My 7 month old baby itches her head when tired. She often draws blood. Does seem to be crandle cap.Any ideas?

Answer 1

It sounds like a little genuine itchiness has become habit. Remove the cradle cap as mush as possible and try giving her a comb to see if that changes her habit. If it doesn't, try the mitts, she will probably remove them but she can't scratch herself open all the time. Talk with her doc at her 9mo check up if it isn't gone by then. Best of luck.

Answer 2

It could be cradle cap, habit, or an allergy:

Try Dettinox, a shampoo especially designed for cradle cap, I found this extremely effective... much better than Olive oil or baby oil. My babies (3) all had this problem and Dettinox cured it within 2 weeks. After this move on to a mild baby bath... you shouldn't need "proper shampoo" at this age. Also make sure you are using a non bio(Fairy is very good) washing powder.

Keep her finger nails very short.
Get her bathed and ready for bed well before the exhausted period.
I never found that scratch mits/gloves stayed on, but found longish socks placed under the baby grow would stay on!! Make sure they are bigger than she would usually wear so they are not tight enough to restrict the blood flow.

Having tried all of the above, if there is still a problem consult your doctor/ health visitor as food/ milk allergies/ intolerance/ Coeliac disease can cause itchiness. Her stools could also be an indicator of this.

Hope you sort this out quickly xxxx

Answer 3

Occasionally, food & milk allergies will show up in infants as extreme itchiness during or just before sleep. My first child had a milk allergy that caused her to do the itching thing. Unfortunately, we did not realize it until she was almost 2! If she has any other allergy symptoms like ecsema, or tummy ache, alert your doctor.

Cradle cap is usually not itchy. A 7 month old will pull off any sleep mittens you try, but make sure her nails are trimmed down with no sharp edges.

Answer 4

My baby scratches her head when tired too, although she hasn't drawn blood. A couple ideas.

Try to get her to sleep earlier. My baby does better when I get her to sleep before she gets really tired.

Hold her in your arms with the arm she uses to scratch sort of tucked at her side with your arm. That might keep her still until she falls asleep.

I'd talk to your pediatrician about it.

For cradle cap, we used something called Weleda cream that has calendulum in it. Got it from our health food store. It really helped. Before that, we tried olive oil, that was good too. With both, rub it in a while before you're giving a bath. Then rinse it out before you shampoo and use a soft brush over her scalp. It helps a lot. Takes a week or so to go away.

Good luck!

Answer 5

My son had cradle cap and I used Dentinox which was fab it cleared it within a month. I don't recall it being itchy as my son was very young when he got it but it is yellow/brown colour and it looked quite scaly. She is in the right age as it normally occurs from birth to 1 year of age. I know that cradle cap does itch and babies have no real concept of when stop scratching. Its worth trying Dentinox which you can get from the chemist or big supermarkets. Good luck

Answer 6

do you see a crusty patch on her head? have you tried to get it off? if you can't see anything it's not cradle cap. it could be that she has developed a bad habit with the scratching. watch her for cues that she may be getting tired and cut it off at the pass-so to speak. make sure she doesn't get over tired and put her down before she gets to the scratching. i know that can't always be done but it may help.
if by chance you do actually see the cradle cap, you can purchase special shampoos for it or, and i know i'll hear about this, get sea breeze. it's an antiseptic for oily skin. use it very sparingly. put some on a wash cloth and rub it on the spot then try to comb as much as you can out. do this before bathing so you can wash her hair after. it may take a few times to get it all. i had to do this with my son. my hairdresser told me about it. he had awful cradle cap and that was the only thing that worked.

Answer 7

cut her nails and you can rub in some baby oil on to her head wirh cotton wool then get a baby comb and the cradle cap should peel off , will take a while be very gentle and do a bit at a time the wash her hair with baby shampoo

Answer 8

My nephew is the same way. His started as just cradle cap and then he started scratching his head all the time. None of the cradle cap shampoos ever worked. He went to the doctors though and they gave a special prescription for it. It is almost gone now.

Answer 9

My baby rubs and pulls at his head when he is sleepy. I think it is relaxing for him. Maybe its relaxing for your baby. If she's drawing blood because of long nails, cut them if. Otherwise, do what another person said and put on mitts. Although I found that they didn't stay on very well. Good luck

Answer 10

plain old olive oil on the scalp. Sit and pick off the scabs if it is cradle cap. Olive oil is the gentlest moisturiser to use on your baby's head recommended by midwives instead of lotions containing chemicals.