Yes. Post-pregnancy hair loss. It is a thing. It’s not a thing we talk a lot about. But somewhere between two and four months after baby comes, it’ll be the only thing you can think of. Just when baby starts to reach and grab with those perpetually clammy little hands (YOUCH!), you’re losing hair like crazy. So here are some tips to survive it:
1.) Expect it. It’s not widely talked about, so it might take you by surprise. I’m no expert, but postpartum hair loss is caused by your pregnancy hormones retaining your luscious locks while pregnant and then just letting them loose once you’re not pregnant anymore (kind of a cruel joke, if you ask me). Apparently this doesn’t happen to every woman for every pregnancy, but just brace yourself for it anyway.
2.) Run your fingers through your hair during showers to get as much out as you can. Then pick it out of the drain (a drain catcher helps a lot! — affiliate link) and throw it in the trash when you’re done. It’s kind of gross and traumatizing but it’s an easy way to get it all in one place at a time with quick clean up.
3.) Brush your hair outside. Seriously, go outside once a day and brush it. Let the loose hairs fall out without worrying about sweeping afterwards. Bonus: your hair will dry faster after a shower this way!
4.) Consider a short[er] haircut. The “mom chop” is a thing for a reason. It sure made a difference having shoulder length hair with my second baby instead of the looooong hair I had with my first!
5.) Wear it up! Pony tails, buns, whatever it takes to get it gathered up and out of the way. This keeps it from falling into food or getting all over the floor. Contain your battles to showers and outdoor hair brushings.
6.) Only have understanding people over to your house and give them a disclaimer like: “I swear I sweep and vacuum every day, but you still might see a tumbleweed made of my hair roll by if a stiff breeze comes through the window.”
7.) Know that it’ll be over in a month or two, and you will still have hair left. For real, girl, you will. So hang in there, this is about the last of the havoc pregnancy will wreak on your body.
Do you have any tips to add? Any experiences to share? I’d love to hear!
Make sure when you brush and run your fingers through your hair in the shower that you start in different places – I tend to start right at my temples and after Baby #2 I got really thin in that spot on both sides. It was bizarre! But starting to brush and rinse in various places seemed to fix it :) AND it mostly grew back in later, though I had about 8 months of little whispies right at my temples that were super annoying until they got longer :)