4 Yr Old with Dandruff

I had the same issue with both my children and I discovered that Johnsons Baby shampoo has a stronger astringent than most adult shampoos. Shampoo and conditioner with tea tree oil is the best. Another benefit...tea tree oil helps repel lice. Also, shampoo every other day during the winter months..daily can be too much for kids with dry skin.

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I would actually wager that it's not proper dandruff, but dry scalp from the shampoo. my daughter's hairdresser encouraged me to use better products, and actually use a conditioner. For a couple of days I used my own tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner from Trader Joe's to help cleanse off the dry stuff, then switched to separate kids shampoo and conditioner. You can probably keep using the Johnson's as long as it's not a 2-in-1, then grab a conditioner (L'Oreal makes one).

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Hi,
I am a consultant with The Body Shop at Home (www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/cflesher). We have a line of baby products which includes a baby shampoo. I am a fan of the honey moisturizing shampoo for dry hair.
Let me know if you would like to try anything for FREE!
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Cynthia

1 mom found this helpful

Read the label on your shampoo. In some varieties, J&J uses quaternium, which is a fancy name for formaldehyde! They disguise it by calling it q-15 or q-10, or poly-quaternium, but all these are just other names for a cheap preservative that I wouldn't want to use on any living family member. (They do use formaldehyde to preserve dead people and animals for biology classes).

I would switch to a gentler product without that ingredient in it. There are many available and if you want to check out my website, I'd be happy to help you find safe products for all your household needs and save money too! www.SwitchingStores.info

Good luck,
J.

This may sound strange, but I'd try rubbing a little olive oil on his scalp. I also doubt he has actual dandruff, but would switch to a different shampoo. Get something in an organic type of shampoo rather than the normal stuff from the store counter. I'm not familiar with the line of products one lady mentioned, but it sounds like she has something of that type. Someone else mentioned a shampoo containing tea tree oil. I get one that has tea tree oil in it from the Melaleuca company. I order it online, and have found it to be mild for the kids. There are several companies that put out such shampoos and I'm sure whichever one you try will be better than what you are using.

I had the same issue with my daughter, doctor said to use Head & Shoulders Sensative - it works great. Plus it smells good as well! Good luck!

Use a conditioner on his hair, as it will also condition the scalp.

I have my daughter use my shampoo and conditioner and her hair is silky and scalp no longer dry and flaky. Johnson's baby shampoo is very drying on the skin.

Stephanie

Use a dandruff shampoo then I'd reccomend a leave-in conditioner to prevent frizzies. I use Garnier Fructis (sp?) leave-in conditioner on my son - it smells like fruit - not flowers and comes in a lime green bottle so Hubby and Son weren't worried about it being girlie ;) And it's not expensive. I wash my son's hair 2-3 times a week - more than that and he complains about itchy scalp. My son has curly hair so the condtioner keeps it from turning into an afro with dreadlocks in the winter when he wears a hat to play outside. My son still puts food, stickers, paint, glue etc. in his hair - the conditioner makes it easier to pull/comb out the foreign items. Ah, boys!

Our pediatrician recommended Neutrogena T-Gel. It worked well for us.

Secondling the notion that this might not be dandruff so much as just dry and flaking scalp. Before I started in with anything medicinal or other "cures" I'd go for a gentler shampoo for a few weeks, and see if that helps. (I can't use Johnson's baby shampoo on myself!) You had some suggestions for milder brands, or even just try whatever you use on yourself.

Head and shoulders dry scalp shampoo and conditioner in one. My 3 year old had bad cradle cap, now it is gone. I wash his hair every other day with it. My pediatrician recommended it. It stings the eyes a little, but not bad. Don't wash his hair eveyday, it drys it out more. As far as I know, their is no child dandruff shampoo. I'm one of those everything has to be safe for my child moms, so if this shampoo + conditioner was not okay for my child I wouldn't wash his hair with it. Give it a try. Johnson shampoo is drying from what I have heard. Good luck

Hi M.!

You know, my son had cradle cap at 4-6 yrs old. I thought it was dandruff, but the Dr said it was cradle cap. His hair was/is still so thick and he plays sooooo hard. Those in combination,he was/still is always sweaty. It was hard to get rid of it.

I had his hair cut shorter, then added in the conditioner. It was so important to rinse out the shampoo completely to avoid this problem.

~N. :O)