Baby with Dry Scalp

Updated on January 27, 2008
J.C. asks from Elk Grove, CA
12 answers

My baby is almost 17 months and all of a sudden has a really dry scalp that won't go away. It seems to be just on the top of her head. Any suggestions? Her Dr suggested Head & Shoulders, Tegrin, or Selsun, but I want to know if there is something else that may be better?

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your advise! We ended up just putting lotion on the dry area for a few days and it went away.

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T.V.

answers from Salinas on

Hi J.,
One of my daughters went through that and I found that baby aveeno shampoo worked.Good luck.

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S.W.

answers from Sacramento on

My daughter is 3 and still gets this from time to time. It's called "cradle cap". Worse in the winter months. You can buy an expensive cream/shampoo (Wal-Mart baby isle) for this or do what I do. Per my pediatrician...Before you put her to bed and while her head is dry, put a good conditioner all over the scalp. Really rub it in. I put an extra pillow case on to protect the pillow. Truthfully it is not that messy! Wash her hair in the AM and really massage the scalp. I use a fine toothed comb and gently lift the scales off the scalp...painless. Sometimes I have to do this 2-3 nights in a row to get it all. After that, be sure to keep her scalp super moisturized with a good shampoo and conditioner. Head and shoulders is ok too per our doctor. Most parents don't think about conditioner for our little ones, but we need to. Another thought that I myself had to consider, is that little ones really don't need their hair washed EVERY day. It just dries out their little scalps. A bath every day is a good idea. Maybe a hair wash every other day?? Hope this helps. Lots of luck. -Sher

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D.C.

answers from San Francisco on

HI J.,

I am a new mom, too... my daughter, Ava, is 7 months old now. I sell a product called Arbonne ABC (baby care) that will clear this up... it's natural essential oils combine with scienifically generated (not harmful chemicals like in the products Doc recommended.. I would never use those on my daughter!) ingredients work wonders! I had a mom recently tell me that her daughter who is 5 had extreme excema and nothing cleared it up until she tried Arbonne a few months ago.. I am not her rep, so I wasn't even selling it to her, we just exchanged cards and she told me this. It's not expensive, and will last you at least 6 months.. we just opened our 2nd bottle and we bathe our daughter every day. A little goes a long way. If you're interested, email me at ____@____.com. I'd love to help... I know your daughter will be greatly relieved.

D.

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L.L.

answers from Sacramento on

Perhaps you should try looking at hair shampoos for dry scalp at an organic store or vitamin store. With little kids, I would be careful what you use. Shampoos can get in their eyes. A shampoo with all natural ingredients would be the safest, in my opinion.

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M.V.

answers from Fresno on

J.,
My son had the same problem. I SWEAR by AVENO baby shampoo. I hate johnson and johnson and they are made by the same company but for some reason AVENO is so much better.

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V.R.

answers from San Francisco on

Have you taken him to the doctor yet.

you could try lotion, or vasolen ,oatmeal, type of shapoo and cream rince.

This one you might think i'm crazy but get some
best foods mayo put it in his hair over night. But you have to rap hiss head in some kinda plactick. then in morneing wash his head like said early any good shampoo that will hope fully him. was his hear with the new headand shoulderI hope that will find some freleave with some of the. Don't hesitat to emails me again. thank you I hope you find what helps

Sencerly Yours
V.

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K.L.

answers from San Francisco on

I posted a question here a few days ago with the same issue -my two year old has a dry patch or two on her scalp that have just recently started. All of my responses suggested it was cradle cap....now, I know what cradle cap looks like, and this definitely wasn't cradle cap. It just looked like a patch of dry skin that one would find on their arm or leg, not a flakey accumulation of skin over the hair folicles - there was no resembelance to the cradle cap my daughter had when she was newborn.
So I called the ped, and she said it was just dry skin cause by the cold of the winter (you know how us moms can get winter skin? Same thing, just on her head, as she has very little hair and her scalp is somewhat exposed to the elements). She suggested I put a little bit of my own hair conditioner on the dry spot in the bath every other day - within two days, it was gone. I didnt want to put oil in her hair as its still so baby fine and it makes the hair look oily, but I did go out and buy some Burt's Bee's baby shampoo and wash. I use this on her hair now, and there is no sign of any more dryness. SO, buy him some natural, gentle shampoo and use a tiny bit of your hair conditioner on the dry spot. It should go away soon - just keep a hat on him when you go out to keep his scalp out of the cold.

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A.K.

answers from San Francisco on

My daughter use to get cradle cap and dry patchy skin (there is a difference.) I started using cetaphil moisturizing soap to wash her hair and then rub in some cetaphil lotion. I let it sit until the end of her bath and then wipe off the excess with a wet washcloth. This really helps.

Good luck

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L.W.

answers from Stockton on

My son had a touch of dry scalp when he was an infant as well (about 5 years ago). At that time, if I remember right, I used a bit of baby oil - per my peds recommendation. Since my son was about 1-1/2 years old I have been a customer of Melaleuca and since then have had many moms talk about this with their children. They use a product called Renew, which is a dry skin lotion that is naturally based and extremely effective. I do not sell the products, but I do have a sample of Renew I could send you to try. Let me know your thoughts.

L. W.

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D.Z.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi, mom of 2 here.. ages 4 & 1. I bought from Target... Gentle Naturals (brand), Cradle Cap Care. It has a winnie the pooh picture on the front of it. My 4 year old never had cradle cap, but when he turned 2 or so, he got dry scalp on top too. Anyhow I used this product about 3 times and it cleared up and has never come back. It is quite greasy at first.. but so worth it! Hope this helps.

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T.D.

answers from San Francisco on

Wow! Thank you for your question! My daughter has that too! Our pediatrician gave her a prescription for hydrocortisone cream, but all that did was make her hair look extremely dirty. I felt like such a bad mom, like I never bathed my child, even though she was bathed that day! I stopped using it and just used the baby magic shampoo, now every day vs.every other day, and that seems to be helping, but I'll definetly look into the Burt's Bees that was suggested. :)

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C.C.

answers from Bakersfield on

Sounds like cradle cap.. this can come and go. My son got it too..

Look it up on line.. But basically they sell kits you can buy and it will go away in a couple of weeks. If you plan to use oil make sure you massage the oil and then completely wash it out. As oil will make it worst.. But it will allow the flakes to come off...

I used a kit with 3 steps. First was oil, rub it on the head (olive oil works too)... comb out the flakes Then I used a specific wash for cradle cap and rinsed out the oil completely even if you have to wash twice. Then there was a lotion. Only do this every other day.... and don't use anything else on her head.

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