Severe Hair Loss 4 Months After Giving Birth

Updated on October 25, 2011
E.M. asks from Carrollton, TX
17 answers

Dear Moms,

This site has always been such a wonderful resource for me, and I'm hoping you can give me some great advice again on this one. :) I had my second son 4 months ago (his older brother is 5) and starting a couple of weeks ago, I started losing an alarming amount of hair. It comes out during and after my shower (enough that my back and shoulders are literally COVERED after I comb my hair), each time I remove a rubber band from my hair which I use a lot because most days I wear a pony tail (it attaches to the band in huge clumps), etc. This happened a few months post-partum with my first child, too, and at the time my hairdresser noticed the balding spots and recommended I use a hairloss spray/shampoo combo (I can't remember the name of the product), which I used for a few months and the hair loss stopped. I even got some new hair growth (most noticeably a bunch of baby hairs around the hairline). The problem is that I have very thin, fine hair to begin with, and not a lot of it. You can pretty much see my scalp through my thin dark hair on top. :( Now, I'm not a vain person by any stretch of the imagination, so more than anything this worries me: is this normal?! Is this purely hormonal? I remember someone telling me when this happened after my first pregnancy that sometimes this happens post-partum, and not to worry. But at this point I'm wondering if I should address it with my OB? Or PCP? By the way, I'm still taking my prenatal vitamins and iron supplements because I'm breastfeeding.

If any of you have been through this, let me know what you did and if it got better. If any of you are medical professionals and may have some advice for me, I would appreciate it! :) Thanks in advance for your help, ladies.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

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M.L.

answers from Houston on

It's normal. I'm a hairstylist and had to study it. While you are pregnant, the hairs that would have fallen out daily during those 9 months don't. So once your hormones start to wear off, you hair falls out in droves... all that hair that should have fallen out but didn't comes out. Taking prenatal aren't going to prevent this because it is purely hormonal and depends on the resting and active phases of your hair root.

Other medical causes that can cause hair loss are things such as thyroid and vitamin deficiencies, but I highly doubt those are the reasons. If the hairloss doesn't let up after a few months, or you have have balding patches then you should get that looked into.

Avoid ponytails. If you must wear your hair up, do a very loose, gentle bun or braid and use the safer cloth covered elastic bands. Cutting you hair in a shorter, graduated cut will give you more body and the illusion of fuller hair.

2 moms found this helpful

S.M.

answers from Dallas on

I had the same thing with all three of my kids, and my hair is thin and fine also. I had my third kid at the age of 40 and went straight form lactating to perimenopause... talk about hormone changes! last year i started taking Biotin (I take a 5000 units, I forget the measurements) at first I didn't notice much difference but my hair dresser told me I had to take it everyday without fail!!! ( which I'm terrible at but I made the effort to really try) and about 3 months after I started I noticed a significant difference! (one of my friends had almost immediate results, but I'm more skeptical) at first all I noticed is that less was falling out in the shower and on the bathroom floor, then slowly I realized that my hair was growing twice as fast and I was losing a lot less hair. I've been on it for a year now and I will never go off of it, my hair is so healthy and long (about to my bra strap in the back), not think still fine and thin but not nearly as balding in the front where it got to be so bad. Even my hair dresser has been impressed with how healthy my hair is right now. and my nails a strong and long too, an added bonus!

keep taking your prenatal and add Biotin. you might want to have some blood work done as a precaution, can't hurt, but losing a lot of hair after a pregnancy is common.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I had it with both...worse with my second it seemed. Luckily mine was along my hairline so most of my other hair covered it up. My stylist recommended the green Kerastase which will help strenghten your hair. The upside is that when it starts growing back, the shorter hair will help add the fullness back :)

1 mom found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from Dallas on

E., first wash or condition your hair in apple cider vinegar. Oh I can't think of the word right now, but vinegar acts as a "ahhh can't think". Anyway it should stop the shedding. Use it for the next 2 times you wash your hair. You can put it on as the conditioner and leave it on for 5 - 10 minutes, then rinse it out. Your hair will not smell like vinegar, trust me. Next the shampoo you want to buy is Nioxin. They have a whole line of everything for thinning and shedding hair. Just start with the shampoo and conditioner. Use it for a few months. Actually if you have naturally thin hair, as you mentioned, it would be a good shampoo to keep on hand.

Yes, happened to me with all 3 babies. I continued to nurse all 3 of my girls (24 months or more for each). So keep nursing and taking your vitamins. Remember to drink more fluids even when you think you've had enough.

Last tip, I know pony tails are easy because I am so guilty of it, but don't put the band on your hair for now. Give it a rest because pony tails are bad on the hair. Try a clip with half of the hair up and half down. It's easy enough without a lot of fuss and is easier breakage wise then the p-tail. Take care. I could swear it also makes your hair look fuller/longer. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from Des Moines on

Totally normal, keep taking your prenatal vitamins, it helps a little, other than that you just have to wait it out!

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D.E.

answers from Dallas on

Totally normal and I would say all hormonal. It happened with both my pregnancies also. My first one was much worse than my second (my sister told me I had a bald spot and that is when I knew it was worse than I thought!). My hair is also VERY thin and VERY fine. I ended up cutting my hair both times. Getting it cut has helped it not look so thin. I am getting regrowth now, but it is still falling out some. My hairdresser told me it could last until our child is 2. Don't be alarmed unless you see other signs of something wrong. I was told with my 1st pregnancies that our bodies hold on to everything, including our hair, when we are pregnant and once baby is born you start losing what hair you would have normally lost during the 9 months of pregancy plus what you would be losing then. I don't know about you, but I paid attention and with baby number 2 my hair was thicker than normal. I was doing the ponytail things also, and of course that doesn't help because it breaks your hair. I kept that up until my daughter was 10 months. I knew it was going to happen again, so this time I was better prepared than the first time. So I found a cut short cut and went with it. I have always had longer hair and LOVE long hair, but I figure it is hair and it will grow back! Not I use headbands to keep it back most days. With the shorter hair your regrowth won't be as noticable and your hair will look thicker and more lively. Isn't amazing what happens with our bodies and what we go throw with our pregnancies? Things people forget to tell you, maybe because somethings don't happen to everyone, and things you just don't figure out until you are there yourself! I know I have told my mom thanks many times over after I had my kids! :) Congrats by the way!!

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M.P.

answers from Green Bay on

Yes, completely normal. I experienced it too - however, I am lucky with a head full of THICK hair...I barely noticed except for the fact that I always had hair entwined (word??) in my fingers in the shower (which I HATE!!!) and otherwise. Anyway, my hairdresser actually warned me about it before it happened and reassured me that it was normal. A few months later then I noticed new hairs growing back along my hairline. :-) Gotta love being a woman and all the changes we go through! :-)

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M.G.

answers from Chicago on

This is completely normal! Mine is just now starting and my daughter is almost 4 months. After my first pregnancy my hair fell out in clumps to the point I had three small bald spots. As your body is letting go of the pregnancy hormones, many women experience this hair loss.

V.C.

answers from Dallas on

A good b complex supplement will clear this up. I can recommend one if you are interested.

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K.L.

answers from Savannah on

The same thing happened to me and I think that we have the same type of hair as well. I did not do much about it, except I got my hair cut shorter. It was not as noticeable with a shorter haircut. And I parted my hair on the opposite side. The haircut and change of part gave an optical illusion of more hair than I had. Also, my hairdresser said to NOT do ponytails. They are the worst thing you can do for your hair! My son is 11 months and I noticed a difference in the amount of hair loss a few months ago.

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K.B.

answers from Kansas City on

Hairloss is normal. Balding patches would be worth a visit to your to your doctor and ask for your blood work to be checked.

I work with a girl who was ignored by her doctor when she noticed she finding patches of hair missing. She finally went to another doctor who listened to her. She had several bald patches and no sign of it slowing down. Not to scare you and what she experienced is not normal and rare. Her blood work showed her thyroid was failing among other things.

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

I had this happen big time after both my pregnancies. My hair used to be super thick and now it is extremely thin. I hear it is normal with our changing hormones and I have never heard of a cure or something to make your hair come back. I'd love to know!

L.L.

answers from Rochester on

Completely normal. Your growth/loss cycles will regulate and the hair you are losing will grow back. On average, you lose 100 hairs a day. That's a lot! No worries!! :)

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J.S.

answers from Dallas on

I would address this with your OB, have your thyroid checked just to make sure your hormones have gotten back to a normal level. Stop wearing your hair up, that will only make the hair loss worse. There isnt any type of shampoo that will really help grow your hair faster, just make sure you are eating enough veggies and drinking enough water.

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S.R.

answers from El Paso on

I'm going through this currently (mine is 4 months old as well). I also went through this with my first pregnancy, but last time it happened WHILE I was pregnant. It's pretty much all hormone related, and (as far as I know) there's not a lot you can do about it other than wait it out. With my first pregnancy, it just seemed to stop falling out, so I'm just sitting around waiting for that day to come this time. In the mean time, I'm vacuuming more often! :)

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

It may be normal but I would address it with your dr. You may be low in iron. even if you are taking supplements your baby may be taking a lot of the out of you. I know I had that problem a few months ago and was extreamly low in iron.

Good luck and God Bless!

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