Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

It starts off as this little white flake in the center of your baby’s perfect little head.  You try and brush it off, but that just makes more flakes appear.  And before you know it there’s a snow storm of white flaky skin all over your baby’s head, all over his clothes, even all over you!  What the heck is this!

Its cradle cap, which is a type of scaly rash caused by some of mom’s left over hormones.  Cradle cap can rear its ugly flaky head within the first few weeks of your baby’s life.  Cradle cap is typically found on top of the baby’s head, and appears as patchy scales.  But be forewarned; attempting to brush away these red scales can lead to a massive outbreak of white flakes- not unlike confetti at a Catholic wedding.   Cradle cap can sometimes spread to your baby’s ears and eyebrows.

Although a head full of cradle cap is probably not the look you were hoping for in your baby’s first portrait keep in mind that most cases of cradle cap are harmless.  Cradle cap can be itchy, but in most cases it’s just bothersome.  Some doctors will tell you to just ignore (and for God sake don’t pick unless you want it to spread like wild fire) cradle cap because it will clear up on its own by about 8 months.  (Come on there are some really cute ball caps for babies these days.)

Fine, if you can’t stand the flakes there are some things you can do to clear up cradle cap.
Try rubbing a little bit of olive oil on your baby’s head.  This is going to soften up the scales.  After a few minutes you can brush them away with a baby wash cloth.

Some moms also rub a bit of cortisone cream on the baby’s head.  If that doesn’t work, you might try a tiny drop of dandruff shampoo (but not till your baby is at least six months old, and be super careful because it isn’t a ‘no-tears’ formula) 

You might have luck keeping cradle cap at bay by frequently washing your baby’s hair with baby shampoo, because keeps those scales from building up.

But just keep in mind that those annoying little flakes are not going to bother your baby.  So keep your hands off his head and find a cute hat.