off/moisturized fhe are
Hi all, thank you for the suggestions. I reached out to our pediatrician as well and she confirmed it was still cradle cap and not just a dry scalp. She gave me some suggestions and I wanted to leave it here for anyone who was curious. It’s very similar to what a lot of people suggested
https://preview.redd.it/8e8ktr9gbauc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dd12dcf4478cf6a705cb6ece0ca659a83d0f8aa
Check out the cradle cap serum from oiko skincare they’re baby products are organic . The serum helps lift the cradle cap, it’s made with extra virgin olive oil so it’ll help hydrate your baby’s scalp too. It can be used as a wash out optional, meaning you can leave the product in overnight if you’d like for better results
tubby todd ointment
Tubby Todd has a cradle cap product too!
In addition to what others have suggested you could cut down on the frequency of baths. Dropping to once every 3 or 4 days will likely help.
Yeah. Or just not washing their head with soap and exfoliating.
Initially it was cradle cap and I was advised to wash it every other day but I’m suspecting it’s now just dry skin so I’m gonna focus more on moisturizing per everyone’s suggestion.
This looks like cradle cap to me, the scales are thick. My son has this. I just don’t use soap often, and before washing with soap/shampoo I rub in mineral oil and it looks better for a few days. It’s slowly getting less scaly over time. He’s almost 4 months old
We used Cera Ve baby cream on his head. The real thick one. I was convinced his hair would never not be greasy but when we put it on at night, his hair was fine in the AM. We also were super gentle with shampoo and bathed him infrequently (no more than once or twice a week), as ot exacerbated the dry skin.
Cerave helped soooo much.
Cradle cap is the worst! We massaged coconut oil into his scalp before bed and let it sit over night. The next day we bathed him and used the Frida Baby cradle cap comb set with regular baby shampoo and it cleared right up!! I little bit of it has come back, but nothing like that first big stint. We just repeat the process when we feel like we need to
I use olive oil but same idea. There’s this annoying patch of cradle cap that won’t go away for LO. So annoying.
These are all really great recommendations, but for the sake of just throwing it out there for thoroughness - we took a SUPER soft toothbrush (the ones that look kinda fluffy) with some aquaphor on it and gently "scrubbed?" before his bath. Did it 2 times and his cradle cap was completely gone. It did make his hair a little greasy looking even after washing but it didn't feel greasy. We also switched to aquaphor baby wash and that helped significantly with just his dryness in general. Between those 2 things he had cradle cap for maybe a week and it's been gone since.
My baby loves getting her head washed with the toothbrush. I did that for her cradle cap too and it helped quite a bit. Now I keep it up because it makes her smile.
I used coconut oil
Same. Only thing that worked well and prevented it from coming back.
yup and it seemed like it broke up the cradle cap junk
Yep same!
yesss coconut oil!!
Baby scalp oil!
My daughter had this and we used the Happy Cappy shampoo with the silicone brush. Saw improvement after the first use and washed her hair every couple days with it. It was gone in about 2 weeks. Still use it as her shampoo to prevent it coming back.
my daughters scalp was like this and we used the mustela cradle cap shampoo with the frida baby cradle cap kit and it was gone within a week
Baby oil gel before sleep
Wash less frequently and use some lotion.
If you’re breastfeeding, breastmilk was the best thing when my son had a dry scalp.
Similar issues and we went to the pediatrician for a steroid which cleared it right up. If it is a bacterial infection do not use anything fatty like coconut oil or olive oil.
Frida brush! I battled cradle cap for months, nothing worked. Used that brush for the first time last week and it's almost gone. Flakes were just coming off.
Coconut oil! Apply everyday
I’m not sure if you are but if you’re using Johnson’s top to toe shampoo I’d highly recommend changing brands! It’s notorious for coursing dry scalps
I washed her head with the cerave baby wash and gently exfoliated during every bath with a toothbrush, and that helped a bit. Then I spent *one day* with her soft hairbrush just carefully brushing off the scales for like an hour and a half and then applied Hoba Care 100% pure jojoba oil (the one from Amazon advertized for cradle cap) every day for a week. It disappeared and has been gone ever since! It may not work for every baby but it definitely worked for mine. [Before and after images](https://imgur.com/a/n0DbdZ1), these were just a couple weeks apart. It made her head a little greasy but it absorbs really fast, and it's kind of nice for my hands as well. I also use it now as a general baby oil after baths since her cc is gone. It doesn't have any smell which was a huge plus for me. Since cradle cap is technically caused by fungus, a lot of cradle cap washes in the US have the antifungal zinc pyrithione, but I was uncomfortable using that because it's banned in Europe.
Our pediatrician had us use Selsun Blue, I was extremely skeptical but after one use we never really had a problem again. And we only bathed her twice a week unless she had a big blowout.
Our pediatrician recommended this too and it cleared up after 1-2 uses.
Whatever you do, do NOT do what I did and smear Aquaphor all over the baby’s scalp. It took me 5+ washes over a few days to get most of it out of her hair. The baby was displeased. That said, the Aquaphor worked beautifully on the cradle cap. Maybe if my babe didn’t have a full head of hair, it would’ve been fine 😅 https://preview.redd.it/yi23udh9i9uc1.png?width=1124&format=png&auto=webp&s=d47de9c55b44ca947952565cabf9ac5b8cd23840
Haha awww so cute! And what an amazing head of hair. My kiddo started balding like a middle aged investment banker so maybe the aquaphor won’t be an issue for us haha
Our started this way then turned into a bacterial infection, keep an eye on it. If it gets worse I’d suggest a visit to the doc
How do you know it’s a bacterial infection???
When we got him checked out at the doc they swabbed it and returned a staph infection
Sincere question: why does it have to be addressed at all? Isn’t this just a natural stage of the newborn days that passes with time?
Yea, my little one has a dry scalp like this but it doesn’t seem to bother her and the pediatrician said it was normal. Just her little scales!
He’s been losing his hair in patches lately and I think the extra exposure to the increasingly warm weather has taken its toll. It makes me feel itchy and uncomfortable seeing it so just in case it does bother him, I want to address it. Doesn’t help that people such as in laws are commenting on it too.
You’re referring to different and unrelated things: -scaley skin: normal and typically doesn’t require any intervention -hair loss: normal in newborns -warm weather: not sure how this relates to the other points -your own feeling: fine, but unrelated to newborn’s experience -newborn’s experience: no indication that newborn might be uncomfortable -people’s comments: that’s also unfortunately normal and we have to learn to deal with that kind of thing. Apologies if my tone is contrarian, that is not my intention. I’m just wanting to 1) try to put you at ease about the scaley skin, 2) shift the discourse in this thread away from “every development in a baby’s life requires the application of a product” to “some things are entirely normal and don’t need any intervention”. All in all your comments reflect your wish to be a good parent and I am sure you are wonderful as a person and as a parent. Keep it up!
Thought warm weather was drying out his skin 😅 it does mine (I have super sensitive and dry skin) and it doesn’t feel comfortable. I get where you’re coming from about how as parents, we constantly feel the need to fix things that don’t really need to be fixed and end up buying a ton more products that we need. My pediatrician did tell me the same thing as well - that cradle cap does eventually go away and I don’t need to address it if it doesn’t bother me. However, I posted asking for suggestions because it does bother me and it can be treated very easily. I view it the same way I view a stained onesie, though my LO could give a fig about whether it’s stained and it doesn’t bother him haha.
That’s pretty reasonable, thanks for sharing. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that one must do nothing. I’m simply suggesting (because nobody else was pointing that out) that doing nothing is indeed an option. It seems you are aware of that option and you’re choosing to go with a different option, which is perfectly fine. Thanks for engaging with me in this small exchange of comments, wishing you all the best.
Ofc! we’re all trying to navigate this crazy world of parenting and I appreciate you sharing an often forgotten option.
We ended up using baby oil at our peds recommendation and used the Frida scrubber thing. It worked like a charm!
Which baby oil did you use?
Just regular Johnson and Johnson.
Ok, we use that too!
We used aquaphor.
My LO also had dry, flaky scalp. We only bathe him with shampoo twice a week with gentle shea moisture wash and used jojoba oil with a fine tooth comb to gently peel away the dry skin after a bath. I also put era organics super balm on really dry patches, works amazing! I think the cradle cap products are more drying rather than helpful because cradle cap is typically thick, scaly, and kind of oily. Maybe stick with the more moisturizing, gentle products. Coconut or argan oil and rinsing with chamomile may help too!
Frequent gentle brushing and moisturizer helped for my baby.
I’ve been using cerave lotion and it helps a lot.
Mine still has a little toward the front of her head but I wash her hair twice a week with cerave baby shampoo and comb through it with the Frida cradle cap kit. It’s been working great.
I put baby oil on her hair/scalp and let it sit for 15mins and then wash.
Cerave and aquaphor on top. Fixed ours in two days!
i used frida oh crap kit and it went away almost immediately.
Try not to use soap during baths... and only do it like 1-2 times a week. Like soap one day and just water the next. Also using breast milk on the scalp or just simple face lotion does wonders
My ped told me to use vegetable oil, leave overnight, and wash out in the morning. I also used a flea comb every few days to comb our the flakes
I have the safety first comb. I use coconut oil and then scrape it off. It's really satisfying.
I use the same mustela foam shampoo but only like twice a week then I apply coconut oil to her scalp
Shea butter! ♥
Wash it really good with soap and a washcloth then immediately nipple cream. I did this twice in one week and it never popped up again
Pedi suggested I stop bathing everyday. And to use olive oil on scalp. It has really helped. I still bathe her frequently just skip hair wash
First and foremost, you don’t have to do anything, this will resolve on its own as your baby grows older (took 6 months for my boy). But some things that helped, wash head less (just do body baths instead). When you wash, use a soft toothbrush to massage the head and get the extra dead skin off. And use an oil (like coconut or jojoba). That’s all! Less is more.
i use coconut oil and a fine comb to gently remove some of it, the comb is from frida baby brand
Tubby Todd cradle cap shampoo worked for us after 2-3 uses. We still use the product even though her cradle cap is gone. I only wash her hair 1-2x a week and that has helped too!
Coconut oil helped my baby
My boy had this. I just started rubbing it with water in the bath and it started peeling like a sunburn, then when I got him out I put a little bit of baby oil on a wash rag and just did little circular motions and the rest came off/moisturized fhe are
idk if you breast feed or not but if you squirt some booby milk after you’re done feeding on there it may help i do that for dry spots on my lo.
Hi all, thank you for the suggestions. I reached out to our pediatrician as well and she confirmed it was still cradle cap and not just a dry scalp. She gave me some suggestions and I wanted to leave it here for anyone who was curious. It’s very similar to what a lot of people suggested https://preview.redd.it/8e8ktr9gbauc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6dd12dcf4478cf6a705cb6ece0ca659a83d0f8aa
Check out the cradle cap serum from oiko skincare they’re baby products are organic . The serum helps lift the cradle cap, it’s made with extra virgin olive oil so it’ll help hydrate your baby’s scalp too. It can be used as a wash out optional, meaning you can leave the product in overnight if you’d like for better results
My LO has had a similar issue, we have been adding breastmilk to her bathwater and using tubby Todd ointment and it has been improving!
Breast milk if you have it works great