Cradle ... Oh Crap!

When my second son was born, he had a bad case of cradle cap or what seems to always come out "cradle crap". It's dry scales of skin on a baby's forehead and scalp area. It didn't seem to bother him at all, but I thought well, I must do something about it! So a great friend of mine offered her cradle cap care that she was given for her first child. She said that it was calendula oil and that was supposed to help with cradle cap. I tried it for many days, but the cradle crap was still there, no change whatsoever.

During this time, I was researching a better wipe for my baby as well. I've become more aware of nasty chemicals in our everyday products and I was using websites to help me find the brands that weren't big offenders. During this search for a nice wipe, I found that my cradle cap care was an offender! I was so shocked to find all these horrible chemicals in what was supposed to be an all natural treatment. I was surprised to learn about the fragrance, the silica, the parabens, etc… I was putting all these chemicals on my newborn baby, only a few weeks old! (Check out the ingredients for this product here: http://www.goodguide.com/products/333020-gentle-naturals-cradle-cap) I did some researching online and found that olive oil could work as a treatment.

Each night, right before bath time, I rubbed some olive oil on my little one's head, and no, I did not put him in a pot with carrots and celery… I let it sit on his head about five minutes, long enough to make lots of silly jokes with my family. Then up we went to the bath, using a baby comb, I combed the cradle cap right off his head, gave a rinse and within a week or two it was almost completely gone! And his head was not itchy or dry. It was shocking to me that something as simple as olive oil would finally treat the cradle crap!

My lesson in all this, don't assume because it's sold in the baby section that it's okay to put on your newborn's skin. Do some research, check out http://www.ewg.org/skindeep or http://www.goodguide.com. Look closely at the ingredients, don't trust the "All Natural" labeling, be your own advocate for you and your family's well-being. And don't look past using what you have in your own kitchen pantry!