Cradle Cap / Sebarreah Dermatitis

anothermom · Jul 11, 2017

My 4 month old baby has been diagnosed with cradle cap and dry skin issues. Unfortunately it is not just anfew patches on his body, most of his body feels like leather. We were advised to apply a steroidal ointment, but worried about the side effects, we decided to postpone that and try aquaphor ointment for a while , which definitely showed some improvement. We recently switched to Vitamin A and D ointment as we heard that showed faster results. Things are slowly improving or atleast they haven't worsened. But a few days back, we noticed my baby had a small boil like thing on his scalp which was progressively getting bigger, until yesterday when it burst and there was some blood around there. When we showed that to the doctor, we were told that it is also because of my baby's dry skin issue and may have been caused by some scratching, which seems logical. But she has asked us to get started on antibiotics and a steroid cream for sure, since she said there is a chance that if we postpone it this time, it may get worse. My question is: What side effects would antibiotics and steroid cream have? Is it worth postponing that for some more time while we continue the ointment treatment? Has anyone had any luck following this path in the past? Thanks!

anothermom · Jul 11, 2017

Forgot to add : we have been using coconut oil to keep his skin moist. Doctor told us not to bother changing oils as it really doesnt matter. For wahsing his hair, we have been using Eucerin wash, also recommended by the doctor. Until yesterday, we were seeing results and were happy that we dint go the steroids route but now it feels like we are back to square one, because of the scalp boil

peartree · Jul 11, 2017

Hi Mommy

Sorry you're going through this, I went through this with both my daughters. My younger one at 2.5 still has eczema issues and we use steroid oil to control her flare ups. The steroid dosage they recommend for babies is very mild, so if the doctor has recommended it, you can use it. They ask you to usually apply just a little bit on the affected area.

Cradle cap was an issue with my older daughter and we were asked to use Neutrogena shampoo and just to keep her nails clipped so that she doesn't scratch. The cradle cap went away on its own as she got older. On a side note, just make sure these flare-ups aren't due to a reaction from your specific food intake if he is breast-fed or something in the formula that might be causing his dry skin to flare up.

Hang in there, I know it can be extremely frustrating. WE go through aquaphor bottles as well!! It usually improves as they get older.