Cradle cap is the flaky, dry skin that looks like dandruff, or even thick, oily, yellowish scaling or crusting patches on the head of a newly born baby.

When you found this on your baby, how did you treat it? What do you think are the causes of cradle cap?

I have no clue what the causes of cradle cap are. My youngest son had it especially horribly. I first put vegetable oil all over his scalp - yup, plain vegetable oil - to soften the crusty stuff. I left it there for about 20 minutes. Then, with a combination of an index card's edge and a VERY fine tooth comb, I carefully removed all the 'gunk' from his head. Then gave him a nice bath and he was better than new. Never came back or anything.

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Umbilical Cord Blood Storage | Breastfeeding Advice and Information

I did almost exactly the same thing when my son got it! I read it in the Dr SPock book and it worked like a charm. Iwould love ot know what originally caused it though.

I've always heard that keeping the little caps on them for too long can cause cradle cap. I think it's a combination of oils and sweating. My son gets patches every so often, but he's also very hot-natured and sweats whenever he wears a hat.

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Tigriz
Mom to Alex - 1/21/06