Here is an easy, gentle, and inexpensive all-natural cradle cap treatment that was an effective remedy to get rid of cradle cap on my babies.
My children are prone to dry skin which usually manifests itself as eczema and/or cradle cap. It took a while to learn how to get rid of cradle cap. I tried to find the source of the skin irritations, but they don’t have allergies and it’s not environmental since we had babies while living in a few different homes. I tend to deal with dry skin myself so I’m guessing it’s hereditary. Over the years I tried to remedy cradle cap with shampoos and creams for treating their scalps, but in the end, it was an all-natural cradle cap treatment that worked best for my babies.
I found cradle cap shampoos to be greasy and involved combing the flakes out etc. Who knows what’s even in those shampoos? I sure can’t pronounce the ingredients! The Skin Deep Database from Environmental Working Group is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the effects the ingredients in our skin care can have on our bodies. Spend a little time with your bottles on their site and I’m sure you’ll start looking for DIY beauty recipes so you don’t put those chemicals on your skin.
One baby didn’t have cradle cap, but he did have severely dry skin on his scalp. He scratched it while he was sleeping and no matter how close I trimmed his nails, he continued to scratch his scalp bloody. I combatted this problem in two ways. The first was to cover his hands with some stretchy socks that went up to his elbows, (or they fell off) the second was with my natural cradle cap remedy.
Natural Cradle Cap Remedy
Another baby developed cradle cap on their eyebrows and I wasn’t about to use shampoo there, so instead, I tried olive oil and a cotton ball. It worked so well that I use it for all cradle cap problems. At night you rub in the olive oil on the affected area with a cotton ball. In the morning, any leftover flakes come right out with a baby brush. Easy as pie. Now that I’ve begun infusing herbs into my olive oil, I would use calendula infused olive oil, knowing that it would bring even more healing to a baby’s poor itchy scalp.
Cradle Cap Treatments to Avoid
I would certainly hesitate to use coconut oil for cradle cap (which is often recommended.) This is because, for some people, coconut oil can actually be drying. Coconut oil may actually make the cradle cap worse for your poor little one.
I also wouldn’t use essential oils for cradle cap either. They are so potent and baby’s skin is so sensitive. When simply moisturizing will do the trick there’s no need to resort to expensive, potentially harmful essential oils.
Hopefully, it works well for you too and you get that little scalp as clean as the day baby was born!
Also, check out these other 8 natural cradle cap remedies!
Emily says
6 February, 2009 atI have used the olive oil remedy to combat dandruff. My hair is mid-back length, so it is a challenge to get the oil onto my scalp and not just into my hair. I part the hair down the middle, and lightly oil the line of scalp showing, move the part over and repeat until I have the whole thing done.
Faith says
6 February, 2009 atMy 3 yr old has this and we usually use dandruff shampoo, I’ve been looking for something without chemicals. I will try this, thanks for the tip!