postpartum fall out

[Brenna]

i was just curious, with postpartum fall out, why does EVERYONE tell you to get your hair cut? they don't say, oh get a trim. everyone tell you to get INCHES chopped the hell off.

it bugged me so bad every time I was in postpartum. it just doesn't make sense to me.

ideas?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Maybe most people don't understand about proper hair care? And their solution to any hair problem is to cut.

[Allychan]

I think some people mistaken postpartum fallout for balding so the first response is to cut it.
When you are balding you lose hairs that should be actively growing, with postpartum fallout your hormones are adjusting and you lose hairs that would not normally be growing, ie your hair cycle tends to shed less and grow more when pregnant.
Cutting is a knee jerk reaction because chances are your hair will just lose the extra hairs and go back to normal :shrug:

[Braidmaid83]

Many new moms like a shorter doo, because they have less time when baby arrives. I think it's just an excuse! They don't mind when it is thick and growing fast during pregnancy.

[Wahinee]

It's not a solution to stop the shedding, just to make it look better. The longer your hair is, the more noticeable your thin ends will be and the longer it will tak eyour new growth to fill in.

[Brenna]

ah okay. I usually just ignored them - for the most part but it sure was annoying.

[melusine963]

Perhaps for many people 'inches' is what constitutes a trim. Personally, I'd never heard of micro-trimming until I joined the LHC. I agree that it's complete rubbish to have to cut it all off just because of a bit of shedding.

[Mesmerise]

I think it really should depend on how it looks to YOU! Some new mums get their hair cut because it really DOES thin out so much that they can't stand it anymore, so maybe that's why they recommend it?! (Depends a lot on how much you lose AND how much you had to start off with!!).

If you're happy with your post shed hair, then why cut??

[woolyleprechaun]

my last post partum shed was horriffic. I lost a lot more than my retained hair, and dropped more than an inch in circumference. Most has now grown back, but the problem is that the regrowth is so noticable....I even have a fringe composed of the baby hairs. If I wasn't actively growing, I could see the temptation to get a big chop to allow the ends to 'fill in' again. But as it is, I'm persevering with my fuzz mullet perched on top of my hair :)

[Amber_Maiden]

Never had the fall out... so I can't say. I never had anyone tell me to cut my hair. It didn't get thicker when I was pregnant and I didn't lose more hair after, even after I stopped breastfeeding.

[ravenreed]

I had the same problem. I think for someone with that much noticeable regrowth, the temptation to cut it all might be pretty strong. I didn't, but it sure looked funny for a long time because my hair was mid-back at the time.


my last post partum shed was horriffic. I lost a lot more than my retained hair, and dropped more than an inch in circumference. Most has now grown back, but the problem is that the regrowth is so noticable....I even have a fringe composed of the baby hairs. If I wasn't actively growing, I could see the temptation to get a big chop to allow the ends to 'fill in' again. But as it is, I'm persevering with my fuzz mullet perched on top of my hair :)

[picklepie]

My hair is a little past BSL, and 15mo postpartum my hair looks terrible! It was really thick before (4.5" circ) so it doesn't look thin, but there's a layer of ~5" long hair thick enough to be bangs all around my hairline, which separates from any updo I put it in and looks like little wings falling down everywhere. Anywhere I part my hair it pops out too, including on top when I wear my hair down. I'm 3A, so it turns into a big, flippy halo by the end of the day. I *know* a big cut would help, but I don't want to! Waah!

[spidermom]

I found it so much easier to deal with a baby when I had short hair, so I might have recommended "cut it" to anyone that complained about their hair in relationship to having a baby.

[torrilin]

I think a lot of women have this idea that babies will go after long hair and yank or tug it. While I'm not a mom, I do babysit my niece and nephew a fair bit, and I've babysat other babies and small children when my hair was long. Most little kids (even very tiny and grabby ones) are really pretty good about respecting an "ow". Mistakes happen, but I don't think the wear and tear from a baby would be especially bad for my hair.

I'm happier and more comfortable with my hair up and in buns or braids tho. I don't like wearing my hair down. And it seems like a lot of women with long hair do wear it long because they like it loose.

As far as shedding goes... I always have a halo of baby hairs anyway. Unless it was really and truly bad enough that my hair was functionally in a pixie, cutting would be fairly dumb for me. I hate my hair short. I'm not sure exactly where that line would fall, but I'd guess somewhere in the 50% shed range. My hair's ponytail circumference varies from 2.5-3" on a day to day basis tho, so that's a 30% difference in apparent volume of hair. I'm just not sure that 50% would feel radically different.

[Brenna]

why did it look funny? sorry its been a while since I've been post-partum (7 years).

[spidermom]

I couldn't keep my baby's fingers out of my hair. It almost seemed instinctual, like little monkeys clinging to momma's fur. I didn't like what was on their fingers sometimes, either (like spit-up).

[ravenreed]

Imagine half your hair is long, and half is only a few inches sticking straight up/out... or even chin length. I lost so much hair that it looked like a lollipop for a while. A tail with a big puffball on top. My short hair is rather wild and uncontrollable.


why did it look funny? sorry its been a while since I've been post-partum (7 years).

[Brenna]

ah I understand. i geuss it just depends from person to person

[torrilin]

I couldn't keep my baby's fingers out of my hair. It almost seemed instinctual, like little monkeys clinging to momma's fur. I didn't like what was on their fingers sometimes, either (like spit-up).

The monsters do grab stuff, but it's usually more my clothes or glasses. But hair slicked back into a bun just doesn't leave much *to* grab to begin with, and that's probably a huge factor. The only times they've managed to grab my hair it was in twin braids that weren't pinned up. And well, I'm washable. Usually, so are my clothes. If my glasses aren't washable, I've got worse problems than baby vomit or pee :D.

But yeah, it's not a simple and clear cut thing. I don't really think there is or should be a rule. It's about what makes the mom in question happy, comfy and as unstressed as it's possible to be with a baby... and well, the idea of being unstressed around a newborn is just laughable.

[spidermom]

The monsters do grab stuff, but it's usually more my clothes or glasses. But hair slicked back into a bun just doesn't leave much *to* grab to begin with, and that's probably a huge factor. .
.

My worst times were at night. I might start out with my hair securely braided back, but by the time I'd been asleep for awhile and baby was screaming for attention, I had bits of hair falling down all over the place, and the grubby little hands were all over it.

[Wahinee]

I have to keep my hair in a bun 100% of the time with my baby. I'm excited to get him into day care so i can let my hair down!

[torrilin]

My worst times were at night. I might start out with my hair securely braided back, but by the time I'd been asleep for awhile and baby was screaming for attention, I had bits of hair falling down all over the place, and the grubby little hands were all over it.

That might be a hair type thing. My 3a sister in law would *kill* to have her hair stay neatly braided the way mine does (which I'd had no idea about until a week or so ago), and her thickness is about like yours. So you guys both have a similar "hair bomb" on your heads. The monsters' mom and I have pretty similar fine, average thickness and barely wavy hair.

But that's a lot of why I don't think there's a rule on the right way to go :). Everyone is different. Heck, you could be my mom, and wind up with a kid who needs to learn to swallow pills at age 18 months, so you suffer through another 18 months of the kid spitting medication at you. I really understand why my mom never bothered to try long hair!

[momoftwo708]

I had a shed not lost tons of hair take biotin it helps my hair was more thick from the pregnancy and stood that way

[ravenreed]

Biotin hasn't done anything for my latest shed (which was not postpartum). I don't think it works for everyone.


I had a shed not lost tons of hair take biotin it helps my hair was more thick from the pregnancy and stood that way

[Brenna]

i have been taking biotin and i think thats where my increased growht is coming from, thank god. soooo happy for that.

[mamaherrera]

I've got the funny look going on now. If I pull my bangs back, all these baby hairs fall forward, and make it look like my hairline is farther back than it is. ANd then the little bald patches. . not fun for my nerves!

[MJ1972]

Imagine half your hair is long, and half is only a few inches sticking straight up/out... or even chin length. I lost so much hair that it looked like a lollipop for a while. A tail with a big puffball on top. My short hair is rather wild and uncontrollable.

I have the same problem without ever having been pregnant. I suffered from extreme hair loss for over two years. My GP and hair specialist told me it was caused by stress, and that it would subside once I stopped stressing out about things. (It didn't. It only stopped when I switched to CO-washing.) However, I did go through two periods of intense regrowth, most likely because of all the fish oil I was taking. So now I have three layers in my hair, two of which are frizzy and flyaway. It's not a good look. If I had any sense, I'd cut it all off to start from scratch, but I hate the way short hair looks on me, so that's not an option. I guess there's nothing for it but to wait for the regrowth to catch up with the rest of my hair...

[mamaherrera]

And I'm sure part of mine is from stress. . . stressing out about hairloss doesn't help hairloss. I need myself to realize this and calm down! I don't like the little bald spots, they make me nervous. If I see some pores empty, at least I know they're on their way back. But there are some areas, where hairs are more separated, and I see no pores. . . . that makes me uneasy.

[shutterpillar]

Edit to remove my post... I didn't realize this was an old thread.