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Cradle Cap Remedies

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Newborn baby sleeping

Ugly cradle cap on our new baby's scalp can be incredibly distressing, but do not fear. You have NOT failed parenting 101 and let your baby down!

Cradle cap is common and usually disappears by itself before 12 months.

However, some cradle cap remedies may make it worse and it can hang around into childhood as seborrheic dermatitis for some babies.1

So in this guide I'll share everything I learned about easing cradle cap gently :

  1. What Is Cradle Cap?
  2. What Triggers It?
  3. How Common Is Cradle Cap?
  4. When Does It Appear?
  5. How Long It Usually Lasts
  6. Gentle Cradle Cap Remedies

And then look at over treatment and what to do if cradle cap sticks around.

NB I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor if you have any concerns about cradle cap.

What Actually Is Cradle Cap?

Cradle cap is basically clumps of scaly white or yellow skin flakes that stick together and build up in crusts on our baby's skin. They are unsightly but not usually itchy or irritating for our child.

Cradle cap flakes are a mix of excess :

  1. Sebum : our natural scalp oil
  2. Malassezia : a scalp fungus.2

Scalp fungus sounds horrid but Malassezia is meant to live on everyone's scalp. The problem in cradle cap is there is too much of it.

What Triggers Cradle Cap?

Malassezia fungus feeds on scalp sebum. More sebum means more fungus which means more cradle cap.

So why do our babies have so much sebum? Again, it is completely natural.

Adrenal androgens fuel rapid newborn growth and these hormones trigger extra scalp oil as they do in puberty.3

How Common Is Cradle Cap?

Cradle cap is very common. Up to 70% of babies will have cradle cap in the first year of their life. You are NOT doing something horribly wrong!

When Does Cradle Cap Appear?

Mother holding newborn baby

In the majority of babies cradle cap :

  1. Appears between 0 and 3 months
  2. Continues until 6 months
  3. Vanishes by itself after 6 months.

By 12 months, it is estimated that less than 10% of babies have cradle cap.

So most young babies only need the gentle cradle cap remedies we'll look at next. (For older babies still suffering jump ahead to Persistent Cradle Cap).

Gentle Cradle Cap Remedies

Baby shampoo, baby oil and baby brush

At the first signs of cradle cap in your young baby all you need to do whilst shampooing baby's hair is :

  1. Very gently rub at clumps of cradle cap with a soft cloth
  2. To ease away the flakes
  3. Remembering to watch out for your baby's soft spot.

Remember it is natural. Try to stay on top of it, not clear every last flake.

If the flakes get crusty we need to up the ante a little using the supplies and treatment below but still keep it gentle.

Cradle Cap Supplies

The only supplies you need to ease your baby's cradle cap gently are :

  1. Soft baby brush.
  2. Mild baby shampoo with pH 4.5-5.5 free from fragrance & sulfates.
  3. Oil to rub gently into scalp e.g. :
    • Coconut oil
    • Olive oil
    • Baby oil
    • Mineral oil
    • Petroleum jelly

There's much debate about safe oils for babies. Go with what you prefer.

Test Oil Sensitivity

Test chosen oil for tolerance if not used on baby before. Standard advice is :

  1. Apply tiny amount i.e. 1-2 drops behind ear or on inner arm.
  2. Leave for 2-5 minutes.
  3. Wait 24 hours before using fully.
  4. Do NOT use further if any signs of rash or redness suggest sensitivity.

Treating Cradle Cap

Young baby having a bath

To treat cradle cap gently :

  1. Apply a little oil to cradle cap, 1-2 teaspoons for whole scalp.
  2. Very lightly rub in.
  3. Leave initially for 5 minutes building subsequently to 15 and if needed 30 minutes.
  4. Gently move flakes with soft brush.
  5. Don't use force at all or pick at the cradle cap, just let whatever will come away easily come away.
  6. Wash gently with mild shampoo.
  7. Rinse scalp.
  8. Repeat at very most twice a week and ideally just once.

Do not leave oil on overnight as it makes hair greasy which requires more shampooing, which we want to avoid.

How Long Will Cradle Cap Last?

Gentle cradle cap remedies typically let us keep on top of cradle cap whilst it naturally persists until 6 months.

They may not clear all flakes but that's OK. We're giving the scalp a helping hand in a tricky period that will pass. Harsh treatments will clear all the cradle cap but risk making it worse.

90% of cradle cap clears by 12 months but that still leaves 1 in 10 babies suffering. So let's look now at why it persists and how to treat it if it does.

Persistent Cradle Cap

Baby sitting up with hand to mouth

Persistent cradle cap may, rarely, be tied to genetics or gut issues but more often the culprit is over treatment.

Over treatment of scalp dermatitis - grown up cradle cap - stops the scalp healing naturally and creates a vicious cycle of worse symptoms. This also seems to happen in babies.

To understand why, we need to look at what is living on our baby's scalp!

(For quick action, jump straight to the persistent cradle cap remedies).

Baby's Scalp Microbiome

You will have heard about the gut microbiome but we also have a scalp microbiome made up of skin cells, hair follicles and sebum PLUS :

  1. Fungi
  2. Good bacteria
  3. Antimicrobial agents
  4. And even helpful little bugs!!

Scalp Microbiome Balance

A well balanced scalp microbiome4 can keep Malassezia - the cradle cap fungus - on a tight rein :

  1. pH 4.5-5.5 : slows growth as Malassezia prefers neutral or alkaline conditions.
  2. S. epidermidis : a bacteria which competes for space and nutrients.
  3. Demodex mites : like Malassezia they eat excess oils and dead skin so compete for food.
  4. LL-37 : peptides produced by S. epidermidis that kills Malassezia directly with antimicrobial powers.

But baby shampoos and cradle cap treatments throw our scalp off balance!

Harsh Baby Shampoo Problems

Many baby shampoos have an alkaline pH of 6.5-7 which lets fungus flourish5 causing more cradle cap. We then wash baby's hair more often to clear it.

Cartoon of cradle cap fungus

But frequent washing dries out sebum and sweat which leaves Malassezia hungry but also depletes S. epidermidis and Demodex who struggle for food.

Our scalp ups sebum levels for the dryness which means more food for everyone but Malassezia regrows faster6 so gorges on sebum whilst the others get their act together.

Diagram about frequent hair washing and cradle cap

And that means more cradle cap!! You can see how this works can't you?

Unfortunately, it gets worse.

Harsh Cradle Cap Treatments

Cradle cap treatments typically contain ketoconazole which is great at killing Malassezia and clears cradle cap fast.

But it is a scorched earth strategy - ketoconazole unfortunately also :

  1. Kills S. epidermidis bacteria7
  2. Which takes out production of those critical Malassezia fighting LL-37 peptides!!8
Cradle cap treatment diagram.

Other ingredients dry out sebum too much so again starve Demodex mites of food and the treatments also make baby's scalp more alkaline.

So you know what happens don't you?

Malassezia races back first and hosts a house party for all its Malassezia mates before the balancing bacteria, peptides & mites can get in the door!

Cradle cap gets locked into a cycle of short term relief followed by ever-spreading crusts of flakes, i.e. long term seborrheic dermatitis.

So how can we tackle severe cradle cap?

Persistent Cradle Cap Remedies

Baby wrapped in blue towel

Four surprisingly simple remedies can together help you tackle persistent cradle cap in toddlers :

  1. Shampoo Detox
  2. Sunshine
  3. Nutritional Scalp Boosters
  4. Hormone Tamers

Shampoo Detox

Smiling baby with head wrapped in blue towel

Research shows a gentle shampoo detox can break the cycle of chronic over treated seborrheic dermatitis.9

Over a 4-8 week period :

  1. Gentle Swap: Switch to a mild, sulfate-free, pH-balanced baby shampoo (pH 4.5-5.5).
  2. Reduce Frequency: Each week extend the gaps between washes by an extra day. Your child's scalp will slowly adjust sebum levels.
  3. Spot Clean: Between washes, use lukewarm water or a damp cloth to lift excess oil/dirt.
  4. Moisturize Lightly: Post-wash, dab 1-2 drops of a non-clogging oil (e.g. jojoba) to calm dryness without feeding Malassezia.
  5. Monitor: Keep an eye on flakes adjusting pace if scalp irritated.

Less shampoo should let your child's scalp microbiome rebalance itself naturally but the next three remedies can also give a big helping hand.

Sunshine & Scalps

Toddler sitting on grass on sunny day

Surprisingly sunshine can really help to keep the scalp microbiome of kids - over 12 months - healthily balanced.

UVB rays from the sun can - in spring and summer - directly suppress Malassezia fungus. Lab tests showed an almost instant 30-60% reduction!

Scalp skin cells also directly convert UVB rays into vitamin D which stays in the skin, boosting local defences including those little LL-37 peptide warriors who fight Malassezia.

So in spring and summer help your kid's scalp suppress cradle cap naturally with hatless outdoor play between roughly 10am and 2pm for :

  1. 10 mins if skin fair on sunny days
  2. 20 mins if skin dark on sunny days
  3. 60 mins if cloudy.

A gentle rinse or spot clean after blast of sun can remove cradle cap clumps.

Be careful of sun. Do not let skin get red. Do NOT ever expose heads of babies under 12 to midday sun.

Nutritional Scalp Boosters

Mother, father and two young children eating a meal

Other nutrient power players can also help to boost scalp health :

  1. Zinc
  2. Omega 3
  3. Iron
  4. Vitamin A

Zinc

Kids are more likely to have seborrheic dermatitis and fungal conditions if their zinc levels are low and symptoms are more likely to be worse.10

Omega 3

Malassezia thrives in the inflamed, scabby scalp that comes with long term dermatitis. Omega 3 eases inflammation and tweaks the nature of sebum to make scalp more friendly to our old mate S. epidermidis.

Iron

Low iron levels are tied to inflamed scalps and high sebum production.

Vitamin A

Healthy vitamin A levels helps keep a healthy cycle of new cells pushing through as dead cells fall away, when vitamin A is low, dead cells pile up for Malassezia to feed on.11

Scalp Nutrient Food

Great food for boosting these scalp nutrients in our kids' diet include :

  1. Red meat - good value chuck steak in a stew is great for zinc & iron.
  2. Oily fish - e.g. salmon steak.
  3. Shellfish - e.g. crab sandwich.
  4. Poultry - pasture raised.
  5. Eggs - pasture raised.
  6. Nuts & seeds - e.g. walnuts, sesame, chia, flax in a trail mix.

For more ideas check out these guides to iron rich food and zinc rich food.

Hormone Tamers

Toddler crying

We saw at the beginning that baby hormones trigger excess sebum and cradle cap. Well as babies become toddlers other hormones kick in :

  1. Insulin driven by sugar
  2. Cortisol driven by stress

If these new hormones go haywire they can also cause excess sebum making it harder to clear persistent cradle cap.

So we need to tame these hormones.

Sugar & Insulin

Crying toddler eating a cookie

Research shows sugar-heavy diets and erratic insulin trigger excess sebum in teens with scalp dermatitis. It is very possible the same happens in young kids with high-sugar diets, though no studies have directly studied it to date.

Simple ways to slash the sugar load in the diet of young kids include :

  1. Ease right up on fruit juice.
  2. Make lower sugar cookies.
  3. Stock sugar free snacks e.g. cheese, cold meat slices, good yoghurt, hard boiled eggs.
  4. Slowly swap out cereals for cooked breakfasts e.g. meat, fish, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans.
  5. Only eat candy outdoors when running around so burned off.
  6. Keep cakes etc for dessert.

Little by little reducing the sugar can really help tame insulin and keep it calm.

Stress & Cortisol

Young girl crying

We know from research into teens with scalp dermatitis that erratic cortisol levels caused by stress can trigger 4 things that help Malassezia flourish :

  1. Excess sebum production
  2. Skin barrier damage
  3. Inflammation
  4. Reduced vitamin D.

Again, it's not been studied directly in under-5s but it is likely the same thing happens when cortisol keeps spiking!

Simple ways to lower stress and cortisol spikes in young kids are :

  1. Loads of outdoor play.
  2. Balancing activities.
  3. Plenty of sleep.
  4. Much less sugar.
  5. Much less screen time.
  6. Clear behaviour boundaries.
  7. Loads of love & cuddles.

Key Take Aways

Mother holding baby wrapped in towel

So there we go, everything I learned about cradle cap that will hopefully help you relieve it naturally and break the cycle of persistent scalp dermatitis.

As a quick recap key take aways are:

  1. Cradle cap is natural and common.
  2. It flourishes from 0-6 months.
  3. It vanishes by itself in 90% of babies between 6 and 12 months.
  4. Always treat cradle cap gently in babies to avoid over treatment.
  5. Harsh over treatment can cause persistent cradle cap.

To relieve persistent cradle cap in toddlers and older kids:

  1. Detox from harsh shampoos.
  2. Safely boost sunlight to scalp.
  3. Feed a diet rich in enough:
    • Iron
    • Zinc
    • Omega 3
    • Vitamin A
  4. Cut right back on sugar to stabilise erratic insulin levels.
  5. Ease stress to balance cortisol.

I really hope these tips and remedies help you relieve cradle cap for your baby or toddler. Do shout with questions.

For more simple family health tips check out my other natural remedies and follow me on Pinterest.

Research References

1) Schwartz, R. A., et al. (2006). “Seborrheic Dermatitis: An Overview.” American Family Physician, 74(1), 125-130
2) Hay, R. J. (2011). “Malassezia, Dandruff and Seborrheic Dermatitis: An Overview.” British Journal of Dermatology, 165(Suppl 2), 2-8.
3) Zouboulis, C. C., et al. (2007). “Sebaceous Gland in Human Skin—The Fantastic Lipid Factory.” Dermato-Endocrinology, 1(2), 85-91.
4) Grice, E. A., & Segre, J. A. (2011). "The skin microbiome". Nature Reviews Microbiology, 9(4), 244–253. 
5) Schwartz, J. R., et al. (2013). "A comprehensive pathophysiology of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis" Dermatologic Clinics, 31(4), 547–553 
6) Saxena, R. et al. (2021). "Longitudinal study of the scalp microbiome ..." Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 626599. 
7) Findley, K. et al. (2013). "Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin." PLoS Pathogens, 9(6)
8) Nakatsuji, T. et al. (2017). "Antimicrobials from human skin commensal bacteria protect against Staphylococcus aureus and are deficient in atopic dermatitis." Science Translational Medicine, 9(378)
9) Trüeb, R. M. (2010). Shampoos: Ingredients, Efficacy and Adverse Effects. Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 23(Suppl 1), 16-22.
10) Bilen, H., et al. (2015). "Zinc Deficiency and Seborrheic Dermatitis: A Case-Control Study." Postepy Dermatologii i Alergologii, 32(4), 267–270
11) Reichrath, J., et al. (2007). "Vitamin A and Skin Health: Retinoids in Dermatology." Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 127(9), 2067–2075

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