how long does pp shedding last?

[jump mama jump!]

my dd will be 4 mo in a week, i'm still shedding a lot. is this normal? how long is the hair loss supposed to last? When did it stop for those of you who have experienced it?

[miami mommy]

It's totally normal. My hair shed like crazy. I had to constantly sweep my hair off the bathroom floor, it was so gross, my hair was everywhere. I can't remember exactly when it ended, I think it was around 5 or 6 mo pp. My DS is nearly 8 mo and it feels like the shedding stopped quite awhile ago. So don't worry, it will ease up soon.

[MyFillingQuiver]

Oh my goodness, I can relate.

I have long, extremely thick and wavy hair. When I had my last child (he turned 1 on the 3rd) and was EBF, I lost SO much hair..all.the.time. It would get wound around him everywhere...

Well, I got pregnant when he was about 6 months old. So then I got the pregnancy hair GROWTH. Now, what we have, is this long, thick mane, with all kinds of about 4-6" curly swirls around my head. Makes for a GREAT ponytail.

So, once thinning and nearly balding around my hairline (with hair that normally won't fit in average type scrunchies) and now all filled in with cherub curls. 31 weeks pregnant...cute.

It'll get better...if you don't become pregnant quickly, it should even out by about 6 months!

[kltroy]

so what's interesting is that apparently the shedding isn't because of the pregnancy, but because of the birth and the stress that it puts on your body. (I learned this by reading a student report on hair loss, ROFL! Love those grad students...). Anyway, technically it's called telogen effluvium, which is stress-related hair loss (you can google it if you're curious - there's a ton of information on it). It usually lasts around 3 months and for me, it was worst from 3-6 months postpartum.

I had a friend who went through a messy divorce this past fall (along with losing her job and having her home go up for short sale) -- that caused her to lose a bunch of weight, which was enough to cause her to experience a similar hair loss.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by kltroy

so what's interesting is that apparently the shedding isn't because of the pregnancy, but because of the birth and the stress that it puts on your body.

Really? I know about stress-related hair loss but it makes more sense to me that postpartum women would naturally be shedding all the extra hair they grew during the pregnancy, after the pregnancy hormones recede.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpart...-loss_11721.bc

Anyways, FTR I stopped shedding almost exactly 6 months postpartum. It stopped pretty suddenly, before that it looked like I was leaving a small furry animal in the shower every time I washed my hair.

[Jaimee]

Took me about 6 months with dd and I'm still going, but slowing down with ds at almost 6 months again. I hear it's quite common to shed even up to 9 months pp. My shower drain is very annoyed!

[Llyra]

My hair loss didn't slow down until around 9 months.

[Stitches]

Mine shed for at least 6 months, maybe longer.

[jump mama jump!]

thanks ladies, I feel better about it at least knowing there's an end in sight. I hope it's sooner rather than later though, my shower and sink are both angry. I keep pulling massive clumps off my comb every day. at least I have thick hair to start with. I'm a little worried though since female pattern baldness apparently runs in my family. (I saw my mom's rogain and had to ask a few years ago - but at least she didn't start using it til maybe her 40s? 50s? she had really thick hair, and it still is pretty thick. I never would have guessed were it not for seeing the rogain, but her mom has SUPER thin hair, which I always just figured was par for the course being so old (she's now in her 90s)). Any dietary suggestions that might help?

[Veritaserum]

My pp hair loss turned out to be a thyroid problem. The hair loss didn't stop until I started got my hormones back in line. I still have a small bald patch, but at least I haven't lost any more.