How We Got Rid Of Cradle Cap

Recently I’ve been asked a handful of times how we dealt with Mabel’s cradle cap, so I figured I’d write a post to help all of you newer moms if your little one is dealing with cradle cap.

If you’re not familiar with cradle cap, this is what it looks like (and no, this isn’t Mabel’s head):

A baby (once again, not Mabel) with cradle cap. {via}

Looks kinda gross.  Needless to say when I discovered Mabel had cradle cap at just over a month old, I freaked out.  No one tells you about cradle cap and that it’s very common for babies to get.  After doing some research on good old Google, I was able to calm down, knowing that my baby didn’t have some horrible skin problem.  I learned that most of the time it will go away on its own but that it could possibly take months.  MONTHS?!!

I didn’t want to wait months.  No mom wants their adorable newborn to have a flaky, scaly head.  Mabel luckily had lots of hair so it disguised it well, but I was still determined to get rid of it.

In my quest to rid her of cradle cap we washed her hair daily.  It’s recommended to wash a baby’s scalp who has cradle cap daily to help wash away the extra oil (this is what is causing the cradle cap).  While washing, you can massage your baby’s scalp gently with your finger tips.  Also, when you’re done washing their hair, you can gently massage the affected area with a gentle baby brush.  Now, this is all fine and dandy if it works for you and your baby…but it wasn’t getting rid of Mabel’s cradle cap.

Off to Walmart we went and on the shelf we found a shampoo in the baby aisle that was listed specifically for cradle cap:  Gentle Naturals.

Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Shampoo

This was Mabel’s miracle in a bottle!  Now, I’m going to warn you right off the bat that this stuff smells horrible and will leave your baby’s hair greasy even after washing it out…but the fact is…IT WORKS.

We followed the directions exactly as stated on the bottle and while her hair was drying we used the little brush (to the right in the picture above) to massage her scalp and to break up the cradle cap flakes.  It started working immediately and you could see the flakes coming loose.  After her hair dried, her hair was pretty much plastered to her head like a helmet.  Like I said, it will leave your baby’s hair greasy but don’t fret since it will work if you continue to use the shampoo for the next few days.  Mabel’s head also smelled very medicinal and plasticky.  But we stuck it out for another five days and low and behold, her cradle cap cleared up and never came back.

I highly suggest this shampoo since it worked well for little Mabel.  I know there are always severe cases that this may not work for (Mabel’s cradle cap wasn’t too bad) but since the shampoo was affordable, it’s worth giving it a try.

Did your baby have cradle cap?  What solution worked best for you to rid your baby of cradle cap?

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11 thoughts on “How We Got Rid Of Cradle Cap

  1. Quin says:

    my little girl is dealing with this right now. She is 4 months old. I was wondering did your daughter also loose some of her hair?

    • Morgan says:

      Mabel never lost any hair but I’ve heard some babies do. But I know that some babies loose the fine hair they are born with regardless of if they have cradle cap. One of my friend’s little one lost all her hair at a few months old and then it grew in a tad thicker. 🙂

  2. FK says:

    I hate gentle naturals I used the product for two months wishing it would worked but it never work selsun blue worked with one wash love it

    • Morgan says:

      I’ve heard that works too! I was just a paranoid first time mom and was afraid it would get into Mabel’s eyes and sting.

  3. DJ says:

    I purchased the cradle cap treatment for my daughter.I am upset that I have spent $5.88 for a product that doesn’t work and smells horrible. I have washed my daughters hair with shampoo several times and I still can’t get the smell out. Completely disappointed. NEVER BUYING YOUR PRODUCTS EVER AGAIN. And when I emailed the company complaining they sent me an email talking about how the cradle cap can make hair fall out. I never had that problem. And they claimed that it was the cradle cap making the smell then how come the contents in the bottle smell the same way. Its been 3 days and 6 shampoos and the smell is still there.

    • Morgan says:

      Sorry you had such a bad experience DJ. The shampoo worked for our little girl (even though it did smell bad for a while and left my little one with helmet hair like I said in the post) and I would use it again if we have another little one with cradle cap. If your little one has severe cradle cap it might be best to visit your doctor to get a prescription shampoo. 🙂

  4. D says:

    This product Gentle Naturals worked great for us too. Thanks for sharing this. I brushed his head after using it with the provided brush then shampooed it with his regular shampoo to get some of the grease off. Rinsed then used his soft brush and comb and all the yucky stuff came off like dandruff. It took about 20 of brushing, but he enjoyed it and it looks great now.

  5. Kimberly says:

    My 6 month old has cradle cap. I have this stuff. Should i wash her hair with it everyday? Ive only used it a few times because of the smell and greasy after affect.

    • Morgan says:

      Shay, I’m pretty sure the greasiness went away after a few days after we stopped using it and switched back to regular baby shampoo. It was a pain but it definitely took care of all the cradle cap. 🙂

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