Q: Please, Dr, kindly shed more light on cradle cap treatment, prevention and management in infants. God bless you.

A: Cradle cap on baby’s scalp can be worrying, especially for new parents. It usually looks like thick crusts with scaly patches on the scalp, which may be yellowish or whitish…kinda like dandruff. It may also be found on eye brows, ears and eyelids. It is thought to be due to the fact that some babies are born with some residual (remnants of) hormones from their mothers which causes them to produce excessive amounts of sebum (the oily substance secreted by glands in the skin). Dead skin cells now stick to this oily substance on the scalp, giving the characteristic look of cradle cap. Presence of a fungus and bacteria in the sebum may also contribute to cradle cap.

This condition is not related to lack of hygiene and it’s not contagious.

Cradle cap may not require treatment and will disappear on its own. However, shampooing baby’s hair with a mild shampoo, at least once daily and loosening crusts with a soft-bristled brush may be sufficient to deal with this. If crusts are difficult to loosen applying baby oil to baby’s hair and shampooing afterwards may be helpful. As symptoms disappear, this shampooing may be reduced to about twice a week. If it continues though, the paediatrician may prescribe some anti-dandruff shampoo.

So mums, be sure to shampoo your baby’s hair often with mild shampoo. This may just discourage cradle cap 🙂

I hope that covers all the expected grounds.

Have a good night, y’all 😀