Hi! My (almost) 4 month old daughter has had a pretty intense case of cradle cap for almost 2 months now. It is improving on a daily basis, but now she is losing her hair. Every time a flake comes off her scalp, 2-6 hairs come out with it and she is almost completely bald on top now. She does have "peach fuzz" growing in, and my mom said that it sounds pretty normal for a baby who had a full head of hair at birth to lose it as her new hair grows in. Has anyone else had this problem, and does this sound fairly normal? Or is this something I should worry about?
So, all in all I have done nothing to try and "rid" her of the cradle cap. I have just made sure that at bathtime we spend a little extra time massaging her scalp. (Which she loves anyway) And as time has passed, it has started to go away on its own. There's only one spot about the size of a quarter left. And as far as the hair loss, I realized that her brown newborn hair is falling out so as to make room for the adorable blonde hair that is growing in it's place. Thanks to everyone for their help.
3 babies with all of them with the same problem. I just used baby oil and scrubbed their heads with a soft baby brush. Leave the oil in the hair. I do this after a bath. Everyday, it will go away soon. They all lose thier little baby hair. My son looks like I comb over his hair cause he is all on top hair and everywhere else bald. So really it is ok. It will grow back in.
I got rid of my son's cradle cap by just giving it a good brushing everyday, he was also born with a full head of hair and started losing it in droves at about 4 months old until he was completely bald with only peach fuzz left by 5 months. It's completely normal, every one of my siblings and myself lost all our hair and then it grew in nice and thick.
Just brush her hair everyday to alleviate the cradle cap and don't worry about the hair. I actually just buzzed my son's hair when it started looking patchy because I figured it looked better than an infant comb-over.
You might try Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap stuff. I haven't tried it, but I have loved all of their products I have tried. It's available in the baby aisle at most stores.
As far as her hair falling out, that is very normal. I wouldn't worry about it.
Hi Alisha-
My pediatrician had me use a small amount of Selsum Blue shampoo to wash their hair with and after a week it worked wonders!!! As long as you don't mind the medicated-shampoo smell of your baby versus the Johnson & Johnson one we all love! (Ha-ha)
As far as losing her hair, its quite normal for a baby born with hair to loose it all during the first year-the peach fuzz is the sure sign everything is ok!
Good luck with your adventures in parenting-I have three now and have learned so much!
Blessings,
A. W.
Hi A., craddle cap is a normal occurance in new babies. My two children both had a little bit of craddle cap. I kept it at bay by using the soft scrub brush thing that the hospital cleans the babies head w/ when they are born. It was one of the things that I took home w/ me. You may be able to get one of them from your peditricaian or in the least they may be able to tell you where you can find one. If you do find one you have to scrub her head- not hard but firmly. I put the baby soap on her head and then also on the brush and scrub scrub.
As far as loosing her hair - my kids also lost their hair. My brother was born w/ a full head of thick black hair. He lost it all and grew white/blonde hair in. Long story short dont worry it will grow back and it will be beautiful. She may also loose her hair at the back of her head where she sleeps. My 8 month old is just now getting that back in. Good luck and sweet bath time. :)
A.
As far as I know all of the cradle cap stuff works, however I don't suggest using any of them. My DD at 2mo. got a pretty bad case (although her hair didn't fall out) and quite frankly it was *nasty* looking. As a mother I just wanted to get rid of it becasue it looked so bad. I restrained myself. Cradle cap is caused by the oil glands in her scalp. Putting baby oil and such on it can get rid of the flakes temorarily, but could also make it worse by adding oil to an oily problem. Against my mommy need for my baby to look good, I left it alone. I just increased her baths to once a day (from every other day) and made sure her scalp was nice and clean. When the shampoo had sat in her hair for a minute I would use a soft brush to get rid of the loose flakes. I am soooo sorry A., that I don't have a better answer for you than "deal with it," but my rule of thumb for babies is don't put anything on them that you couldn't put in them, and drinking baby oil and "cradle cap cream" wouldn't be good.
PS The loss of hair is normal
