Babys First Year Blog
Phase 2 In Post Pregancy Hair Catastrophes: Hair Breakage
Oh, you rascally baby hairs!
4 Months ago, I lamented on the extreme amounts of hair that was falling out of my head as my body adjusted to my new post-baby hormones, but we’ve now reached a horrifying new stage – Baby Hair! Hair strands all along my hair line have now snapped in two to create this awful little “baby hair” line.
I didn’t get this after the birth of my first child, so I can only assume it’s due to the prolonged breastfeeding of my son, but my head is a serious mess! I was sad to see my pretty, shiny pregnancy locks go bye bye as it fell out in large handfuls, but this… this is worse… this is a crazy, in-between, constantly look like I stuck my finger in an electric socket look.
Did you experience this too? How did you deal? Any products you’d recommend to help you tame the crazy? I suppose nothing but a little time and patience is going to get me through!
~M
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25 Comments
Rebecca commented on Jan 18 12 at 11:59 amI have this, too, at 8 months post-partum, but I had decided (hoped) that maybe all the short hairs were just growing back in after the hair loss?!
Kari commented on Jan 18 12 at 12:24 pmThe baby hairs aren’t your hair breaking, they’re the ones that fell out growing back. With that said, I agree, they’re totally annoying.
Tina commented on Jan 18 12 at 3:33 pmYup, 8 months post partum here and have the same thing. I’m calling mine my mini baby bangs. It looks ridiculous.
Heather commented on Jan 18 12 at 5:25 pmOMG! So thought I was alone. This happened to me with both my pregnancies, but WAY worse with this second one. And I only breast fed for 2 months and then 1 month (issues with BF twins the first time and milk intolerence on the 2nd…just didn’t want to invite comments on why I didn’t BF).
Anyways…I have a TON of hair. So I wasn’t upset when I lost it. It felt weird…but I knew it would grow back. But oh my…when it did, it stood straight up. And I don’t wear bangs, so I had this little mohawk around my hairline. But it grew out fast. Now, with my second pregnancy, I lost way more hair. I even saw bald spots. Not that it is growing back…how do I explain this…you know when Britney Spears shaved her head? And then her hair started to grow back so she got extensions? But it looke HORRIBLE because she had these little tufts of hair all over her head? Ya…that’s me. Sigh. My baby will be one year on 2/1/12. And it still hasn’t grown in yet. But…I have a beautiful little girl (our third girl…we also have 3 year old twin girls) who incidentally is changing from a sweet baby into a raging toddler…guess it is time to start a blog about that. Blog Title: What to do when your sweet baby turns into a raging/screaming/kicking/clawing toddler? Answer? – Hold your head high, push through it, and pray to come out whole on the other side. LOL
Crystal Wales commented on Jan 18 12 at 6:16 pmI am 3 monthes postpartum and I have noticed that my hair is coming out in handfulls also. It is long and I have always shedded alot but this is rediculous!
Emily commented on Jan 18 12 at 7:11 pmSame situation as those above compounded by the fact that my previously naturally curly hair is now frizzy straight! Hoping that the curl returns…
Kristen Scheerer commented on Jan 18 12 at 8:41 pmI too have this problem, and with naturally curly hair it’s a real pain. I’ve been wearing my hair in a headband since it started. No one ever warned me about this. I’m pregnant again and hoping it doesn’t happen this time!
Nis commented on Jan 18 12 at 8:51 pmOH man I am having this problem now, at 10 months postpartum with my first child. I am now sporting many headbands too. You are not alone!
zoesmumlizs commented on Jan 18 12 at 10:07 pmthis is not broken off hair but new growing hair that its replacing the hair that you lost after birth (explained my hairdresser to me) so celebrate it, in a few month when these tiny hairs are longer you will have your “old” hair back!
ashley commented on Jan 18 12 at 11:27 pmOh yes, you are experiencing what I refer to as my “grow backs”. They suck. Though I must admit, I was quite happy to see those baby hairs popping through after losing all that hair at my hair line. But they’ve definitely gone through some funky phases and 14 months post birth my grow backs are about bang length and I never know what the hell to do with them. It sucks. I agree, such an unfair part of being a woman. The obvious body changes are enough, but the added stuff like hair loss just tips the cup of unfairness. I have no answers for you. Headbands don’t work for hair like mine. My hair is thin and stick straight so my grow backs just spring right up with a head band. I’ve been wondering what to do with my hair all along, so if you find the magical product or solution do share. I’m 14 weeks pregnant with my second and am dreading losing these grow backs all over again. Ba humbug.
Veronica commented on Jan 20 12 at 10:55 amWHAT? I’m 35 years old and I didn’t know about this. Crazy! I have a 6 month old and evidently, my hair started falling out at about 2 1/2 months after I had her. All this time I’ve been thinking that it’s been stress. I agree, the new growth is annoying and makes for a great chia pet!! :)
Julia commented on Jan 20 12 at 11:24 amAre you still taking prenatal vitamins? My baby is 7 months old and breastfed, and I haven’t had any issues with my hair falling out. I’m still taking prenatal vitamins and my hair still looks as good as it did when I was pregnant (well, when I have a chance to wash it at least…)
Lisset commented on Jan 20 12 at 11:37 amLike you, this didn’t happen after my first baby, but with the second one? HOLY SMOKES! My hair fell out constantly, my husband practically followed me around with the vacuum, and then the baby hairs! My mom happens to be a hair stylist so I had her in my arsenal and she cut my hair in a way that would mask/jive with all the new hair coming in. But most importantly, for my hair type, she convinced me that I had to, had to, had to stop styling my hair. It just caused those little baby hairs to stand at attention. So using a good hair serum and letting my hair air dry was the way to go, for me at least. Good luck!!
Lydia Collins @Imperfectbird.tumblr.com commented on Jan 20 12 at 1:50 pmI don’t think it has to do with breastfeeding, but just the fact that every pregnancy/postpartum time is SO different! I breastfed my first son for 3 years and never had hair problems, then my second I only breastfed 11 months and had much much worse hair loss. And yep, what others said…that’s all NEW growth, not breakage..which is good on the one hand, but sooo not pretty on the other! I wore a lot of wraps around my head or headbands to disguise my hairline till it grew in longer. And play around with how you part your hair too…I know one side was worse for me since it had lost a lot more hair for some reason, so I parted my hair so that side was hidden more.
Claudia Guerreiro commented on Jan 20 12 at 2:54 pmMelissa, when Lily was around 3-4 months old my gorgeous pregnant hair started falling out in handfulls. handfulls! every time i went in the shower to wash my hair, i went with fear of how much would fall out that time. it continued for months. and then annoying baby hair started growing in. took a good long year.
i got bangs because of it.
since then, i would suggest fish oil vitamins. wish i had thought of it then.
hang in there!
Erin commented on Jan 20 12 at 2:56 pmI am still exclusively BF at 4.5mo and have been taking biotin in an effort to help prevent massive hair loss, and while my hair has returned to my typical pre pregnancy shedding amounts I have not noticed anything drastic. Other than the weekly nail trims, I can now wait a week and a half or two before my nails are too long for me.
Lauren commented on Jan 20 12 at 3:54 pmYup, me too…and I agree I only bf 2 months this is hair growing back… Mine looks horrible too..like I got bangs!!
Mandi commented on Jan 20 12 at 7:11 pmFeel the pain, except my breakage was underneath. I ended up with a full on mullet underneath of my otherwise really long hair. I finally had to cut my hair just above my shoulders to match my 80′s mullet! It was pretty hot!
Jenny commented on Jan 20 12 at 8:05 pmThat happened to me too the second time around. I had huge bald spots in my hair line. Now I have baby hairs growing in…so annoying!
Heather Harney commented on Jan 21 12 at 12:10 amI have to agree that the little mullet going on underneath is worse than the baby bangs!! Still nursing my 11 month old, hopefully it will grow out fast!
Angela B commented on Jan 21 12 at 11:06 pmUgh, mine fell out after my twins but I didn’t breastfeed. It started when they were about 4 months old and they are almost 2, and I still have the 1 inch pieces of hair, they never grew all the way out and my hair has never gone back to my pre-pregnancy thickness:(
Raquel commented on Jan 22 12 at 3:49 amI have the same problem, I’m 10 months post partum and i have curly hair. It’s so I have frizzy curly all around my hair line. I really thought I was alone. I’ve tried so many products and nothing has worked.
Kat commented on Jan 24 12 at 12:36 pmI have three sweet boys and one daughter who was stillborn. I have breastfed all my boys beyond 1 year, and obviously did not breastfeeding after my stillbirth. I have taken prenatal vitamins throughout breastfeeding and postpartum with all 4 pregnancies. My hair fell out exactly the same with all 4. I was really hoping I’d be spared after my stillbirth, but no such luck. I’ve come to the conclusion that each woman is different, so some have hair loss and some don’t (luckies!). Anyway, I’ve dealt with it by styling my hair to camouflage the wispy baby hairs. I’ve been wearing side-swept bangs since I had my first, for this very reason! I also use hair serum, and once those baby hairs get long enough I pin back my bangs with bobby pins. It’s just another one of those sacrifices some of us make to have these sweet little ones with us.
Sarah S commented on Jan 25 12 at 2:31 pmyep. That happened way worse with my second pregnancy than the first and unfortunately it takes a LONG time to grow out – at least it did for me and I have pretty straight hair. Just another pregnancy thing that no book will ever mention yet if you say it in a room of moms, most of them say “yes!”. Crazy.
Kristina commented on Feb 04 12 at 12:52 amYep! My hair started falling out at 3 months, and I don’t think it’s really stopped! And, now at almost 14 months post-partum, I do have these baby bangs that SUCK! I don’t have bangs at all so they really stand out. I have long hair, and who knows how long they will take to grow out completely?! I just use a lot of hair gel to slick those babies back.
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