Cradle Cap What’s the Root Cause?

What is Cradle Cap?

Cradle cap is an extremely common skin condition that results in yellowish crusty/scaly or oily patches on a baby’s scalp and also shows up in young children. 

Infantile seborrheic dermatitis, the more technical name for this condition, is different from adult dandruff in that there is generally no or very little itchiness or irritation felt, and it can also develop in the eyebrows, eyelids, ears, armpits and groin area. 

Although unsightly and may cause some alarm, the cradle cap is nothing to worry about and can heal relatively easily with love and support.

What Causes Cradle Cap?

Understanding why cradle cap develops in the first place will help give insight into how it can be treated effectively. To do this, we must begin by looking at the liver. 

As Anthony William, the Medical Medium shares nearly all symptoms and conditions for cradle cap arise from a stagnant, sluggish liver. 

Toxic and pathogenic exposure is on the rise as our world became polluted with troublemakers.  When our bodies take on an exposure, our livers filter out, neutralize and store the components of that exposure that could cause us harm.  When the liver is ready, it eventually packages those troublemakers up to be eliminated from the body through the skin, feces or urine. As exposures become more and more common and build up over time, the liver can become bogged down trying to deal with too much.  This is when issues arise, and health problems start to show up.

But what about babies?  Our little ones are often seen as pure and unimpaired.  Aren’t they an exception? 

Let’s look at what the Medical Medium says about this topic below:

“While we think of infants as beginning life with a clean slate, the truth is that a developing baby’s liver takes on the past. In utero, and even at the moment we were conceived, we inherited liver troublemakers from our parents, their parents, and so on down the family line. Any poison or pathogen an ancestor carries can end up in our livers before birth. Early standard medical treatments for babies can fill newborns’ livers with troublemakers.”

It’s the sad truth that our babies carry toxic loads just like we do. But what does this have to do with cradle cap? 

When the liver reaches its capacity for handling troublemakers, toxins and pathogens are free to float around the body unchecked.  It is at this point that they can start to cause some damage.  In the case of cradle cap, troublemakers make their way to the skin’s surface.  As a defence mechanism, the baby’s body then produces oil/sebum to try and neutralize the offenders and or create a scaly skin texture to slough off that which is causing harm.

Natural Alternatives for Cradle Cap

So what can we do to help our little ones heal and feel better? Well, since this skin condition starts with the liver, we need to do what we can to support the liver—not just our baby’s liver, but ours as mother as well while we are breastfeeding. 

It’s now widely recognized that what we consume as mothers gets passed onto our babies through our milk during breastfeeding.  This is why pregnant women are told to avoid alcohol consumption. 

So, as mothers, certain things might be helpful to avoid while you are still nursing your little one. These troublemakers flow through our milk and into our babies, bogging down their livers and adding to their toxic load.

Products to Avoid and What to Include

• Fragranced products of any kind (excluding perfume, scented candles, air fresheners, fragranced hair and beauty products, dishwashing and clothing detergent)
• Dairy
• Gluten
• Eggs
• Pork
• Corn
• Tuna
• Industrial oils (vegetable oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil)
• High-fat diets both plant based and animal based

Replace the foods listed above with the ones listed below.

The following foods actively heal the liver.  They are extremely nutrient-dense, meaning their healing properties will work to help you stay healthy not only for mother but also for your baby!

• Fruit (all fruit is very healing, but wild blueberries are the most healing food on the planet.)
• Leafy greens
• Vegetables
• Fresh herbs
• Potatoes
• Celery juice
• Living water (water with added lemon or lime juice)
• Herbal tinctures and supplements -considerations for Mother (B12,  zinc, milk thistle, vitamin C, barley grass juice powder)

Please note that supplements and herbal tinctures should NOT be given to babies as they are generally too concentrated for their little bodies.

Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers must also exercise caution when using herbs and supplements.

Supporting your liver and your baby’s liver is a great first step in healing cradle cap and preventing future health issues. While internal healing is taking place, you can do things from an outside perspective to help heal the skin.

Consider using a little coconut oil with a drop of tea tree oil. Massage into the affected area, let it sit for a few minutes, and then GENTLY comb through the hair, finish with a gentle baby shampoo.

• Coconut oil applied to scalp
• Organic tea tree oil
• Dr. Bronner’s makes a clean and gentle unscented soap that is perfect for a baby’s sensitive skin. 
• Airmid also make an amazing soothing soap for baby and child’s sensitve skin that I adore that is handmade by a family in Co.Clare Ireland. Here is the link

Are you looking for support for yourself and your child’s health and want step by step guidance, recipes, meal plans and how to use healing supplements and a supportive community of other mothers on a holistic health journey.

Join me in Thrive Mother and Children’s Health Programme enrolling now until 4th October.