Treating cradle cap (Dentinox Cradlecap Shampoo)

Member Name: JT86

Product:	Dentinox Cradlecap Shampoo
Date:	14/06/08 (148 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not expensive, pleasant smell

Disadvantages: Not certain it works

~~ What is cradle cap? ~~

Cradle cap is the name given to infantile seborrhoeic dermatitis. It manifests as yellowy-brown scaly patches on the scalp and is quite common in babies. It's temporary, harmless and usually causes the baby no discomfort.
The cause is unknown, and it usually appears during the first few months of baby's life.
It should eventually clear up by itself.
If the baby also develops eczema on it's face or body, medical advice should be sought.

~~ About the shampoo ~~

The active ingredients are sodium lauryl ether sulpho-succinate 6% w/w and sodium lauryl ether sulphate 2.7% w/w.
It also contains sodium salt of coconut imidazoline, oleic acid diethanolamide, sodium chloride, rose perfume and water.

I looked up the ingredients and found that sodium lauryl ether sulphate is merely a detergent and surfactant (wetting agent) and is also present in other baby shampoos. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid that makes up a large part of olive oil. I guess from this that the ingredient which works most on the cradle cap would be the oleic acid.

~~ Using ~~

Recommended usage is to use at each bath time until the cradle cap has cleared up. It can then be used when necessary to keep the scalp clear and healthy.

Wet baby's head with water and massage in about half a teaspoonful of shampoo, gently but firmly. Rinse off and repeat again. Rinse off and dry.

~~ My experience ~~

I first noticed yellow scaly patches on my daughter's scalp when she was around 4-5 months old. She didn't have much hair at the time and as it worsened to cover most of the top of her head it became more noticeable. Although it bothered me more than it did her!
Someone told me a good treatment was to rub olive oil into the scalp, then comb it through. But she said when she'd used that treatment on her baby she'd had greasy hair for weeks after, so I decided to give that one a miss. Instead I went to Boots and bought some Dentinox cradle cap shampoo.

The shampoo comes in a 125ml opaque white plastic bottle with a flip cap, that I find tricky to open at times. It has a slight smell of rosewater but isn't overpowering. When massaged in lather is produced, but not as much as you normally get from regular shampoos. My daughter is such a wriggler that it's impossible not to get it in her eyes when rinsing out but she's never seemed to bother so it mustn't sting.

I've been using it on her for around five months now and the cradle cap has finally almost gone. Whether it would have cleared up by now on it's own is something I'll never know. After using the shampoo each time her cradle cap does seem to loosen a bit and flake off, although I would have expected it to have cleared up long before now with using the shampoo.
It's not expensive, although a regular baby shampoo would probably be better value for money.

Dentinox cradle cap shampoo retails for around £2.39 and can be found at Boots, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and major pharmacies.

Made by the MA Holder: DDD ltd, Watford, WD18 7JJ.

Summary: You may be better off just using regular baby shampoo and see your doctor if the cradle cap is bad