Benign but unsightly, cradle cap is common in infants.
It appears as small, whitish to yellowish plaques or scales visible on the scalp of the newborn baby. The crusts can be of varying degrees of thickness and are caused by hyper-seborrhea and the proliferation of a yeast naturally present on the surface of the skin.
Summary
These plaques do not cause any inconvenience or discomfort to the child. It is, however, important to monitor them and observe a few hygiene rules to prevent them from spreading.
Your physician or pharmacist will advise you on the best products and care for your baby. Specific care products for cradle cap act, ideally, by combining two complementary actions:
After applying the care product, use a soft bristle hairbrush to remove the scales that, thanks to the product, are starting to peel off.
In addition to the treatments recommended by your physician or pharmacist, it is essential to use gentle skin and hair cleansing products, specially designed for newborns to avoid causing further irritation of the scalp.
The search for more natural products is a growing trend in our society. This desire for natural products often becomes even more pronounced prior to an event such as the birth of a baby, which explains why some parents wish to use so-called "natural" remedies.
The first natural treatment for cradle cap involves doing nothing and letting cradle cap go away on its own. Patience is necessary as this can take a long time. Some children keep crusts until the age of two or even three years.
For those who do not wish to wait for time to take effect and have recourse to alternatives to treatment, that is certainly possible, but these remedies should not lead you to forget your physician's recommendations. Do not hesitate to discuss this with your pediatrician or pharmacist, they will be able to guide you in this process and advise you on the best solutions.
There are many alternatives to treatments, many of them inspired by our grandmothers' remedies, but not all of them have been scientifically proven.
Such as Vaseline, oil, liniment, etc. to soften cradle cap. Apply to your baby's head a few hours before bath time, then wash hair with a gentle shampoo and brush gently to remove crusts.
Sweet almond oi l is also commonly recommended, always with the aim of softening the crusts and hydrating them. While pediatricians like to recommend it, allergists are more reluctant because of the allergenic potential of almond.
Some mothers report that applying breast milk to cradle cap helps to loosen the crusts, but this has not been scientifically proven to date.
Finally, if these remedies do not provide the expected effects, or act too slowly, you can also use, in addition to care products, homeopathic solutions for cradle cap. Do not hesitate to ask your pharmacist for advice. It is not always easy to administer granules to a baby, which is why homeopaths recommend diluting granules in a small bottle of 50 ml for example, which can be given to the baby in several doses throughout the day.
