Breastfeeding Hair -- I Hate It

[sunnygir1]

I'm not sure where to post this -- Breastfeeding, Health, Nutrition, or Birth and Beyond?

Anyway, I am breastfeeding my second child who is almost 17 months old.  I have been pregnant or breastfeeding (or both) for the last 4 and a half years.  My hair sucks.

I am not particularly concerned with my appearance, but I would like to be able to wash my hair and have it look clean, at least for one day.  And I am concerned that unhealthy hair means that I am missing something in my diet that my body needs.

I switched shampoos about a month ago thinking that might help, but it hasn't.  My hair falls out a lot when I am breastfeeding (but doesn't really seem thinner).  Now it is just gross, not soft, dull, dirty-looking.  I don't know what to do.

I have fallen off the wagon recently, but was regularly taking a bunch of supplements to help keep my depression-tendency under control.  Here's what I was taking:

fish oil

vitamin D

B complex

calcium

multi-mineral

probiotic

vitamin C

St. John's wort tincture

tea of: nettle, chamomile, rose, oat straw, lemon balm

I eat well and have a varied, omnivorous diet.  Any ideas to help me?

[MeepyCat]

I'm not sure this is breastfeeding-related, really.  I have experienced the hair loss and ickiness you mention after both pregnancies, and many of my friends have experienced it after pregnancy as well.  The unscientific consensus is that it's just one of those (sucky) things that happen sometime post-partum. 

Which is a shame.  I *loved* pregnancy hair.

I approached the problem by taking myself in for a really good haircut, and on truly bad days, wearing hats.

[sunnygir1]

So how long postpartum, in your experience?  I mean, my baby is 17 months old!

I have kept my hair pretty short, and do resort to the hat regularly.  I'm heading for a boy-cut, I think, I mean totally short all over.  My husband won't like it, but I can't take this anymore -- I don't even want this on my head!  It particularly sucks because I want to grow my hair out, but can't bring myself to try with it like this.

[MeepyCat]

I generally had it hit at about the six month mark.

ETA:  But have you considered that if you grow your hair out, you can tie it up and back?  A bun can look pretty elegant even with bad hair, and still be easy to put back in when babies paw it to pieces.

And what are you using in terms of conditioner?

[sunnygir1]

I was using Giovanni 50/50 shampoo and Smooth as Silk conditioner, now I'm using Avalon Organics lavender shampoo and conditioner.

Yeah, part of why I want to grow it out is so I can put it up when it's dirty ; )

[Xavismom]

Having long enough hair to pull back makes it much easier IMHO.

For shampoo, I use a shampoo bar with argan oil, and for conditioner I use a mix of honey and aloe vera. Every once in a while, I'll do a deep condition by letting some jojoba oil sit on it for a few hours. My hair gets dull and dry when I use commercial products in it. It took me years of trying different brands to figure this out.

My issue of PP hair is not texture etc, or it falling out, its the growing back IN that drives me crazy! My hair is almost waist length, but I have an all over crop of new hair growing back in that is about 3 inches long now, and refuses to lay flat!! Its getting a bit better as they get longer, but there was a period when they were around an inch long that was just awful, I looked like a chia pet

When I first saw this threads title, I thought it was going to be about hair not getting washed enough, or brushed... etc bc of being busy nursing a LO... I also have this problem haha!! Maybe I am just lazy

[JudiAU]

I have the same problem and same shampoo and I think part of the reason is the "natural shampoo" when I go back to the chemical-laced drugstore kind my hair looks fine. In fact, the absolute worst my hair looked was with Avalon Organics. Have you tried using a shampoo that you used 4-5 years ago? My hair still doesn't look as pre-kids but it doesn't look dull and greasy all of the time.

[ChelseaWantsOut]

Mine falls out all the time and is getting super thin and greasy and hideous and straight, for eff's sake.  Not beautiful and thick and shiny and curly and voluminous, like it was during pregnancy.  I'm probably going to shave it all off once spring arrives.  Then I'll break out all my punk rock clothes from the late 90's.  It'll be totally bitchin'.

[nanasmom]

My hair fell out so much while I was nursing that I was beginning to think there was something seriously wrong with me.  I would say within a month of stopping to nurse I noticed a huge improvement. 

[averlee]

I agree with Judi, that Avalon Organics is bad shampoo.  In addition to making my hair progressively uglier over time, it makes my scalp itch. Also, mainstream brands like Suave & Herbal Essences don't seem suitable for my hair post-pregnancy. (My daughter is approaching her 4th birthday and my hair is still weird.) I've had good luck with the Bedhead shampoos, though expensive, they are awesome. Also Jason is a good natural brand, I like the tea-tree oil formula. The Desert Essence conditioner of Aubrey's brand is the most awesome stuff in the health food store, it turns my hair to silk, and smells like grown up women hair (rather than the kids watermelon junk I often use).  

I had the most gorgeous hair of my life during pregnancy, and also my skin was acne-free. As soon as I was fully dilated my hair went bad and I broke out in zits (it seems like). Now I also have the dark circles under my eyes and the weird mom-clothes and mom-purse. 

[bendmom]

Originally Posted by averlee 

 As soon as I was fully dilated my hair went bad and I broke out in zits (it seems like). Now I also have the dark circles under my eyes and the weird mom-clothes and mom-purse. 
 

 This made me laugh! I am experiencing the same. My hair comes out in clumps, my skin is crazy oily, and I have a 5 o'clock shadow under my eyes as soon as I wake up. I love bf hormones. Also, I cannot stand Avalon products, or most all natural products for my hair. I use the Suave knock off version for chemicaly treated hair even though it isn't. My hair has never been so soft and shiny.