The milk crust, because it is called dairy, many people associate the baby with breast milk, without such a relationship, it is a set of whitish crusts, sometimes, yellow, which appears on the scalp of babies.
It is not a disease, but rather an aesthetic problem whose treatment is therefore optional. However, some complications can happen and then it would be necessary to treat it, so in this post we will explain more fully what is the milk crust and what are the situations in which something needs to be done.
The milk crust, quite common
The milk crust It appears in about ten percent of newborns and usually begins in the second or third week of life. This scab is nothing more than dry fat, a seborrheic dermatitis whose problem is usually, as I say, aesthetic, because it does not affect anything.
The scabs are located in the head, although there are children who also have them in the eyebrows and eyebrows, behind the ears or in some folds of the body, a fact that usually encourages parents to start removing it, at least in the areas of the face.
In Babies and more The 11 best tips for newborn care: hair, nails, bath, creams and moreThe causes of its occurrence are variable, since it can be a genetic factor, a hormonal disorder resulting from the maternal hormones that arrive through the placenta, which cause the sebaceous glands to secrete an excess of fat, or a consequence to some weather factors.
When should it be treated?
The treatment to eliminate the milk scab is optional when it is only an aesthetic problem. There are parents who don't care if it's there and there are others who prefer that their baby doesn't have it. This happens mostly, as I said, when the scab is concentrated in areas of the face, as in the eyebrows, which make the baby look like a baby.
If nothing is done, the scab disappears on its own over the months and, if you want to do something, just look for ways to soften the scabs so they go jumping. There are specific creams for this function although from experience tell you that baby body oil, the same cooking oil also works very well. It is applied on the head, on the scabs, doing a little massage and after a while (15-30 minutes) you bathe. With the wet sponge and a little shampoo he leaves gently rubbing the head. In this way some of the scabs jump and so it has to be done every two or three days for them to fall.
In Babies and moreBaby's hair: how to take care of it so you have strong and healthy hairThe possible complications, and therefore the situations in which a treatment is recommended, is when it is observed that the milk crust it covers an extension that is too large or if it becomes inflamed and infected (the scab becomes more yellowish and the edges are inflamed and reddened). In these cases we must go to the pediatrician to prescribe the appropriate treatment, which usually consists of a cream with corticosteroids and an ointment containing antibiotic.
