Cradle Cap or dry skin

Hi there,

Charlie's head is covered with dry skin that some people seem to think is cradle cap.

The paed said it was just dry skin and to put Olive Oil on it every night and then wash it off in the morning.

I have been putting Almond oil on it (couldn't make myself use Olive oil - too much like oiling up a roast or something...) and washing his noggin but his head is now very sort of scabby.

It's not pus covered or infected it's just thick dry skin scabby stuff that wont come off with a washer, I have to pick it off - I really really want to exfoliate his head but alas my mum said 'NO WAY!':rolleyes:

what do I do with it then? do I continue to pick it off? underneath is just normal skin and it doesn't hurt him when I pick it off - I normally do it while he's feeding and he doesn't even notice.

It just looks really yucky and not matter how much I pick off there's more there the next day - does that mean it is cradle cap? If so what do I do with that then?

Would love some advice.

Cheers, Em.

Cooper had very dry, flaky skin on his head early on. And I've seen cradle cap on my friend's baby, so I can definitely tell the difference.

A way I could only describe cradle cap is that it looks like a piece of Special K cereal (sorry!).

And with dry skin, it flakes off everywhere when their head rubs on your clothes. I don't think cradle cap does that?

Cradle cap takes many different looks. Some are less severe than others.
It certainly sounds like cradle cap to me! Oil is the best thing for it, try to avoid drying it out, and maybe get a soft baby brush and rub that on the scalp?

I will admit to picking the really dry bits off Jenna's head. If you want to exfoliate - do it. Some mums I know have used a baking soda paste on their babies and basically burnt off the dry skin. I'm not so big on that myslef ;)

Cradle cap is incredibly common - liek 50% of babies get it to some degree, the lucky ones get dry skin, and the unlucky ones get the really bad scaly, flaky skin.

Try not to stress - it will go away with time, and just put a hat on your baby before photos ;)