Cradle cap

I have a 3 month old baby who has developed cradle cap and he is loosing his hair. I heard about Borage oil, and wanted to know how successful would this be?

What is Cradle cap?

Cradle cap is a common form of dermatitis which usually appears on the scalp, face and head of infants in the few first months of the infants life. It presents as yellow-crusted lesions, greasiness of the skin, redness, scales or flakes on the scalp. Cradle cap is caused by inflammation of the sebaceous glands due to blockage and an increase in the production of sebum. When these glands make too much sebum it causes the blockage and traps shedded skin flakes. Although it looks angry and irritating it does not cause distress to your baby, it is harmless and looks worse than it is. This problem usually clears itself after a few months and it is not contagious or caused by poor hygiene. The area can become infected however and can cause weeping, inflammation, small blisters or crusts to occur.

The skin is a sensitive organ and helping it to heal takes time, infants tend to be very responsive to any changes you make to your diet and quality of breast milk. The skin heals from within out and the appearance of the skin is often a reflection of the internal environment.

Why does Cradle cap occur?

Possible reasons why Cradle cap occurs:

underlying fungal infections
yeast infections (pityrosporum strain)
an increase in hormones left over from the birthing process which causes an overproduction of sebum, these hormones are excreted from their body after some time
Cradle cap is linked to babies which have relatives who suffer from allergic conditions such as asthma, ezcema or dermatitis.

Reducing Cradle cap

If you are currently breastfeeding you can do the following to help reduce irritation of your babies skin:

Increasing oily foods in your diet means that your baby will be supplied with more beneficial soothing oils through the breast milk. Oils help to soothe the skin and reduce inflammation. Skin conditions usually occur due to a deficiency of these lubricating and moisturising oils. Foods which contain good Omega 3 essential fatty acid oils are fish, evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil, nuts, seeds, avocadoes. Consider taking fish oil capsules which will help the good oils to be transferred into the breast milk. Increase oily foods in your diet to provide better moisture to the skin and a barrier to help soothe irritations - raw unheated olive oil, flaxseed oil, nuts, fish and avocados.
Gently massage olive oil, jojoba or sweet almond oil with a few drops of the essential oils Lavender, Borage or Calendula into your babies scalp, comb through and leave over night. At bath time the next day gently pat the area down with a damp cloth, you can do this process every day or every second day to help reduce the risk of infection and help the area to heal.
Begin taking a probiotic supplement and add a small amount to your nipple before your baby feeds. Beneficial bacteria will help to build immunity, resistance and reduce overproliferation of bacteria or fungal infections.
Other important nutrients for the health of the skin which the mother can take to help improve the quality of breast milk and reduce skin inflammation are Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Zinc and Vitamin E.
Alkalise your diet as this may help to reduce inflammation, heat and acidity. Foods which are highly acidic are tea, coffee, alcohol, soft drinks, sugar, dairy, wheat, preserved and processed foods.
Increase your intake of alkalising foods such as brown rice, miso soup, water, lemon juice, fish, sprouts, millet, green barley powder and vegetable juices.
Don’t attempt to pick off the scaly patches as this leaves the site open to infection.
Add a small amount of slippery elm (1/4 teaspoon) to his food or bottle or add a little to your nipple prior to breastfeeding. Slippery elm has a demulcent (soothing) effect on the digestive tract, helps foods to be assimilated properly and reduces any gastrointestinal irritation/ upsets
Give your baby a soothing bath. Put some chamomile and oats in a muslin cloth or stocking and tie it over the bath tap and let the warm bath water run through it. Chamomile is very calming to the skin and oats contain mucopolysaccharides which are anti-pruritic to soothe and heal the skin and reduce the itch.
Aqueous based creams (water based, non-perfumed) with a small amount of herbal tinctures added such as calendula, lavender, aloe vera, chickweed or powdered vitamin E when applied to the skin may reduce the itch and help the skin to heal. The essential oil Borage seed (Borago officinalis) may also be used as it is highly anti-infective and anti-inflammatory and contains high amounts of GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) which is an oil found in Evening Primrose oil. This herb is often used for inflammatory skin conditions such as dermatitis and ezcema.
Make a Calendula wash by making a strong tea infusion, letting it cool and using it as a hair wash.
Use fragrance free body products. The common irritants to the skin contained in most body and face care products are sodium lauryl sulphate or any of its derivatives, benzenes, petroleum based products, aluminium, chlorhexidine, dioxins, Ethylenediamide tetraacetic acid (EDTA), parabens and hydrazines.

Cradle cap and hair loss