# Scaly head on older toddler?



## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

My 2.5yo has some sort of scalp condition that developed in the last few weeks.

He has these weird flesh-colored bump on his head (small bumps... you feel them when you brush). If I examine his head closely, I can see there's something going on there but I can't really tell what exactly.

When I brush his hair after his bath (I guess the water loosens up the skin), small bits of stuff appear in his head (flesh colored). Kinda like dandruff I guess?

Could this be cradle cap, in a toddler this old?

He had cradle cap REALLY bad as a baby, but hasn't had anything like that for probably... two years almost.

Advice? Suggestions? My health insurance for him hasn't kicked in yet so I can't take him to the doc. It seems to be getting worse.


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## Fiddlemom (Oct 22, 2003)

My 3.5 yo still has this. Last year when I finally noticed it (he had pretty thick curly hair back then) there were chunks of skin coming off with the hair attached. Ew! Lovely! I thought he had mange but the ped said it was cradle cap.

We tried Grandpa's pine tar soap but it only helped a little

The only thing that worked for us was Nizoral, really nasty chemical dandruff shampoo that my husband uses sometimes.







: I used it once in a while and it kept it in check. I figured it was worth using a little if it kept poor ds from having bald areas!

He still has it a little but it's not all mangy like it used to be.


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## homemademomma (Apr 1, 2004)

if it is cradle cap, this treatment is practically fool proof. oil his head up with olive, coconut, sesame, whatever oil. let it sit for a good 10 minutes, then comb with a really fine-toothed nit comb. you can get these at a drugstore. keep at it, and within a few minutes its all gone!!!!


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *homemademomma*
if it is cradle cap, this treatment is practically fool proof. oil his head up with olive, coconut, sesame, whatever oil. let it sit for a good 10 minutes, then comb with a really fine-toothed nit comb. you can get these at a drugstore. keep at it, and within a few minutes its all gone!!!!

Yep. My dd gets cradle cap and about once evry 5 months I do the above. Works like a charm. She likes it too for some reason.....


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## HerbLover (Jan 7, 2006)

I totally agree with homemademomma. My 3.5 year old dd had it I noticed a few weeks ago. I used olive oil and one of her tiny doll brushes, rubbed it in circles and it came off quite easily. She also had it pretty bad as a baby.


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## staceyshoe (Feb 5, 2005)

Thanks for posting this! DS still has some cradle cap and it sometimes flakes off in big pieces. I've tried shampooing more often, not shampooing, vigorously massaging his scalp to increase blood flow, and obviously none of it worked. I will give this a try.


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## rosie29 (Aug 18, 2004)

My DS has this too. The ped. said it's cradle cap. Is the oil treatment really hard to wash out? I ask b/c DS HATES to be shampoo'd. So it's almost not worth it. We just put up with it.


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## witchbaby (Apr 17, 2003)

k has some super nasty cradle cap, it's just less noticable now that she FINALLY has hair. perhaps i'll oil her up right now so i can comb it out before her bath!


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

The only thing which worked for us is California Baby tea tree oil shampoo (this brand has several varieties... make sure to get the TTO). It works but is gentle. My 5 yr old has eczema and very sensitive skin (can't tolerate most soaps and lotions), but this has been great with him, too.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

I just de-scaled my two year old's head again last night. She's had cradle cap since she was a month old, and it always comes back within a few weeks of my clearing it out. Mostly I leave it alone, but sometimes it gets so bad. I use olive oil, a fine baby comb, and a heck of a lot of patience. It's HARD getting a two year old to hold still to have her head combed and oiled and scraped. It does work great, though.

My brother had cradle cap until he was 4 or 5, my mother says.


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## Fiddlemom (Oct 22, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *homemademomma* 
if it is cradle cap, this treatment is practically fool proof. oil his head up with olive, coconut, sesame, whatever oil. let it sit for a good 10 minutes, then comb with a really fine-toothed nit comb. you can get these at a drugstore. keep at it, and within a few minutes its all gone!!!!

You lucky duck! This never worked for us. I ended up with this oily mess with dandruff everywhere.....


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## Catherine12 (May 15, 2006)

"Cradle cap" is a form of seborrhea, which can occur at any age... I know from personal experience







. In fact my mom still gets it and she's 60. When I had problems with it (as a teenager) I used Ionil-T coal tar shampoo and it worked really well - coal tar is kind of nasty though. Better than having an itchy head though...


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## Doodlebugsmom (Aug 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Fiddlemom* 
You lucky duck! This never worked for us. I ended up with this oily mess with dandruff everywhere.....

The oil treatment never worked for us either! I tried it when dd was about 2.5. As the scales came off, her scalp started bleeding and she was screaming and crying. I decided to leave it alone. She's now 4.5, and the scales are starting to come loose on their own.


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## mimim (Nov 2, 2003)

It's probably fungal. Nizoral is an antifungal shampoo. Tea tree oil will probably work. Add several drops to a tablespoon or two of olive oil and massage it into his head once or twice a day for a couple of weeks. You can get tea tree oil shampoos in addition.


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

my 2 year old has it now. never had it as a baby. i am just using garnier fructis dandruff shampoo about every other washing which is about every 4 days. the flakes are starting to come off now and lessen.

i am such a monkey i want to sit there and pick them all off!!!!!! i'm driving the kid nutso







:


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