A favorite product or ingredient for babies is Jojoba Oil. Besides using it to moisturize newborn skin, Jojoba Oil came in very handy when treating cradle cap. Our family is waiting for our new niece to arrive, so the topic of babies is coming up often - I am sure that this means there are more baby blog topics to come!
I never could say ‘cradle cap’ even while talking to our son’s pediatrician. If only I was stocked with Jojoba oil when our oldest son was itty bitty. It wasn’t until he was headed out of his toddler years and solidly into the little boy years that I had the knowledge and the ingredients to pair with the ‘hmmm I wonder if this will help’ thought.
Quick definition – What is cradle cap? It is also known as infantile seborrheic dermatitis. You will probably notice scaly or crusty patches on the baby’s scalp. Cradle cap does not always stay on the scalp though, you might notice it down the back of the neck, on the cheeks, forehead, etc. Check with your trusted medical professional to diagnose.
Jojoba oil is very close to our body’s natural sebum (skin’s own moisturizing system). It comes from a nut and is actually a liquid wax, not an oil. It will not go rancid like oils and it has little to no aroma of its own. It has the beautiful golden color, is silky smooth to the touch and absorbs quickly and cleanly into the skin.
It was the word sebum that finally triggered the idea. Any research on scalps and you will run across the word sebum. My brain connected the dots and I tried putting small amounts of Jojoba oil directly onto the scalp. It gets a bit messy when you have a 4-5 year old (aka moving target), but is pretty easy with a baby. For older children, apply the jojoba oil while in the tub. Once our son was free to play, he could care less what was sitting and soaking into his scalp. Next came the torture of hair washing, but it was always torture at that age. No soap came close to the eyes or ears, but screaming was always a necessary part of the hair washing experience.
Expect flakes to come off while you rinse and then brush the hair even into the next day. Sometimes the hair can stay a bit greasy looking and it takes another washing the next day. This can be alleviated with a better bottle to apply it and a child that stays still. Added to that, our son has extremely thick hair so sometimes extra oil was needed to ensure his scalp was reached.
I had to do this a handful of times over a couple of years before we finally had it under control.
This is very gentle and can be used on infants and babies. Instead of having the first bath with soap, our youngest was rinsed with warm water and a little jojoba oil.
RESOURCES
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cradle-cap/DS01074
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