Motherhood killed my hair!

[New_Natural_Mom]

ArrrghhH!! Help please! My hair has never been the same since I got pregnant. I used to be able to wash every other day and it would be fine. My hair is very fine, has a natural wave, and I have A LOT of it. I also lose A LOT of it (to the tune that every shower and sink drain needs to be unclogged every few months.)

Now my hair is just gross. I can't explain it. It always seems oily. No matter what shampoo I use it doesn't change anything. I can't let my hair air dry or it gets "crunchy". Literally, it forms hard tendrils. I rinse rinse rinse too! My brush is all gross. It has this coating on all the bristles that I can't even wash off. I bought a new brush and just ran it through my hair and the bristles started to get the coating.

I have dandruff now and have little white bits all over the scalp. I take lots of supplements: fish oil, flax oil, Vit D, beta carotene, etc.

Will I ever get normal hair? Do I have to use yucky chemical shampoos? I don't need gorgeous hair, but I would rather it looked like I shower.

[ps4624]

My hair has changed a lot since the baby, too. I'm hoping time will help - it's a little discerning to see all of that hair in the drain! I've heard that Evening Primrose Oil can help

[buttercups.nest]

I lost a lot of my curls, and my hair is darker now too.

[Chamomile Girl]

I have kinda the same deal going on. I used to have thick, straight, dependable hair. I could wash it and let it dry and it always looked great. Now its all funky-wavy, but not uniformly so it just looks lame. Parts stick out. When I brush it its actually frizzy! I also the strange crunchy tendrils when it air drys.

I figure I'm turning into a hobbit. First the hair, plus I'm always hungry...next I'm gonna have to start shaving my feet.

One thing that I have found helpful is a (natural) shampoo called Maximum Green Alchemy (or MGA). Its a bit on the pricy side, but it actually makes my hair soft, and also helps with my dandriff. I don't know how widely available it is outside of the Bay Area though. Here is a link: http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/item-...oo--MGASH.html

[mosesface]

Are you currently pregnant? If so, plan on your hair and scalp changing a lot before it decides what it wants to be postpartum.

Honestly, I think for some women (myself included) pregnancy related hair changes are harder to deal with than any other body changes.

[New_Natural_Mom]

Originally Posted by mosesface

Are you currently pregnant? If so, plan on your hair and scalp changing a lot before it decides what it wants to be postpartum.

Honestly, I think for some women (myself included) pregnancy related hair changes are harder to deal with than any other body changes.

Not pregnant at all!! 23 months pp here.

[btallen]

Originally Posted by New_Natural_Mom

Not pregnant at all!! 23 months pp here.

My DS is 2, so I completely understand! I have fine hair and alot of it, too. It's primarily straight, but I could "make" it curl by using curling gel and letting it air dry. Pre-pg, I HAD to use straightening gel to keep it from frizzing and I HAD to wash it every other day to control the oil. While I was pg and until my hair started falling out at 3 months pp, my scalp got really dry and I only had to wash it once a week (heaven!).

Fast forward to now... the oil on my scalp has come back, and I can wash one day, wear in a ponytail the second day, but HAVE to wash on day 3 or I can't go out in public. All of my "wave" has gone away, which is kind of nice because I don't have to use gel or anything on it, but I still can't air dry or it looks stringy.

Last week, I decided to start with no-poo (or rather conditioner only). To start my journey, I washed really well with my extra, super-duper clarifying shampoo, followed with a wash using Suave Naturals shampoo, followed by Suave Naturals conditioner massaged into my scalp and left to sit on my hair for 5 minutes. My hair never felt so good on the day after! No oily scalp on day 3 either! On day 4 I "washed" with Suave Naturals conditioner, rinsed, "washed" again with the conditioner and let it sit for 5 minutes. Great hair, again! I did this Monday night, and I'm wearing my hair down at work today (Wednesday) - I never do this. Normally by the second day, I would be scratching my head like crazy - no itchies at all, and no flakes.

The key is to "wash" twice with the conditioner - it takes alot of conditioner for this. It will almost lather like shampoo. And to rinse very well. Also, you have to use a silicone-free product (look for "-cone" in the ingredient list). I got the Suave Naturals at Wal-Mart for .97/bottle.

[Magelet]

I know hair changes are common with pregnancy. As much as I'm freaking out at the idea (I love my hair), it does "make sense". It's a heck of a lot of different hormones than your used to. Did anyone else besides me have their hair change DRASTICALLY at puberty? I guess it's the same thing?