Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Baby Dandruff

Sterling has a little bit of cradle cap. I had decided not to do anything about it because it was pretty minor, but it's been getting worse over the past week and I decided it was time to take action. This was mainly because I tend to want to pick at it when she's nursing or falling asleep and it wakes her up (besides being a somewhat unsavory thing to do). It's my grooming tendencies coming out.

Last night, I rubbed her head down with coconut oil and then let her marinate for 30 minutes or so. Then, I took her brush and brushed against the direction of the hair to loosen up the cradle cap scales (ick). Her hair ended up looking much like someone who you probably wouldn't call back after the first date - messy, oily, and full of big chunks of dandruff. So much for adorable baby heads.

I gave her a bath and washed her hair with her body wash / shampoo. Normally I don't use soap on her, so this was a change. I didn't manage to quite wash all the oil out of her hair, so it's a little greasy looking this morning and is sort of standing up in a point on the top of her head. It's also hard to tell how much of the cradle cap I got off because her scalp is sort of oily. I'm going to repeat the treatment tonight.

She had an excellent time in the bathtub last night. She started kicking her feet and seemed very interested in her toes. She hasn't had a lot of chance to interact with her toes because she's usually wearing socks (her feet get cold). The warm weather this summer should be optimally timed - she'll just be at the stage of development where she really discovers her toes when it's warm enough for her to be sockless.
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4 comments:

  1. jesslambrightJune 13, 2012 at 1:43 PM

    Both my kids still have cradle cap. I pick it off now and then, but it comes back. Also I don't wash their hair very well and rarely use shampoo. I've decided it protects their scalp from cosmic radiation and that since their hair is thicker now and it doesn't show, it really doesn't matter. :) But I remember when Sierra was tiny and had thin hair and thick yellow cradle cap. It was pretty yucky looking. I tried the oil soak + comb then shampoo once and it worked okay. I think it was the second time I did it, I gave her scalp a good scrub with a toothbrush (which she LOVED) and all her hair fell out! I'm pretty sure it was falling out anyway, but it was slightly traumatizing. But it grew back. :)

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  2. RebeccaJune 13, 2012 at 7:59 PM

    Have you tried putting breast milk on it?

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  3. MeaganJune 14, 2012 at 10:27 PM

    Kaden has cradle cap still too. Good thing you treated it early, while Sterling has no choice but to participate in the matter. Kaden wouldn't sit still now, even if I tried!

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  4. coldandsleepyJune 17, 2012 at 2:19 PM

    Good luck with the cradle cap-- Grey still has it too (at almost 3). We did the oil & comb routine many a time and it always came back. I still do it now and again but it's a lot harder now that he's big.

    Lots of people have recommended tea tree oil to us... hasn't resolved our problem but maybe it will yours!

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