What's the difference between cradle cap and eczema?
Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at
12:14 am
My daughter had cradle cap really bad for the first few months after she was born. Once she was about 3 months old, it was completely gone.
But she’s 16 months old now, and it looks like the cradle cap is coming back. I always thought cradle cap was a newborn thing.
Is it possible that it’s actually eczema? How would I be able to tell?
Also, is eczema hereditary? My sister has had it pretty bad ever since she was a baby.
Filed under: Eczema
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Eczema is a non-specific skin problem (the doctors don’t know or don’t bother to find out the cause)
Cradle cap is a specific skin problem… seborrhoeic dermatitis in babies. In adults it is the cause of dandruff. So really, it is possible to have it at any age.
Cradle cap is dry skin on the head.
Like little flakes.
&& Eczema is on the actual skin.
I believe it is hereditary..
But not too sure.
Why don’t you just research it.???
Cradle cap is more like Dandruff while eczema is like dry, flaky patches of skin that cause itching and discomfort and are rough feeling. They can also be raised and reddened and they are uncomfortable.
I dont know if eczema is hereditary i had it as a child but it was linked to a dairy sensitivity. Alot of the time eczema is related to sensitivity in foods.
If it looks like dandruff type thing then its probably not eczema she may have a dry scalp though. Did you ask her doc when she went for her shots? I would ask i thought the wee girl had it but it turns out she just has really sensitive skin…Google some images and you will see the difference i would but it makes me squirmy lol….
My son is over 2 and he still gets cradle cap. He has to use pantene pro-v. I have tried every kids shampoo on him and they were all too mild to wash out the oils. cradle cap is oil and dead skin built up.
you can soak a cotton ball with baby oil and massage it over the cradle cap at night, and let her sleep overnight with greasy hair. give her a bath in the morning. repeat at night until gone. I also got a small boars bristle brush to exfoliate his scalp with the oil on it.
Eczema is actually on the skin and it can become red and rashy looking and gets dried up and gets flaky. you can type eczema into the yahoo search bar and hit image if you are curious about anything.
Good luck with it.
Eczema is hereditary and often caused by food allergies. It’s horribly dry skin, little red bumps that are very itchy.
Cradle cap is sebhorrhea, which is patches of dry skin that appear on the head, behind the ears, stomach and arms and legs. My baby had it all over her. It appears as kind of yellow scaly patches that feel very rough, hers were round and mostly on her legs and stomach. I used oilatum in her bath for a few weeks and applied vaseline creamy and it’s pretty much gone now.
My oldest had cradle cap until she was 18 months old, I finally got rid of it by using tea tree oil shampoo for kids. She hasn’t had a problem since, but she has mild eczema. Fish oil is good for eczema. They make some specifically for kids. Check out your local health food store. Also, eczema is often caused by a milk allergy.
its not just a baby thing, i had it once when i was 4, its actually a pretty funny story because my mom misunderstood the doctor and thought he was saying cradle crap instead of cradle cap, so shes been calling it that for the past 13 years until last month when my aunt(a nurse) corrected her, the difference is cradle is only on the scalp and is flaky and is not caused by a infection, hygiene problems, or allergies, while eczema is on the rest of the body and are small red itchy bumps, usually caused by an irritation from soap. your daughter most likely has cradle, a good way to cure it quick is to either put vegetable oil or petroleum jelly on her scalp before she goes to sleep (no joke, they counteract the reaction or something) and then VERY SOFTLY comb away the flakes with a fine toothed comb or soft-bristle brush in the morning, if you do it to hard it can make the problem worse
Cradle cap isn’t just a newwborrn thing. I worked in childcare with the two year old group. A lot of the kids still had cradle cap. my son has it a little bit and he’ll be 3 in April.