Cradle Cap and the Greaser

I have discovered something--you don't outgrow cradle cap. I had been hoping that DD's two patches of cradle cap would eventually disappear, but here we were, two and a half years of age, and they were still there, in all their scaly unsightly glory. It was the fact that they appeared to be slowly growing and were starting to be visible near her forehead that prompted me to call for action.

Petroleum jelly, stat! DH retrieved the miniscule container of petroleum jelly from the medicine cabinet, and proceeded to apply it liberally to her scalp prior to bathtime last night. She thought it was fun to have "goop" in her hair, and a great time was had by all as she was scrubbed, combed (with a lot of cradle cap coming off), rinsed, de-tangled, and dried. Bedtime was fine--her hair was still damp, but it usually is on bath night. C'est la vie.

This morning she finally wakes up at 9:30 and I go in to fetch her...and I've got a little greaser staring back at me from her bed! Her hair still appears damp and/or greasy, like a cool cat look from the '50s. Hmmmmm. She allows me to poke around the two cradle cap patches while she watches TV, and I manage to scrape off with my fingernail gently remove some more scales that were softened up by the grease. She finally tells me to stop picking at her hair and I let her go, but it's clear that she requires another bath.

Tick, tick, tick, and finally DS falls asleep and I get DD into the bathtub. I didn't think her baby wash was going to cut it on this stuff, so I fetched my shampoo as a second resort. Sure enough, another lather and rinse with baby wash reveals hair that still feels greasy to the touch. On to Mommy's shampoo...I warned her about keeping her head back so it won't sting her eyes, lather her up, gently wipe away the excess foam from around her eyes, and let her play away for a good few minutes before rinsing. It feels somewhat better, I think...and she is dried off and dressed for errands.

Now, having come back from Costco with a pizza-faced, greasy-haired child, I see that the Big Guns are required. It is Dawn dishwashing detergent time, for her third bath looms tonight in a span of less than 24 hours. Ugh. That cradle cap better be GONE, because I do not want to do this whole routine again!

Now DS has a few patches of cradle cap hiding under his hair. I think I am going to scrub it good with his baby brush during his next bath and pray that it comes off. I don't want to think about Dawn dishwashing detergent and a 7 month old...oh no I don't...I think at that point he would just be living with cradle cap until he's, oh, let's say two and a half. *sigh*