Cradle Cap

What Causes Cradle Cap and How Do You Treat It?

By Keath Castelloe Low

Holding your baby close, you drink in her wonderful baby smell, caress her soft baby skin and kiss her sweet baby head. Wait a minute! "What are those scaly patches on my baby's head?" you ask.

It is likely cradle cap. Cradle cap is not the prettiest sight, but it is perfectly harmless and quite common in babies. Though cradle cap may bother us, it rarely bothers a baby.

Dr. Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician in Atlanta, Ga., and co-author of Heading Home with Your Newborn (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005), explains that "cradle cap is a form of seborrheic dermatitis that is common in infants (hence the term "cradle") and is usually confined to the scalp (as in "cap"). She notes that the rash can spread to Baby's face or ears.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) defines seborrheic dermatitis as "a noninfectious skin condition" that is a form of eczema very common in infants. It most often occurs in a baby's first few weeks of life and typically disappears after a few weeks or months.

Kate Scott, mother of two from Venice, Fla., says that her daughter had a particularly bad case of cradle cap when she was a baby. "It was like she was wearing a bike helmet made of it," she says. "Nothing shifted it. I know they tell you never to pick at it, but it was therapeutic and relaxing to peel great big quarter-sized flakes of it off her scalp when she was in her baby sling, fast asleep!"

To top it off, Scott's son ended up having a case of cradle cap that spread to his eyebrows. "It was a real pain, as rubbing in the oil or using the special shampoo were not really good ways to deal with it," she says.

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