Natural Cradle Cap Remedy

They say that our bodies absorb up to 80% of what we put on our skin. It pays to be extra careful with the products that we use  our children's skin, not just because their skin is delicate, but also because their bodies will have to deal with any toxins that they absorb. 

Thankfully there are lots of natural, gentle and organic products out there to help us out, but sometimes its easiest to make our own so that we know exactly what goes into them. 

All three of my children have had cradle cap as babies and whilst it is harmless, it is also unsightly too.  Many of the cradle cap treatments you can buy in the shops contain harsh chemicals such as SLS.  I've experimented on all three with lots of natural solutions to cradle cap and finally found a recipe that works really well. 
The recipe was in Valerie Ann Worwood's book 'fragrant pharmacy'.  It calls for 2 tablespoons of almond oil, then 1 drop of  eucalyptus lemon and 1 drop of geranium essential oils added to it.  Then you spread that over the area and leave for a while - preferably overnight, then brush with a gentle brush, wash and repeat if necessary.  I've found 2 treatments to be sufficient for completely clearing quite severe cradle cap. 

Almond oil is an incredibly light oil that doesn't stay too oily for long (if left on overnight, I couldn't see any sign of it by morning), unlike heavier oils such as olive oil.  Olive oil is the oil more traditionally recomended but it is a very heavy thick oil and I haven't found it to be half as efficient as almond.  If you wanted to use another light oil that is not nut based then apricot is a good alternative.

One of my biggest failures was in trying lavender essential oil.  It is not recommended as lavender is known for promoting the growth of skin cells, which is exactly oposite of what we want here.  While lavender is fabulous for burns, including sunburn, it will make cradle cap worse if used on that.