How to Treat and Prevent Newborn Baby Dandruff

You may be a little surprised when you bring home your newborn baby from the hospital and all of a sudden your baby develops dry, flaky skin on his or her newborn scalp that looks like baby dandruff. This could be very upsetting because you don't want your beautiful baby to have dry, flaky looking skin on their newborn baby scalp. If you notice your newborn baby's scalp looking dry and flaky, most likely it's cradle cap, which is another name for baby dandruff. Sometimes you can even see thick, yellow or brown scale looking or crusty patches on your newborn baby. Cradle cap is not harmful to your baby or contagious and will most commonly disappear within 8 to 12 months according to Dr. Greene. However, you might feel an urgency to try to treat baby dandruff right away because it can be unsightly.

What causes baby dandruff?

Although it hasn't been proven what really causes the baby dandruff that is cradle cap, it is possible that it could be related to hormonal changes that the baby experiences after birth. The Mayo Clinic has said that mother's hormones may pass from the mother to the baby before birth and could possibly cause an abnormal production of sebum (the oil secretion of the sebaceous glands), in the oil glands and hair follicles could possibly be a contributing factor. Another reason could possibly be malassezia, which is a yeast fungus that grows in the sebum along with bacteria.

How to treat baby dandruff?

A great way to treat baby dandruff, which worked for all three of my children, is to begin by using some baby oil in your newborn baby's hair and letting in soak in for up to fifteen minutes. After the fifteen minutes use a fine toothed baby comb and slowly comb up the flakes that are loose very carefully. Always be gentle with a baby's scalp especially with their soft spots. Next, pour a small amount of Johnson's baby shampoo and gently lather the shampoo in your newborn baby's hair. Before rinsing out your newborn baby's hair, use a baby brush and brush your baby's hair gently in circular motions. Rinse your newborn baby's hair thoroughly with warm water. Repeat each day until your baby's dandruff has subsided. Another great product you can try is Tea Tree and Lavender shampoo made by California Baby.

How to prevent baby dandruff?

Unfortunately, you can't really prevent baby dandruff, but if your newborn baby gets baby dandruff, you will have to be patient and start the treatment above and it will eventually disappear. When you first notice baby dandruff on your newborn baby's head, start treating it right away to help control the baby dandruff before it worsens.

Sources and Resources:

http://children.webmd.com/tc/cradle-cap-topic-overview

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cradle-cap/DS01074/DSECTION=symptoms

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1062.html

http://www.californiababy.com/tea-tree-lavender-shampoo-bodywash-8-5-oz.html

http://johnsonsbaby.com/product.do?id=47