Diapering Baby Tips: Experts Answers

What are the most common diapering mistakes moms and dads make? Can the scourge of diaper rash ever be conquered? And how can you get a wiggly baby to stay still during changing time?

To get answers to these and other common diapering dilemmas, WebMD sat down with Steven J. Parker, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and co-author of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (1998 edition).

What are some of the common baby diapering problems?

I don’t hear that many diapering complaints really. Most parents muddle through and get the job done, so the technical part of diapering isn’t usually a long-term issue.

But of all the associated issues, diaper rash is clearly the big medical concern that comes out of diapering. It’s far and away the biggest concern of parents, the most common, and the most inevitable.

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Rinse and Repeat

Because it's so common, it's not a bad idea to try to prevent cradle cap before it even starts. It turns out that regular shampooing of your baby's scalp is a simple but effective way to stave off the scales.

Doctors aren't exactly sure what causes cradle cap, but they do have several theories. What is known is that the condition thrives on oily skin. This is thought to originate from hormones the baby gets from his or her mother before birth. Perhaps cradle cap is simply caused by dead skin sticking to oily skin rather than falling off. But another theory says that it has to do with oily skin's reaction to Malassezia furfur, a kind of yeast.

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Pop Some Biotin (Maybe)

Biotin deficiency is pretty rare, but it does occur in people who have been fed intravenously for an extended period of time. The symptoms: hair thinning and a facial rash

B-complex vitamins are superstars, even though some other celebrity vitamins tend to overshadow them (we're looking at you, vitamin D). Without them, you'd have an awfully hard time getting energy from carbs, your nervous system would be all out of whack, and your hair, eyes and liver would be sickly.

Biotin, a B vitamin that's confusingly also referred to as vitamin H, is also important for healthy skin -- and embryonic development.

Unless you have certain medical conditions, you get plenty of biotin from your diet and your own intestines, where a bacteria factory produces it. But pregnant women do sometimes have a biotin deficiency. This fact, taken with the vitamin's importance in maintaining healthy skin, has led some to believe that giving supplements to a nursing mom can help treat cradle cap.

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Try Shampoo with a Kick to It

If your baby's cradle cap is bad enough for you to try a medicated shampoo, be sure you don't use an adult-strength formula.

So what to do when cradle cap has already started to plague that tender baby skin? If baby shampoo doesn't do the trick, you may want to move on to the medicated kind. Even though cradle cap is basically the dandruff, it's not the best idea to buy an adult anti-dandruff shampoo to use on a baby -- it will be too harsh on an infant's sensitive skin. The good news is that shampoos for cradle cap do exist, although you should probably consult a doctor before using one. If you can't find any in your local drugstore, you can order them online.

These shampoos are effective against cradle cap because they use one or more of these active ingredients :

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Get Ready for a Rubdown

It isn't enough to just shampoo your baby's delicate scalp. You also need to help him or her get rid of the flakes.

Think of the rubdown as a very gentle exfoliation. Baby hair brushes have soft, natural bristles that, to an adult, feel like barely anything at all. There are several hair tools marketed as "cradle cap brushes," but there isn't much of a difference, if any.

Just like you'll want to be shampooing more frequently, you should also be brushing more frequently. Gently massage the baby's scalp and use the brush while shampooing to help remove scales. (If you pick at them, you can irritate the skin, which can lead to infection.)

Another option, if you don't have a brush handy or your baby isn't fond of it, is to use a terrycloth towel. (Following up the whole process by swaddling your infant in an adorable hooded robe is optional.)

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Bring On the Oil

Although the shampooing covered on the previous few pages has proven effective, there is no perfect or single cure for cradle cap. The good news is that throughout the generations of dealing with this skin condition, parents have discovered several other remedies that appear to work for many babies.

For instance, some oils, such as mineral oil, olive oil, or petroleum jelly, may help get rid of cradle cap. If you're worried about using medicated shampoo on a baby's sensitive skin, this might be a good alternative. And, incidentally, many adults similarly treat their hair with olive oil to make it softer and silkier, so this isn't that out of the ordinary.

However, recommendations for how long to soak the baby's scalp with such oils before washing it out vary widely. The Mayo Clinic, for instance, recommends only a few minutes, and the National Institutes of Health say up to an hour, while the South Australian Children, Youth and Women's Health Service says to leave it on as long as several hours -- even overnight.

However long you choose, wipe the oils off with a washcloth and gently brush the scales. This may be all you need to do, but some sources also recommend shampooing the baby's scalp after treating it with oil.

Prevent and Treat Cradle Cap : Go Natural

If you ask enough parents for their cradle cap advice, you'll come across some who swear by certain lesser-known natural remedies. For instance, some suggest washing a baby's skin with such things as tea, chamomile, burdock or comfrey root.

Kathi Kemper, author of the book "The Holistic Pediatrician," suggests using cocoa butter to soften the crusting dead skin, making it easier to brush off.

Other supposed remedies include almond oil or products containing viola (the herb, not the instrument) or marigold. If you're a fan of aromatherapy, you may be interested in adding essential oil of lavender to vegetable oil to massage the baby's skin. There is no proof that this is effective, but should you decide to use essential oils, do so with caution -- they can cause allergic reactions in some people.