Slide show: Common baby rashes
Cradle cap
Previous Next 1 of 6 Cradle cap

You might expect your baby's skin to be flawless, but baby rashes and other skin conditions — such as cradle cap — are common.

Cradle cap appears as thick, yellow, crusty or greasy patches on a baby's scalp. Cradle cap is most common in newborns and usually clears up on its own within several months.

In the meantime, wash your baby's hair with mild baby shampoo and loosen the scales with a small, soft-bristled brush. For stubborn scales, rub petrolatum or a few drops of mineral oil onto your baby's scalp, wait a few minutes, and then brush and shampoo your baby's hair. If cradle cap persists, ask your baby's doctor about other treatment options.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

See more Multimedia Oct. 08, 2022