Aside from the small bit of baby acne and some lingering Eczema Sugarplum’s had, my girls have had very few skin issues. But poor Doodle has had nearly every skin issue known to babies from baby acne to heat rash and intertigo in his tiny little arm pits and our pediatrician even told us at his 5 day weight check that med students would love to look him over because he had so many fascinating rashes and bumps.
Well, our latest battle has been cradle cap. I’ve not thought much of it but at Doodle’s one-month well check the Dr. recommended trying to get it off by scrubbing real hard with a soft baby brush when giving Doodle a bath. I tried a few times but it didn’t really help so I let it be. Then when we had Doodle in for his two-month check last week the Dr. brought it up again so I decided to get serious.
So, as I do, I took to google and found mostly suggestions on using olive/baby/coconut oil to lube up baby’s head then taking a comb and painstakingly peeling away each flake of the cradle cap. 1) I don’t like the idea of covering my kid in oil who already has skin issues, 2) I have two other children and not nearly enough time or patience to pick at each and every flake on my baby’s head.
Then I remembered something. A few weeks ago we were swimming in the pool at my parent’s house. Doodle had had the same yellowish flakes on his eyebrows and when I took him in to dry off I noticed the flakes had turned white and gooey and when I took a towel to them, they wiped right off. We had had him in our pool at home many times prior to that day and it had not affected the scales. The difference? My parent’s pool is a mild salt water instead of chlorine.
This gave me an idea. I skipped the oil and instead made a salt water solution. I soaked a washcloth in the salt water and then laid it on his head while I gave him a bath. Every few minutes I would remove the towel, re-soak it and place it back on his head. After about 15 minutes I removed the towel, gave his head a good scrub with a soft brush, washed with some mild baby soap and voila, the cradle cap is gone. Easy peasy, no picking necessary!
