The one thing which I feared for Hannah is her getting skin ailments. I have sensitive skin and she might inherit that as well.
A few days after she was born, her skin became drier on her cheeks, arms and legs. I have been applying Mustela’s moisturizer on those areas daily and her skin is looking fine now. Recently, I found out that she has cradle cap! My mother in-law alerted me when she saw a patch of yellowish stuff between her forehead and hairline. Ugh. Upon closer examination, I noticed that the top part of her head is covered with cradle cap. I didn’t see it previously because Hannah has quite a bit of hair covering it. I quickly surfed the net to read up on treating such a condition.
Cradle cap is a thick, greasy, yellowish, scaly/flaky, crusty patches on baby’s scalp. About 1 in 2 babies get it. According to what I read on the web, it is usually not itchy and does not bother the baby. It usually clears up when the baby is between 6-12 months old. However, it bothers the mommy as it seems to get thicker.
The easiest and mildest treatment: I tried to shampoo her hair using undiluted Johnson’s Head to Toe Baby Wash (her hair had been previously washed using the diluted form). No apparent result.
The next solution is tried and proven to be effective.
I need olive oil and therefore bought a small bottle from the Shop n Save minimart next to our place. (My mother in-law was shocked when I asked her whether it was okay to use the cooking olive oil. Hee hee.) It was the only brand of olive oil available there, oh well. However, I found out later that it wasn’t pure olive oil. Duh. No wonder so cheap, $4.10 niah. Anyway, I went ahead to use it on Hannah’s scalp.
The method is really simple:
1) Apply olive oil liberally on the affected scalp. Massage gently and leave it for 15 minutes.
2) Use a soft hair brush (tooth brush will work too) to comb out the flakes. (The more I comb the more flakes I get! Eeee.)
3) Use kitchen paper towel to mop up the oil and flakes.
4) Shampoo thoroughly and rinse well. (repeat if hair is still oily)
Hannah was quite cooperative throughout the whole process. I did this just before giving her a bath. Oh ya, I managed to remove only about a quarter of her cradle cap. Have to repeat the treatment until the cradle cap is no more.
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