Most babies experience cradle cap at some point, and my sweet Cordelia is no exception.
Today I decided to treat her cradle cap, even though I know it doesn’t bother her. It bothers me a little bit, and I don’t like how random strangers feel free to comment on my baby’s dermatological issues.
Here’s how to naturally treat cradle cap quickly and easily!
You will need:
-warm water
-a soft washcloth
-coconut oil
-a fine-tooth comb or baby nail brush
Make sure your baby is happy and relaxed before starting this process. Try doing it right after a feeding with your baby in a comfortable position.
Place a washcloth moistened with warm water on the affected area of the baby’s head or forehead. Gently rub the washcloth over the area to soften the skin. (Alternatively, you could do this treatment after a bath.)
Apply a small amount of coconut oil on the baby’s scalp or forehead using your fingers. The heat from your hand will melt the oil. Massage the oil gently into your baby’s skin.
Using a fine-tooth comb or a baby nail brush, very gently scrape the “scales” off, combing in the opposite direction of the way they are laying. Wipe away the removed scales using the warm washcloth.
Continue this process until the majority of the scales are removed. The skin may be slightly red for a little bit after the treatment.
Here you can see a before and after of Cordelia’s cradle cap:
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| before |
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| after (still not completely better, but much improved!) |
I didn’t get all of the cradle cap off with the first treatment, but I will keep working at it. I still think it looks much better than it did before!
Looking for a great place to buy coconut oil? Try Vitacost! I got a 54 oz. container of organic, extra-virgin coconut oil for about $15 shipped because of the $10 credit you get when you first join! It’s a great deal (cheaper than Amazon).
ooo thats looks itchy. Bless her heart. I bet it will clear up good with summer coming too. My skin always improves in the summer.
Coconut oil sure is great tho 🙂 – Nichole’s lotion bars btw are amazing for the face. I use it on my face every single night after doing my jojoba oil treatment to wash off my make up, it works beautifully. Last for a long time too. Ive had the same bar since Christmas 🙂
Coconut oil is also an amazing makeup remover! Especially eye makeup.
My daughter had cradle cap that started in her eyebrows. It didn’t move onto her forehead, but she did get it bad in her hair. I had no idea what it was at first (first time mama, ha!) and the nurse at my mommy & me class said to put shampoo on her dry hair and let it sit while we bathe her then rinse it out and that helped loosen it up a lot. On her eyebrows I used baby oil (just a tiny bit) on a q-tip and gently flaked it off and that worked well!
I had to laugh at your comment about strangers making comments. Callyn is dealing with some skin issues now and we think it’s eczema but it’s mostly on her face and she has very red cheeks and a couple of spots on her face and it seems everyone under the sun is asking what happened to her face. Your comment made me laugh because people would NEVER walk up to an adult and ask what happened to their face, so why is it ok to do that for a baby?!
When my daughter had cradle cap I used olive oil. She had it in her hair, so I massaged the oil in, allowed it to sit on her head for about 15 min, and then gently combed it. Afterwards she got her bath and I shampooed her hair. It worked after just a few treatments and even helped to combat the redness. At first I was worried but it even shampooed out really well (I use the California Baby shampoo). On her face & body I use the Nature’s Baby Organics Face & Body Moisturizer. It’s AMAZING. Fragrance free, gentle, & helped clear up some dry flaky skin quickly. Good luck! 🙂
Have you tried Bag Balm? It’s this really great salve made in Vermont and it worked amazingly well with Spencer. It helps prevent new scales from forming and a bunch of other good stuff. I also used a coconut oil stick first and then when I was done working on her, I would finish up with putting on the Bag Balm. It’s just really great for any dermatological skin issues and it’s made on a farm in Vermont- so that always made me happy, haha, plus it’s cheap! Hope you guys are going to be able to come to Richmond soon so we can all meet Cordelia!